# Kimi Code CLI vs OpenAI Codex (slim)

> 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.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-openai-codex.md (~3,600 tokens) · this version ~680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-openai-codex.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-openai-codex
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-10-18
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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: B 62.1, rank #492 of 1146 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kimi-code-cli.min.md
- OpenAI Codex: BB 73.4, rank #94 of 1146 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-codex.min.md
- Kimi Code CLI, 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.
- OpenAI Codex, 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 Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better.

| Category | Kimi Code CLI | OpenAI Codex |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 68 | 55 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 85 | 90 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 71 | 80 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 45 | 82 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 72 | 87 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 62 | 84 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Kimi Code CLI | OpenAI Codex |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Moonshot AI | OpenAI |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| 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 |
| 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) |