# MiniMax Code vs Paseo

> MiniMax Code scores 66.1 (B) to Paseo's 62.1 (B) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-paseo
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-paseo.md (~5,050 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

MiniMax Code scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against Paseo's 62.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Paseo leads on transparency & trust. Both do agent harnesses.

- MiniMax Code: grade B, 66.1/100, rank #382 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/minimax-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-code.json
- Paseo: grade B, 62.1/100, rank #575 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paseo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/paseo.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 1500 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### MiniMax Code (B)

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

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Pre-1.0 and labelled a source preview, with npm at 0.7.4 and the public source at 0.7.2

### Paseo (B)

Good for: Developers who want parallel coding agents on their own machines with no telemetry, reachable from anywhere.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 63

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: Pre-1.0, at 0.15.3


## Why the edge

### 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.
- Paseo (65): Harness reading. Public docs, a CLI and plugin examples in the repository (65).

### 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.
- Paseo (70): Harness reading. A self-hosted daemon that agents can use to create worktrees, launch other agents and talk to them, scriptable from the CLI (70).

### Transparency & trust: Paseo +5

- 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.
- Paseo (68): Apache 2.0 for everything but third-party components (30). No telemetry and agents run on your machine (22 of 30). CHANGELOG.md, no deprecation policy (10). States no telemetry (20). 30 + 22 + 10 + 20 = 82.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | MiniMax Code | Paseo | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 51 | 50 | MiniMax Code +1 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 65 | MiniMax Code +16 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 70 | MiniMax Code +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 58 | Paseo +1 |
| 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) | 79 | 75 | MiniMax Code +4 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 68 | Paseo +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.1 · B** | **62.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | MiniMax Code | Paseo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | MiniMax | Mohamed Boudra |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-07 |
| 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 |

## How the scores have moved

### MiniMax Code

- -1.6 on 1 November 2026: product, correction
- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist

### Paseo

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**MiniMax Code.** An MIT-licensed terminal coding agent with a headless mode that returns versioned JSON, documented exit codes, an ACP server and a TypeScript SDK, and telemetry off by default. It's pre-1.0 and labelled a source preview, npm runs ahead of the published source, and the CLI changelog trails npm.

**Paseo.** A self-hosted, open-source workspace for running many coding agents on your own machines, scriptable from the CLI and reachable from phone, web or desktop, with no telemetry or forced log-in. It's pre-1.0 and run largely by one maintainer.

## Before you call either

### MiniMax Code

1. Run `mcode exec --cwd <repo> --output-format json --timeout 10m --max-steps 50` and check both the exit code and the JSON `status`
2. Keep `--permission full` and `off` for a container or throwaway workspace. The default `smart` fails when it would need a person
3. Set `MCODE_PROVIDER_API_KEY` and add a provider for BYOK. M Plan models need a browser sign-in with `mcode login --region global`
4. Set `MINIMAX_DATA_DIR` per CI runner. Keys and sessions live in `~/.minimax` by default
5. Pin a version. npm releases come every few days and the public source trails them
6. Use `@minimax-ai/code-sdk` to drive `mcode exec` from Node.js. It's 0.x and its API may change between minor versions

### Paseo

1. Run the daemon on the machine that has your tools and credentials, and connect from the clients
2. Script runs from the CLI for repeatable agent jobs

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, MiniMax Code or Paseo?

MiniMax Code scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against Paseo's 62.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Paseo leads on transparency & trust.

### Are MiniMax Code and Paseo open source?

Yes. MiniMax Code is open source (MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published). Paseo is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

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---

Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp