# Kimi Code CLI vs Rovo Dev CLI

> Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) to Rovo Dev CLI's 43.9 (E) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) on agent readiness against Rovo Dev CLI's 43.9 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. 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
- Rovo Dev CLI: grade E, 43.9/100, rank #1010 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/rovo-dev-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/rovo-dev-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:
- Reliability, 68 against 35
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 71 against 53
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 15
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 61

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.0 against 2.0 out of 5

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

### Rovo Dev CLI (E)

Good for: Teams already on Jira, Confluence and Bitbucket who want the agent to read and update work items and pages from the terminal or a pipeline.

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Kimi Code CLI loses 4 points for them

Watch for: Atlassian has announced end of life for standalone Rovo Dev, with the CLI moving to the Rovo CLI and no dates set


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kimi Code CLI | Rovo Dev CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 68 | 35 | Kimi Code CLI +33 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 45 | Kimi Code CLI +40 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 53 | Kimi Code CLI +18 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 48 | Rovo Dev CLI +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 15 | Kimi Code CLI +45 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 61 | Kimi Code CLI +11 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 61 | Kimi Code CLI +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62.1 · B** | **43.9 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kimi Code CLI | Rovo Dev CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Moonshot AI | Atlassian |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary, under the Atlassian Customer Agreement (effective 1 October 2026) and the Atlassian AI Terms (effective 17 August 2026). No source is published |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-14 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated |  | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated |  | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 37k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 2/5 (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.

**Rovo Dev CLI.** Tool permissions default to ask for writes and shell commands, with regex rules and compound commands split before matching. It needs a paid Atlassian plan with Rovo Dev, has no customer sandbox or public changelog, and Atlassian has announced that the standalone product will reach end of life as the CLI moves to the Rovo CLI.

## 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

### Rovo Dev CLI

1. Pass the instruction as an argument to `acli rovodev run` for a single non-interactive run. No JSON output flag or exit codes are documented
2. Use `acli rovodev serve <port>` and stream `/v3/stream_chat?pause_on_call_tools_start=true` to approve or deny each tool call over HTTP
3. Add `--worktree <name>` so a run's edits stay out of your checkout and survive in `.rovodev/worktrees/<name>`
4. Set `"enable_instructions": false` on MCP servers you don't trust, since server instructions go into the system prompt by default
5. Check `/usage` before long runs. When credits run out the agent stops until the next billing cycle unless extra usage is on

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Kimi Code CLI or Rovo Dev CLI?

Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) on agent readiness against Rovo Dev CLI's 43.9 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Kimi Code CLI and Rovo Dev CLI open source?

Kimi Code CLI is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Rovo Dev CLI.


## For agents

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

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