# Muse Code vs Qoder CLI

> Muse Code scores 61.3 (C) to Qoder CLI's 59.3 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Muse Code scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Qoder CLI's 59.3 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Qoder CLI leads on reliability, payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do agent harnesses.

- Muse Code: grade C, 61.3/100, rank #521 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/muse-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/muse-code.json
- Qoder CLI: grade C, 59.3/100, rank #609 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qoder-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/qoder-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

### Muse Code (C)

Good for: Developers who want Meta's Muse models, Muse Wonder Full included, in a terminal or CI agent with the sandbox and approvals on from the first run.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 67 against 55

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Qoder CLI loses 3 points for them

Watch for: Closed source, with no public CI or issue tracker for the CLI found and release notes that carry no dates

### Qoder CLI (C)

Good for: Developers already on Qoder who want the same agent in a terminal, in CI through a PAT, in Zed through ACP, or embedded through the Agent SDK.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 51 against 45
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 20
- Transparency & trust, 64 against 57

Watch for: No local sandbox is documented, and `auto` mode approves read-only tools on any path


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Muse Code | Qoder CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 51 | Qoder CLI +6 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 81 | Muse Code +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 80 | Qoder CLI +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 67 | 55 | Muse Code +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 35 | Qoder CLI +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 72 | Muse Code +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 64 | Qoder CLI +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **61.3 · C** | **59.3 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Muse Code | Qoder CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Meta | Qoder (BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary binary, used under the Meta Model API Terms of Service, which cover Meta's coding harness. Subscriptions are also under the Meta Subscription Terms of Service. The TypeScript and Python SDKs in the linked repository are MIT. | Proprietary, under the Qoder Terms of Service (BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED, last updated 29 April 2026). No source is published, and the Agent SDK's LICENSE file points to the same terms |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated |  |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read |  |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 63k npm/wk | 5k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.3/5 (4) | 3.5/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Muse Code.** Muse Code runs with approvals and an OS sandbox on by default, per-host network approval, an append-only event log and a headless mode with documented exit codes. It is the only route to Muse Wonder Full. It is closed source with undated release notes and no free route, and subscriptions allow training on code unless Contributor mode is turned off.

**Qoder CLI.** A closed-source terminal agent with a documented headless mode, an ACP server, typed TypeScript and Python SDKs and near-daily releases. Permission rules and modes are detailed, but no local sandbox is documented, usage statistics are on by default, and security fixes appear only as one-line release notes with no advisories or disclosure policy.

## Before you call either

### Muse Code

1. Set `META_API_KEY` for headless runs. Browser sign-in isn't available in CI or for Meta Managed Accounts
2. Gate on your own test command, not the exit code. `muse exec` returns 0 when the turn completes even if tests still fail
3. Pass `--max-model-steps` on unattended runs so a stuck task can't loop
4. Prefer `--disable-approval` to `--yolo` in CI so the sandbox stays on. On Linux the runner needs a working bubblewrap and a non-musl build
5. Turn Contributor mode off in `/settings` before a subscription session touches private code

### Qoder CLI

1. Set `QODER_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN` in CI. The browser sign-in can't complete in a headless run
2. Pass `--permission-mode` with `--allowed-tools` in headless runs. Every ask is denied, and `--yolo` removes all checks
3. Set `--max-turns` on unattended runs, and branch on exit codes 41 (authentication) and 53 (turn limit)
4. Set `privacy.usageStatisticsEnabled` and `aiCodeStatistics.enabled` to false in ~/.qoder/settings.json if usage data must stay local
5. Don't pass `--model lite`. The Lite tier was removed on 18 September 2026 and headless requests naming it fail

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Muse Code or Qoder CLI?

Muse Code scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Qoder CLI's 59.3 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Qoder CLI leads on reliability, payments & pricing and transparency & trust.


## For agents

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

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