# OpenAI Codex vs OpenCode

> OpenAI Codex has a score of 73.4 (BB) against OpenCode's 68 (B). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is security & auth, 22 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-04

OpenAI Codex has a score of 73.4 (BB) against OpenCode's 68 (B). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is security & auth, 22 points.

- OpenAI Codex: grade BB, 73.4/100, rank #58 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-codex.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-codex.json
- OpenCode: grade B, 68/100, rank #134 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/opencode.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/opencode.json

## Which one, for what

Pick OpenAI Codex for security & auth (+22), maintenance & community (+6), transparency & trust (+12).

Pick OpenCode for reliability (+13).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenAI Codex | OpenCode | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 68 | OpenCode +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 88 | OpenAI Codex +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 79 | OpenAI Codex +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 82 | 60 | OpenAI Codex +22 |
| 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) | 87 | 81 | OpenAI Codex +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 71 | OpenAI Codex +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **73.4 · BB** | **68 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenAI Codex | OpenCode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | OpenAI | Anomaly |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (Codex CLI, its Rust crates and the TypeScript and Python SDKs). Codex cloud is a hosted service under OpenAI's terms | MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-30 |
| Popularity | 126k stars | 211k stars |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 2/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**OpenAI Codex.** Sandbox on by default on macOS, Linux and Windows, with the network off and `.git` and `.codex` read-only. Pre-1.0 at 0.160.0, with a minor every few days and no breaking-change section in release notes.

**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 Codex

1. Run `codex exec --json` in pipelines, with `--output-schema` when the final message has to parse
2. Keep the default sandbox. `--yolo` removes both the sandbox and approvals
3. Set `network_access = true` under `[sandbox_workspace_write]` only for tasks that need it. Network is off by default
4. Set `[analytics] enabled = false` and `[feedback] enabled = false` in config.toml to keep usage data local
5. Pin the npm version. A 0.x minor lands every few days

### OpenCode

1. Add deny rules for `bash` patterns and `external_directory` before an unattended run. Most tools default to allow
2. Set `"autoupdate": false` or `OPENCODE_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE=1` and pin the version in CI
3. Configure a provider key. With none, prompts go to free Zen models that may train on them
4. Set `OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD` before `opencode serve`. Without it the server runs unauthenticated
5. Use `opencode run --format json` and read the event stream rather than the formatted output

## Other comparisons with OpenAI Codex or OpenCode

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- [Aider vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-opencode.md)
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