# Kimi Code CLI vs OpenAI Codex

> OpenAI Codex scores 73.4 (BB) to Kimi Code CLI's 62.1 (B) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

OpenAI Codex scores 73.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Kimi Code CLI's 62.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kimi Code CLI leads on reliability. 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
- OpenAI Codex: grade BB, 73.4/100, rank #94 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-codex.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-codex.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:
- Reliability, 68 against 55

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

### OpenAI Codex (BB)

Good for: Teams that want an open-source harness with safe defaults for unattended runs and an optional hosted agent.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 85
- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 71
- Security & auth, 82 against 45
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 72
- Transparency & trust, 84 against 62

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

Watch for: Pre-1.0 at 0.163.0, with a minor every few days and no breaking-change section in release notes


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kimi Code CLI | OpenAI Codex | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 68 | 55 | Kimi Code CLI +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 90 | OpenAI Codex +5 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 80 | OpenAI Codex +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 82 | OpenAI Codex +37 |
| 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 | 87 | OpenAI Codex +15 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 84 | OpenAI Codex +22 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **62.1 · B** | **73.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kimi Code CLI | OpenAI Codex |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Moonshot AI | OpenAI |
| 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 (Codex CLI, its Rust crates and the TypeScript and Python SDKs). Codex cloud is a hosted service under OpenAI's terms |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-14 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated |  | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated |  | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 37k npm/wk | 126k stars |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 3/5 (2) |

## 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.

**OpenAI Codex.** Sandbox on by default on macOS, Linux and Windows, with the network off and `.git` and `.codex` read-only. Pre-1.0 at 0.163.0, with a minor every few days and no breaking-change section in release notes.

## 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

### OpenAI Codex

1. Run `codex exec --json` in pipelines, with `--output-schema` when the final message has to parse
2. Keep the default sandbox, which has the network off. `--yolo` removes both the sandbox and approvals
3. Replace `gpt-5.5` with `gpt-6.1-sol` in saved configs, custom agents and scripts under ChatGPT sign-in. GPT-5.5 retired there on 14 October 2026
4. Set `[analytics] enabled = false` and `[feedback] enabled = false` in config.toml to keep usage data local
5. Pin the npm version. A 0.x minor lands every few days

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Kimi Code CLI or OpenAI Codex?

OpenAI Codex scores 73.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Kimi Code CLI's 62.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Kimi Code CLI leads on reliability.

### Are Kimi Code CLI and OpenAI Codex open source?

Yes. Kimi Code CLI is open source (MIT). OpenAI Codex is open source (Apache-2.0 (Codex CLI, its Rust crates and the TypeScript and Python SDKs). Codex cloud is a hosted service under OpenAI's terms).


## For agents

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

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