# Kimi Code CLI vs Orca (slim)

> Kimi Code CLI and Orca score within a point of each other for agent harnesses, 58.1 and 57.4 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-orca.md (~5,300 tokens) · this version ~1,730 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-orca.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-orca
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Kimi Code CLI and Orca score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 58.1 (C) and 57.4 (C). Both do agent harnesses.

- Kimi Code CLI: C 58.1, rank #759 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kimi-code-cli.min.md
- Orca: C 57.4, rank #791 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orca.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 58; Schema & documentation, 85 against 65; Payments & pricing, 60 against 40; Transparency & trust, 62 against 54. Also Free to start without a card.
- Orca, good for Developers who want an orchestrator agent to split work across parallel coding agents, on desktop or mobile. Also No key needed to call it; No incidents deducted, where Kimi Code CLI loses 8 points for them.

| Category | Kimi Code CLI | Orca |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 68 | 58 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 85 | 65 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 71 | 70 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 45 | 43 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 40 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 72 | 75 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 62 | 54 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Kimi Code CLI | Orca |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Moonshot AI | Lovecast Inc. |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-06 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-13 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-13 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not read yet |
| Popularity | 37k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Kimi Code CLI +20: Kimi Code CLI 85 (Framework reading. The `kimi web` server serves `/openapi.json` and `/asyncapi.json`, generated from its runtime validation schemas, but only from a running server behind auth, and the API is marked experimental. The ACP server's methods and capabilities are tabled (20). llms.txt indexes every page and each page is served as Markdown (10). The permission-mode, goal-mode and MCP pages say when to use each mode and what to avoid (16). The config reference gives type and default for each key, with enums for permission modes, output formats and rule decisions (13). Many examples, the server's error-code bands and ACP error codes are documented, but print-mode exit codes are documented only for goal runs (11). A dated changelog in the docs plus the technical changelog in the repository (15). Unchanged on 2 November; llms.txt now indexes 60 pages in two languages.); Orca 65 (Harness reading. A docs site with CLI orchestration and native chat pages (65).)
- Payments & pricing, Kimi Code CLI +20: Kimi Code CLI 60 (Self-hosted rule. No payment protocol (0). The CLI is free under MIT with nothing to buy (20). No card or account is needed for the software, and any listed provider's key works (20). An agent can install it from npm and run it with `KIMI_MODEL_*` variables and no sign-up, given a model key (20). The Kimi Code subscription and Kimi Platform API usage are separate purchases.); Orca 40 (Scored on the cloud option. No protocol (0). The cloud price wasn't found on the pages read (0). The desktop app is free and MIT with no card (20). The local app needs no sign-up that we found (20). 0 + 0 + 20 + 20 = 40.)
- Reliability, Kimi Code CLI +10: Kimi Code CLI 68 (Local-package reading. An install script that verifies a checksum, npm `@moonshot-ai/kimi-code` with Node 22.19.0 or newer stated, and Homebrew core at 2.4.1, for macOS, Linux and Windows (20). A public CI workflow runs the build, a smoke test, sharded tests on Linux, tests on Windows, lint and typecheck. GitHub's pages answer 403 in this session, so whether it passes on main wasn't checked (15). The 18 October issue and pull-request counts came from shields.io badges, a third-party copy of GitHub data this run bars, so they are struck. The clone shows 95 commits from 13 authors since 18 October and a changelog that credits merged pull requests up to #4553 in 2.4.1, but which open issues are crashes or regressions, and how fast they're answered, couldn't be read (8). Changesets changelog with Major, Minor and Patch headings and no breaking-change label since 0.28.0. 2.2.0 made `executor = "kaos"` configs fail validation, 2.3.0 stopped bare-name plugin skill calls and 2.3.2, a patch, removed swarms from `kimi -p` and ACP (10). 2.4.1, past 1.0 (15). 20 + 15 + 8 + 10 + 15 = 68.); Orca 58 (Local software. Desktop and mobile builds and a Homebrew cask (20). Unit, end-to-end and platform test workflows; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Tags to v1.4.251, no changelog file (8). Version 1.4 (15). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 15 = 58.)
- Transparency & trust, Kimi Code CLI +8: Kimi Code CLI 62 (MIT (30). The docs have no privacy page for the CLI. The Kimi terms (effective 13 August 2026, NOVASCENT PRIVATE LIMITED, Singapore) let Moonshot use content to train its services unless the user opts out by email, prospectively only, and the Kimi privacy policy says content is used for training. The Kimi Platform privacy policy keeps inputs while the account is active. Neither says which applies to CLI sessions (12). The `kimi server` tree prints a deprecation notice until the next major version, a table names each deprecated config key and the version that replaced it, and the Python Kimi CLI was archived with a migration guide, though its notice gives no date for when old installations stop working (13). Telemetry is documented as on, with a config key and an environment variable to turn it off, but what it collects isn't listed, and print mode ignored the opt-out until 0.41.0 (9).); Orca 54 (MIT (30). Privacy and telemetry docs on the site (not read) (18 of 30). No deprecation policy (5). Disclosed with an opt-out (15 of 20). 30 + 18 + 5 + 15 = 68.)