# Kimi Code CLI vs Mistral Vibe CLI

> Mistral Vibe CLI and Kimi Code CLI score within a point of each other for agent harnesses, 62.9 and 62.1 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Mistral Vibe CLI and Kimi Code CLI score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.9 (B) and 62.1 (B). Kimi Code CLI leads on schema & documentation. Both do agent harnesses.

- Kimi Code CLI: grade B, 62.1/100, rank #492 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kimi-code-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kimi-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

### Kimi Code CLI (B)

Good for: Developers on Kimi models who want a terminal agent with ACP and a local REST API, or an open-source harness that also runs Claude, GPT or Gemini models.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 76

Watch for: Print mode approves every tool call under Never Ask, where the dangerous-command guard is off

### 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 71
- Security & auth, 58 against 45
- Transparency & trust, 79 against 62

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 | Kimi Code CLI | Mistral Vibe CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 68 | 69 | Mistral Vibe CLI +1 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 76 | Kimi Code CLI +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 84 | Mistral Vibe CLI +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 58 | Mistral Vibe CLI +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 75 | Mistral Vibe CLI +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 79 | Mistral Vibe CLI +17 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | -8 | |
| **Total** | | **62.1 · B** | **62.9 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kimi Code CLI | Mistral Vibe CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Moonshot AI | Mistral AI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-14 | 2026-10-09 |
| Terms last updated |  | 2026-09-25 |
| Privacy policy last updated |  | 2026-09-03 |
| Customer content may train models |  | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 37k npm/wk | 5.1k stars, 332k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 3.3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Kimi Code CLI.** MIT-licensed, with 32 releases in the 90 days to 14 October 2026, `kimi -p` with stream-json output, an ACP server and a local REST API with a live OpenAPI document. Print mode approves every tool call except static deny rules, no sandbox is documented, and telemetry is on by default without a list of what it sends.

**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

### Kimi Code CLI

1. `kimi -p` approves every tool call. Add `[[permission.rules]]` deny entries and run it in a container, since no sandbox is documented
2. Set `KIMI_LOOP_MAX_STEPS_PER_TURN` for unattended runs. Steps per turn are unlimited by default
3. Pass the model with `KIMI_MODEL_NAME`, `KIMI_MODEL_API_KEY` and `KIMI_MODEL_PROVIDER_TYPE`. `OPENAI_API_KEY` or `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` in the shell is ignored otherwise
4. Set `KIMI_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1` and use 0.41.0 or later, since earlier print-mode runs ignored it
5. Install `@moonshot-ai/kimi-code` or the `kimi-code` formula. The `kimi-cli` and `kimi-code` packages on PyPI are the archived Python CLI

### 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, Kimi Code CLI or Mistral Vibe CLI?

Mistral Vibe CLI and Kimi Code CLI score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.9 (B) and 62.1 (B). Kimi Code CLI leads on schema & documentation.

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

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

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