# Kilo Code CLI vs Mistral Vibe CLI

> Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) to Mistral Vibe CLI's 62.9 (B) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against Mistral Vibe CLI's 62.9 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Mistral Vibe CLI leads on agent ergonomics and payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.

- Kilo Code CLI: grade BB, 73/100, rank #98 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kilo-code-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.json
- Mistral Vibe CLI: grade B, 62.9/100, rank #457 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mistral-vibe-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mistral-vibe-cli.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 713 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Kilo Code CLI (BB)

Good for: Developers who want an open-source terminal agent with per-tool permission rules, an optional sandbox and a choice of provider, and the same engine in VS Code and JetBrains.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 69
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 76
- Security & auth, 64 against 58
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 75

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Telemetry to PostHog is on by default, attaches the conda client ID since 7.8.10, and the privacy policy doesn't mention it

### Mistral Vibe CLI (B)

Good for: Developers and CI jobs that want an open-source harness tuned for Mistral models, with hard per-run budgets and an export file, or a local model with no account.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 84 against 72
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.3 against 2.3 out of 5

Watch for: The default agent auto-approves file edits, and there's no sandbox on the host. Isolation needs the experimental `--agent-socket` server or a container


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kilo Code CLI | Mistral Vibe CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 69 | Kilo Code CLI +16 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 76 | Kilo Code CLI +14 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 84 | Mistral Vibe CLI +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 64 | 58 | Kilo Code CLI +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 60 | Mistral Vibe CLI +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 75 | Kilo Code CLI +12 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 79 | Mistral Vibe CLI +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -8 | |
| **Total** | | **73 · BB** | **62.9 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kilo Code CLI | Mistral Vibe CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Kilo Code Inc. | Mistral AI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-09 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-30 | 2026-09-25 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-29 | 2026-09-03 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk | 5.1k stars, 332k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.3/5 (4) | 3.3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Kilo Code CLI.** Shell commands ask before running by default, and an optional operating-system sandbox blocks writes outside the workspace and outbound network. Telemetry to PostHog is on by default and the sandbox is off, so an unattended `kilo run --auto` approves everything not denied unless both are configured first.

**Mistral Vibe CLI.** Apache-2.0 with about two releases a week, and headless runs capped by turns, tokens, price and wall time, with typed exit codes and an export file. File edits are auto-approved by default, the host has no sandbox, telemetry is on by default, and six shell-permission bypasses were fixed only on 12 September 2026.

## Before you call either

### Kilo Code CLI

1. Set `sandbox.enabled` to true in the global `kilo.jsonc` before `kilo run --auto`. `--auto` approves every permission request not explicitly denied
2. Set `experimental.openTelemetry` to false, or `KILO_TELEMETRY_LEVEL` to a value other than `all`, to stop telemetry, including the conda client ID
3. Add needed hosts to `sandbox.allowed_hosts` in global config. MCP tool calls are unavailable while network restriction is on
4. Without `--auto` a non-interactive run rejects every permission prompt and exits 1
5. Confine subagent writes with a session-level edit rule. From 7.8.13 a custom agent's own `edit` denies no longer bind the subagents it starts

### Mistral Vibe CLI

1. Pass `--agent` on every `-p` run (`plan` is read-only). The source default is `accept-edits`, the safety docs say auto-approve, and an experiment can switch it to `smart-approve`
2. Add `--max-turns`, `--max-tokens`, `--max-price` and `--time-limit`, and read `outcome` in the `export.json` that `--output-dir` writes. Exit 3 means a limit or a refusal
3. Run in a container or behind `--agent-socket` before using `--auto-approve`. Vibe has no sandbox of its own on the host
4. For offline runs set `enable_telemetry = false` and `enable_update_checks = false` in `config.toml`. The docs' `enable_auto_update` isn't the key the code reads
5. Use 2.25.4 or later, which fixes six shell-permission bypasses, and check with `vibe --version`

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Kilo Code CLI or Mistral Vibe CLI?

Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against Mistral Vibe CLI's 62.9 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Mistral Vibe CLI leads on agent ergonomics and payments & pricing.

### Are Kilo Code CLI and Mistral Vibe CLI open source?

Yes. Kilo Code CLI is open source (MIT). Mistral Vibe CLI is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-mistral-vibe-cli.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-mistral-vibe-cli.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "kilo-code-cli", "b": "mistral-vibe-cli"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare kilo-code-cli mistral-vibe-cli`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mistral-vibe-cli.json

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- [Agent Zero vs Mistral Vibe CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-mistral-vibe-cli.md)
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