Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
OpenAI Agents API vs OpenCode
OpenAI Agents API scores 73.3 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenCode's 68.8 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. OpenCode leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1041 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
Best for Teams that want OpenAI to run the agent loop, with sandboxes, MCP tools and subagents, and are fine with a beta API, US-only data residency and no Zero Data Retention.
Ahead on
- Security & auth, 87 against 60
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 81
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 71
Also in its favour
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- No incidents deducted, where OpenCode loses 4 points for them
Watch for
Public beta since 10 September 2026 behind the agents=v1 beta header, with no GA date
OpenCode B
Best for Agents and pipelines that need a scriptable coding agent with a JSON event stream, an HTTP server and any model, including keyless free ones.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 72 against 60
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
Also in its favour
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card
- Open source
Watch for
Most permissions default to allow, and SECURITY.md says the permission system is not a sandbox
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Payments & pricing OpenCode +30
OpenAI Agents API 30
No machine payment protocol (0). Model, tool and container prices published without a login, and no fee for the API itself (20). The Free tier reading of the openai-api listing, half (10). Sign-up in a browser (0). 0 + 20 + 10 + 0 = 30.
OpenCode 60
No payment protocol (0). Scored on OpenCode Zen and Go. Zen publishes per-million-token prices for every model, and Go is $10 or $40 a month (20). The MIT package and the free Zen models need no card (20). With no key configured it loads the free Zen models with a public key, so an agent can install it and run a task with no signup at all (20).
Security & auth OpenAI Agents API +27
OpenAI Agents API 87
Project keys with restricted per-endpoint permissions, service accounts and workload identity, per the openai-api listing; we didn't confirm a key can be limited to /v1/agents (27 of 30). Automatic review for approvals, a sandbox network restricted to a host allowlist, vaults for secrets and a sandbox security guide (17 of 20). The agent reads web pages, MCP results and browser content; the sandbox security guide and approval flow are the mitigations, with no prompt-injection guide of its own found (8 of 15). Tracing, observability and usage per session and admin audit logs (15). SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 family, Bugcrowd bounty and a disclosure policy, per the openai-api listing (20). Not ZDR-eligible and US residency only, recorded under transparency. 27 + 17 + 8 + 15 + 20 = 87.
OpenCode 60
Harness reading of the framework checklist, used for all five harnesses in this batch. 30 for 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. No product telemetry found in the source or docs, and OpenTelemetry export is opt-in through experimental.openTelemetry. It fetches the model list from models.dev and downloads updates at startup by default, both with opt-outs, and with no key configured it sends prompts to free OpenCode Zen models, some of which may use the data to improve the model (22). Allow, ask or deny per tool with glob patterns, .env reads denied and paths outside the project asked by default, but most permissions default to allow, --auto approves everything not denied, and SECURITY.md says the permission system is not a sandbox (9). SECURITY.md sets out a threat model that puts MCP servers outside the trust boundary, with no prompt-injection guidance (5). Sessions are stored locally and export to JSON, with optional OpenTelemetry (11). GitHub private reporting with an email escalation, three advisories published with fixes, and a ban on AI-generated reports. No security.txt (13). CVE-2026-88624 (published 22 September, CVSS 9.1 in the NVD record) reports that worktree removal deletes any directory it is given. In 1.19.5, as in 1.19.3, Worktree.remove still deletes an existing path that isn't a registered worktree. The call needs access to the server API, which SECURITY.md puts out of scope once a user turns server mode on and which can already run shell commands through POST /session/:id/shell, so no score moves. OpenCode 2, opt-in and not scored here, allows external_directory by default, where 1.x asks.
Transparency & trust OpenAI Agents API +14
OpenAI Agents API 85
Closed service with clear terms, Apache-2.0 SDKs (15). Session state retained until deleted, deletable sessions and artifacts, not ZDR-eligible, US residency only, and the data-controls guide agrees; no retention period for artifacts after a sandbox expires (25 of 30). Dated deprecation notices with minimum periods for GA models; a beta API can change faster (15 of 20). Subprocessors and processing countries listed, per the openai-api listing (20). 15 + 25 + 15 + 20 = 75.
