# OpenAI Codex vs OpenHands

> OpenAI Codex has a score of 73.4 (BB) against OpenHands's 70.9 (BB). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is reliability, 28 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-05

OpenAI Codex has a score of 73.4 (BB) against OpenHands's 70.9 (BB). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is reliability, 28 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
- OpenHands: grade BB, 70.9/100, rank #92 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openhands.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openhands.json

## Which one, for what

Pick OpenAI Codex for security & auth (+16), transparency & trust (+14).

Pick OpenHands for reliability (+28).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenAI Codex | OpenHands | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 83 | OpenHands +28 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 87 | OpenAI Codex +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 78 | OpenAI Codex +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 82 | 66 | OpenAI Codex +16 |
| 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 | 85 | OpenAI Codex +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 69 | OpenAI Codex +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **73.4 · BB** | **70.9 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenAI Codex | OpenHands |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | OpenAI | All Hands AI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| 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 (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service |
| 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 | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-30 |
| Popularity | 126k stars | 90k stars |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 2.5/5 (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.

**OpenHands.** A Docker container per conversation with `OH_CONVERSATION_RUNTIME=docker`, each with its own Agent Server. Confirmation mode is off by default in Agent Canvas, and the npm install gives the agent the host's whole filesystem.

## 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

### OpenHands

1. Set `AGENT_CANVAS_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1` and `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before the first start
2. Start Canvas with `OH_CONVERSATION_RUNTIME=docker` or use the Docker image. The npm install runs the agent on the host
3. Turn on confirmation mode with a risk threshold. Canvas starts with it off
4. Use the SDK or the Agent Server API for headless runs. The `openhands --headless` CLI is no longer maintained
5. Set `filter_tools_regex` on the agent to keep unneeded MCP tool definitions out of the context

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