# Kilo Code CLI vs Qwen Code

> Kilo Code CLI scores 75.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Qwen Code's 72.4 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Qwen Code leads on agent ergonomics and payments & pricing. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-qwen-code
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-qwen-code.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-qwen-code.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-qwen-code.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Kilo Code CLI scores 75.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Qwen Code's 72.4 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Qwen Code leads on agent ergonomics and payments & pricing. Both do agent harness.

- Kilo Code CLI: grade BB, 75.4/100, rank #47 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kilo-code-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.json
- Qwen Code: grade BB, 72.4/100, rank #103 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qwen-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/qwen-code.json

## 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
- Security & auth, 66 against 53
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 63

Watch for: Telemetry to PostHog is on by default, and the privacy policy and PRIVACY.md don't mention it

### Qwen Code (BB)

Good for: Developers and CI jobs that want an open-source harness tied to no single model vendor, with run budgets and SDKs.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 85 against 72
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50

Watch for: The default approval mode is Auto, where an LLM classifier approves tool calls, and sandboxing and folder trust are both off by default


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kilo Code CLI | Qwen Code | 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 | 91 | Qwen Code +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 85 | Qwen Code +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 53 | Kilo Code CLI +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 60 | Qwen Code +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 88 | Qwen Code +1 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 63 | Kilo Code CLI +13 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **75.4 · BB** | **72.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kilo Code CLI | Qwen Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Kilo Code Inc. | Alibaba (Qwen team) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-30 | 2026-10-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-29 | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk | 28k stars, 105k npm/wk |

## 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.

**Qwen Code.** Apache-2.0 with no account of its own, any OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini-compatible endpoint, and headless runs bounded by turn, tool-call and wall-time budgets with distinct exit codes. Out of the box, Auto mode lets an LLM classifier approve tool calls, with the sandbox and folder trust both off. Usage statistics are on by default.

## 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
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. Put provider keys in global config or the environment. `{env:VAR}` in a project `kilo.json` is ignored

### Qwen Code

1. Pass `--approval-mode` on every run. The settings default is `auto`, and one docs page says headless runs default to asking, so don't rely on either
2. Add `--max-session-turns`, `--max-wall-time` and `--max-tool-calls`. All three are unlimited by default. Exit 53 is the turn limit and 55 a budget
3. `--yolo` doesn't turn on a sandbox. Add `--sandbox`, or on Linux set `tools.executionSandbox` with `network` set to `closed`
4. Set `QWEN_USAGE_STATISTICS_ENABLED=false` to stop usage statistics
5. Authenticate with `OPENAI_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_BASE_URL` and `OPENAI_MODEL` in CI. The browser sign-in is discontinued

## Questions

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

Kilo Code CLI scores 75.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Qwen Code's 72.4 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Qwen Code leads on agent ergonomics and payments & pricing.

### Are Kilo Code CLI and Qwen Code open source?

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


## For agents

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

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