# Muse Code vs Qwen Code

> Qwen Code scores 72.4 (BB) to Muse Code's 61.3 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-qwen-code
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-qwen-code.md (~2,750 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-qwen-code.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-qwen-code.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-12

Qwen Code scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Muse Code's 61.3 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Muse Code leads on security & auth. Both do agent harnesses.

- Muse Code: grade C, 61.3/100, rank #487 of 993. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/muse-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/muse-code.json
- Qwen Code: grade BB, 72.4/100, rank #107 of 993. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qwen-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/qwen-code.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 226 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 53

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

### Qwen Code (BB)

Good for: Developers and CI jobs that want an open-source harness tied to no single model vendor, with run budgets and SDKs.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 69 against 45
- Schema & documentation, 91 against 84
- Agent ergonomics, 85 against 79
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 75
- Transparency & trust, 63 against 57

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

Watch for: The default approval mode is Auto, where an LLM classifier approves tool calls, and sandboxing and folder trust are both off by default


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Muse Code | Qwen Code | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 69 | Qwen Code +24 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 91 | Qwen Code +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 85 | Qwen Code +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 67 | 53 | Muse Code +14 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 60 | Qwen Code +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 88 | Qwen Code +13 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 63 | Qwen Code +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **61.3 · C** | **72.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Muse Code | Qwen Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Meta | Alibaba (Qwen team) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| 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. | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated |  | 2026-10-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 63k npm/wk | 28k stars, 105k npm/wk |

## 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.

**Qwen Code.** Apache-2.0 with no account of its own, any OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini-compatible endpoint, and headless runs bounded by turn, tool-call and wall-time budgets with distinct exit codes. Out of the box, Auto mode lets an LLM classifier approve tool calls, with the sandbox and folder trust both off. Usage statistics are on by default.

## 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

### Qwen Code

1. Pass `--approval-mode` on every run. The settings default is `auto`, and one docs page says headless runs default to asking, so don't rely on either
2. Add `--max-session-turns`, `--max-wall-time` and `--max-tool-calls`. All three are unlimited by default. Exit 53 is the turn limit and 55 a budget
3. `--yolo` doesn't turn on a sandbox. Add `--sandbox`, or on Linux set `tools.executionSandbox` with `network` set to `closed`
4. Set `QWEN_USAGE_STATISTICS_ENABLED=false` to stop usage statistics
5. Authenticate with `OPENAI_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_BASE_URL` and `OPENAI_MODEL` in CI. The browser sign-in is discontinued

## Questions

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

Qwen Code scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Muse Code's 61.3 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Muse Code leads on security & auth.

### Are Muse Code and Qwen Code open source?

No open-source release is listed for Muse Code. Qwen Code is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Muse Code or Qwen Code

- [Agent Zero vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Agent Zero vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Aider vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Aider vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Amp vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Amp vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Claude Code vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Claude Code vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Cline vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Cline vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Devin vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Devin vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Droid CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Droid CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Pi vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Pi vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-muse-code.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [goose vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-muse-code.md)
- [goose vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Kilo Code CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Kilo Code CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Muse Code vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-openai-codex.md)
- [Muse Code vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-opencode.md)
- [Muse Code vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-openhands.md)
- [Muse Code vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [OpenAI Codex vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [OpenCode vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [OpenHands vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Prime Agent vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Muse Code vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Paperclip vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-qwen-code.md)