# MiniMax Code vs Orca (slim)

> MiniMax Code scores 66.1 (B) to Orca's 57.4 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-orca.md (~6,050 tokens) · this version ~2,430 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-orca.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-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
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MiniMax Code scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against Orca's 57.4 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Orca leads on reliability. Both do agent harnesses.

- MiniMax Code: B 66.1, rank #382 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/minimax-code.min.md
- Orca: C 57.4, rank #791 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orca.min.md
- MiniMax Code, good for Scripted coding runs on MiniMax's models or any compatible model, driven by JSON output and exit codes. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 81 against 65; Agent ergonomics, 79 against 70; Security & auth, 57 against 43; Payments & pricing, 60 against 40; Transparency & trust, 63 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. Ahead on Reliability, 58 against 51. Also No key needed to call it.

| Category | MiniMax Code | Orca |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 51 | 58 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 81 | 65 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 79 | 70 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 57 | 43 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 40 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 79 | 75 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 63 | 54 |

| Fact (where they differ) | MiniMax Code | Orca |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | MiniMax | Lovecast Inc. |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Licence | MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published | MIT |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-06 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-01-19 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-01-19 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | 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 | yes | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not read yet |
| Popularity | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Payments & pricing, MiniMax Code +20: MiniMax Code 60 (Self-hosted rule. No payment protocol (0). The CLI is free under MIT with nothing to buy (20). No card or MiniMax account is needed for the software, and BYOK works without a login (20). An agent can install it from npm and run `mcode exec` with a provider key and no sign-up (20). M Plan and MiniMax API usage are separate purchases. Total 60.); 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.)
- Schema & documentation, MiniMax Code +16: MiniMax Code 81 (Harness reading. `mcode exec` returns a versioned `ExecResult` JSON document (`schemaVersion` 1) or versioned stream-json events, takes `--output-schema` for the final answer, and `mcode acp` speaks the Agent Client Protocol. No OpenAPI, since there's no server API (20). llms.txt indexes the docs, and each page is served as Markdown (10). The security page says when to use each permission policy and to keep `full` and `off` to isolated workspaces, and the automation page gives a CI baseline (16). An options table with defaults and enums for permission, output and prompt modes (12). Examples for each mode, a nine-row exit-code table, five result statuses and a named error for invalid structured output (13). A dated CLI changelog in the docs, whose latest entry (0.7.0, 26 October) trails npm's 0.7.4 (10). Total 81.); Orca 65 (Harness reading. A docs site with CLI orchestration and native chat pages (65).)
- Security & auth, MiniMax Code +14: MiniMax Code 57 (Harness reading of the framework checklist. 30 for credentials and what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. Provider keys are read from an environment variable and never printed, and stored in `config.yaml` in the data directory. All three telemetry channels are off by default and the doc lists every field sent. The default `smart` policy classifies actions through a cloud classifier, and what it sends isn't documented (20). Ask, Auto and Full access in the TUI. Headless defaults to `smart` and fails on a pending permission request instead of approving it, while `full` and `off` skip checks. A bundled sandbox runtime with macOS tests, a read-only filesystem policy for Explore subagents when sandboxing is available, but the default sandbox coverage isn't documented (12). SECURITY.md says permissions and sandboxing don't replace review of untrusted plugins, MCP servers and shell commands. No guidance found for fetched web content (6). Sessions kept locally, `/export` with credential redaction, `/transcript` and stream-json events (11). SECURITY.md takes private reports by email and GitHub's private advisories with no response SLA, history and build scans with Gitleaks run in a release-audit workflow, and OSV lists no advisories for `@minimax-ai/code` or `@minimax-ai/code-sdk`. No security.txt (8). Total 57.); Orca 43 (Harness reading. Anonymous usage data with an opt-out, per the README's link to its telemetry docs (15 of 30). Worktrees per agent and a sandboxed Linux build (12 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). A dependency-security workflow (6 of 20). 15 + 12 + 5 + 5 + 6 = 43.)
- Agent ergonomics, MiniMax Code +9: MiniMax Code 79 (Harness reading, for a pipeline driving the CLI. Lightweight mode sends no tool schemas, Plan mode is separate from permissions, `/btw` side chats run without blocking the main task, and since 0.7.0 MCP tools beyond 64, or with large schemas, load on demand through `tool_search`. No per-tool allow or deny list was found in the CLI docs (16). json and stream-json output, `--timeout`, `--max-steps`, `--output-schema` and `--output-last-message` (18). Exit codes per failure class, a status field and an interaction error when a run would need a person (17). `--session`, `--continue`, fork and rewind, and a model request is retried when the first response doesn't arrive within 300 seconds (16). One positional argument runs a task and BYOK needs no MiniMax login. The TypeScript SDK `@minimax-ai/code-sdk` 0.1.0 (npm, 29 October) drives `mcode exec`, and a Python SDK is in the repository with no published release found (12). Total 79.); Orca 70 (Harness reading. An orchestrator agent that splits work across workers in their own workspaces, chat or raw CLI, a browser and a CLI in one app (70).)
- Transparency & trust, MiniMax Code +9: MiniMax Code 63 (First-party code is MIT, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0 and the desktop app closed. The repository says the published npm package isn't shown to be built from this source, and npm is at 0.7.4 while the source is at 0.7.2 (22 of 30). The MiniMax Agent terms (updated 19 January 2026) give MiniMax a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide licence over what users submit through the services and what the services generate from it. The privacy policy of the same date states no retention period and says nothing on training, and the telemetry doc says server-side retention isn't defined. BYOK runs that don't touch MiniMax's services aren't covered by either (8 of 30). No deprecation policy. Removed functions are listed in the changelog without dates ahead (6 of 20). Telemetry is off by default, with each field, each destination and two environment opt-outs documented (20). Total 56.); 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.)
- Reliability, Orca +7: MiniMax Code 51 (Local-package reading, for the CLI. An install script for macOS, Linux and WSL and one for Windows, and npm `@minimax-ai/code` with Node.js 22.19+, 24.2+, 25 or 26 stated. The installer doesn't support Alpine or musl (20). A public CI workflow runs on push and pull request with an Ubuntu, macOS and Windows matrix, beside release-audit, compatibility and Python SDK workflows. Whether it passes on main couldn't be read, since GitHub's pages answer 403 and this run doesn't use third-party copies of GitHub data. The repository's own records show passing runs on earlier revisions and mark fresh cross-platform acceptance as not run (15). Open issue counts and replies couldn't be read. The clone shows fixes that cite the issues they close (#159, #318, #393 to #395, #433), but which open issues are crashes or regressions isn't visible (8). A dated CLI changelog with Added, Improved and Fixed headings and no breaking-change label. Its latest entry is 0.7.0 (26 October) while npm's latest is 0.7.4 (30 October) (8). 0.7.x and called a source preview (0). Total 51.); 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.)