OpenCode 71
MIT (30). A privacy policy (effective 6 March 2026) and terms (15 August 2026) from Anomaly Innovations, Inc., plus a Zen privacy section saying models are hosted in the US, providers keep nothing and don't train except on named free models, and OpenAI and Anthropic keep requests for 30 days, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 17 October. The general retention line is as long as necessary (22). Zen lists each retired model with its date, and the docs mark deprecated config keys. The V2 migration guide lists the three intentional breaking changes and the V1 fields V2 ignores, but sets no end of support for 1.x (15). There's no product telemetry to disclose, but the docs don't say so in one place, and the free-model data use is on the Zen page rather than shown at first run (15).
Reliability OpenCode +12
OpenAI Agents API 60
Read as a hosted API. status.openai.com has an Agents component under APIs (20). Since release on 10 September (57 days, not 90), the feed names the Agents API in a degraded-performance incident on 14 September, the elevated errors across ChatGPT, Codex and the API on 29 September (the openai-api listing reads that one as a major, 17:52 to 23:14 UTC), computer use issues and degraded workspace agents on 6 and 7 October, degraded performance across the APIs for 22 minutes on 21 October, and overbilling for hosted containers on 19 September. One major, the rest minor (10). Rate limits come from the shared guide, published per tier and model with headers, and the errors page adds a Files API allowance on session creation (15). 429 and 503 guidance with Retry-After, capped backoff and a check-then-retry procedure for turns (15). The Scale Tier SLA in the openai-api listing isn't shown to cover a beta API (0). Public beta behind the agents=v1 header (0). 20 + 10 + 15 + 15 + 0 + 0 = 60.
OpenCode 72
Read as a local package, graded on the 1.x line that npm i -g opencode-ai and the opencode.ai/install script put on a machine. opencode-ai 1.19.5 on npm (npm's latest on 1 November) with native binaries for macOS, Linux and Windows on x64 and arm64, plus Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey, Nix and the install script (20). A test workflow runs on the repository. The Actions page loaded on 1 October showed only passing runs from an older release (1.3.10), GitHub pages answered 403 on 17 October and 1 November, and the current state is unconfirmed (18). About 4,700 open issues and 1,600 open pull requests, handled mostly by scripts that close stale issues daily and flag duplicates, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 17 October or 1 November (8). Releases come almost daily with notes on GitHub and a changelog page. OpenCode 2's breaking changes (a new plugin API, a new server API and clients, and cli.json in place of tui.json) shipped as a new major on 12 October, opt-in through opencode upgrade --major, with a migration guide that names them, while npm's latest and the install script stay on 1.x. The 1.19.4 and 1.19.5 commits change no SDK code and mark no breaking change, but the 1.x release notes weren't read for a breaking-change section (11). 1.19, stable (15).
Maintenance & community OpenAI Agents API +6
OpenAI Agents API 87
Closed API. Last dated change 16 October 2026, Ultrafast mode and document skills (30). Four dated changelog entries in the 57 days since release, 10 September, 29 September, 9 October and 16 October (20). Changelog and help centre, as the openai-api listing reads them (12 of 15). Official SDKs carry beta.agents (15). SDK CI, per the openai-api listing (10). 30 + 20 + 12 + 15 + 10 = 87.
OpenCode 81
1.19.5 on npm on 2026-10-28, 4 days before the check, and v2.2.5 tagged on 30 October (30). 30 releases on the 1.x line (1.18.12 to 1.19.5) in the 90 days to 1 November, plus 44 v2 tags (20). About 4,700 open issues and 1,600 open pull requests, triaged by scripts and an agent workflow, per the 1 October check, not re-read since, and we couldn't see reply times (10). npm, Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey and Nix builds track releases, npm publishes through GitHub OIDC, and opencode.ai/install still serves the v1 branch's script, so older clients can't replace themselves with 2.x by accident (14). Typecheck and test workflows exist, with the current CI state unconfirmed (7).
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | OpenAI Agents API | OpenCode | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 60 | 72 | OpenCode +12 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 88 | 88 | even |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 80 | 79 | OpenAI Agents API +1 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 87 | 60 | OpenAI Agents API +27 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 30 | 60 | OpenCode +30 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 87 | 81 | OpenAI Agents API +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 85 | 71 | OpenAI Agents API +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |
| Total | BB 73.3/100 | B 68.8/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | OpenAI Agents API | OpenCode |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | Agent harness |
| Vendor | OpenAI | Anomaly |
| Hosted endpoint | https://api.openai.com/v1/agents/sessions | no (local only) |
| Transports | https | |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted API under OpenAI's Services Agreement. The SDKs are Apache 2.0 | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-28 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-08-15 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-03-06 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | none | 211k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (2) |
How the scores have moved
OpenAI Agents API
No score change since it was listed.
