Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
Kilo Code CLI vs Mirror CLI
Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against Mirror CLI's 54.2 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Mirror CLI leads on payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 331 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
Best 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 37
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 65
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 58
- Security & auth, 64 against 58
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 47
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 58
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
Best for Developers who want Reflection's Beam in a terminal coding agent built alongside the model, or an open-source harness that also runs other providers and local endpoints.
Ahead on
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50
Also in its favour
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.0 against 2.3 out of 5
Watch for
Version 0.1.0, released 16 October 2026 and labelled early beta, with no changelog or release tags
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Kilo Code CLI | Mirror CLI | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 85 | 37 | Kilo Code CLI +48 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 90 | 65 | Kilo Code CLI +25 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 72 | 58 | Kilo Code CLI +14 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 64 | 58 | Kilo Code CLI +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 50 | 60 | Mirror CLI +10 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 87 | 47 | Kilo Code CLI +40 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 76 | 58 | Kilo Code CLI +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | |
| Total | BB 73/100 | C 54.2/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Kilo Code CLI | Mirror CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Kilo Code Inc. | Reflection |
| 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 | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-30 | |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-29 | |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | |
| Popularity | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 2.3/5 (4) | 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.
Mirror CLI
Mirror CLI is Apache-2.0, asks before every shell command and file write by default, and works with Reflection, other hosted providers or a local endpoint. It is a one-day-old 0.1.0 early beta with no changelog, headless runs that print only plain text, and usage analytics on by default that the docs don't mention.
Before you call either
Kilo Code CLI
- Set
sandbox.enabledto true in the globalkilo.jsoncbeforekilo run --auto.--autoapproves every permission request not explicitly denied - Set
experimental.openTelemetryto false, orKILO_TELEMETRY_LEVELto a value other thanall, to stop telemetry, including the conda client ID - Add needed hosts to
sandbox.allowed_hostsin global config. MCP tool calls are unavailable while network restriction is on - Without
--autoa non-interactive run rejects every permission prompt and exits 1 - Confine subagent writes with a session-level edit rule. From 7.8.13 a custom agent's own
editdenies no longer bind the subagents it starts
Mirror CLI
- Open Mirror interactively once in each directory before
mirror execormirror acp. Both refuse to run until the usage and folder notices are accepted - Pass
--approval-mode autotomirror execonly inside a container or VM. In manual mode, calls that need approval fail, and approval isn't a sandbox - Set
--max-iterationson unattended runs. Turns are unlimited by default - Check the result with your own tests.
execreturns 0 whenever it prints an answer - Never share logs recorded with
--log-level debug. The docs say they contain request headers with the API key
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Kilo Code CLI or Mirror CLI?
Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against Mirror CLI's 54.2 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Mirror CLI leads on payments & pricing.
Are Kilo Code CLI and Mirror CLI open source?
Yes. Kilo Code CLI is open source (MIT). Mirror CLI is open source (Apache-2.0).
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Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.json·/api/v1/tools/reflection-mirror.json - From a terminal
anchor compare kilo-code-cli reflection-mirror(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "kilo-code-cli", "b": "reflection-mirror"}at/mcp, no key