Verdicts
OpenAI Agents API
OpenAI's hosted agent runtime, the Codex harness behind one session call, with MCP, functions, web search, computer use, subagents and sandboxes on OpenAI or your own infrastructure. Documentation, errors and SDKs are thorough. It's still public beta, can't use Zero Data Retention and keeps data in the United States only.
OpenCode
Runs with no key or account on free OpenCode Zen models. Most permissions default to allow, and SECURITY.md says the permission system is not a sandbox.
Before you call either
OpenAI Agents API
- POST https://api.openai.com/v1/agents/sessions with a project key and the header OpenAI-Beta: agents=v1, or use client.beta.agents in the SDKs
- Before retrying, retrieve the session and turn and check which actions completed, since there's no idempotency key
- Set the sandbox network to restricted with an allowlist of up to 100 hosts when the agent doesn't need the open web
- Save files from /workspace/outputs before deleting a session; no retention period is stated for artifacts
- Don't send data that needs Zero Data Retention or non-US residency; the Agents API supports neither
OpenCode
- Add deny rules for
bashpatterns andexternal_directorybefore an unattended run. Most tools default to allow - Set
"autoupdate": falseorOPENCODE_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE=1and pin the version in CI - Configure a provider key. With none, prompts go to free Zen models that may train on them
- Set
OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORDbeforeopencode serve. Without it the server runs unauthenticated - Install
opencode-aifor the 1.x server API and SDK. Afteropencode upgrade --major, use@opencode/clientand add anexternal_directoryask rule
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, OpenAI Agents API or OpenCode?
OpenAI Agents API scores 73.3 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenCode's 68.8 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. OpenCode leads on reliability and payments & pricing.
Can an agent call OpenAI Agents API and OpenCode without installing anything?
OpenAI Agents API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.openai.com/v1/agents/sessions. No hosted endpoint is listed for OpenCode.
Are OpenAI Agents API and OpenCode open source?
No open-source release is listed for OpenAI Agents API. OpenCode is open source (MIT).
Other comparisons with OpenAI Agents API or OpenCode
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- goose vs OpenAI Agents API
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- Harness² vs OpenAI Agents API
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- HarnessRouter vs OpenAI Agents API
- HarnessRouter vs OpenCode
- Jules vs OpenAI Agents API
- Jules vs OpenCode
- Junie CLI vs OpenAI Agents API
- Junie CLI vs OpenCode
- Kilo Code CLI vs OpenAI Agents API
- Kilo Code CLI vs OpenCode
- Kimi Code CLI vs OpenAI Agents API
- Kimi Code CLI vs OpenCode
- Kiro CLI vs OpenAI Agents API
- Kiro CLI vs OpenCode
- mini-swe-agent vs OpenAI Agents API
- mini-swe-agent vs OpenCode
- MiniMax Code vs OpenAI Agents API
- MiniMax Code vs OpenCode
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs OpenAI Agents API
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs OpenCode
- Muse Code vs OpenAI Agents API
- Muse Code vs OpenCode
- OpenAI Agents API vs OpenAI Codex
- OpenAI Agents API vs OpenHands
- OpenAI Agents API vs OpenMausBot
- OpenAI Agents API vs Prime Agent
- OpenAI Agents API vs Qoder CLI
- OpenAI Agents API vs Qwen Code
- OpenAI Agents API vs Mirror CLI
- OpenAI Agents API vs Rovo Dev CLI
- OpenAI Agents API vs Unstoppable
- OpenAI Agents API vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenAI Agents API vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- OpenAI Codex vs OpenCode
- OpenCode vs OpenHands
- OpenCode vs OpenMausBot
- OpenCode vs Prime Agent
- OpenCode vs Qoder CLI
- OpenCode vs Qwen Code
- OpenCode vs Mirror CLI
- OpenCode vs Rovo Dev CLI
- OpenCode vs Unstoppable
- OpenCode vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenCode vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Clawboo vs OpenCode
- CLI Manager vs OpenCode
- Harness vs OpenCode
- OpenCode vs Paperclip
- OpenCode vs Parallax
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/openai-agents-api-vs-opencode.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/openai-agents-api.json·/api/v1/tools/opencode.json - From a terminal
anchor compare openai-agents-api opencode(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "openai-agents-api", "b": "opencode"}at/mcp, no key