# OpenAI Codex vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)

> OpenAI Codex scores 73.4 (BB) to Warp's 59.8 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

OpenAI Codex scores 73.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)'s 59.8 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do agent harnesses.

- OpenAI Codex: grade BB, 73.4/100, rank #94 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-codex.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-codex.json
- Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API): grade C, 59.8/100, rank #592 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/warp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/warp.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

### OpenAI Codex (BB)

Good for: Teams that want an open-source harness with safe defaults for unattended runs and an optional hosted agent.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 66
- Security & auth, 82 against 52
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
- Transparency & trust, 84 against 72

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

Watch for: Pre-1.0 at 0.163.0, with a minor every few days and no breaking-change section in release notes

### Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) (C)

Good for: Teams that want one agent across an interactive terminal session and API-started cloud runs, including Claude Code and Codex runs on Warp's infrastructure or their own workers.

Watch for: The `warp` CLI has no print or headless mode. Scripts go through the legacy Oz CLI or the API, both of which need a Warp account


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenAI Codex | Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 52 | OpenAI Codex +3 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 89 | OpenAI Codex +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 66 | OpenAI Codex +14 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 82 | 52 | OpenAI Codex +30 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 20 | OpenAI Codex +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 84 | OpenAI Codex +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 72 | OpenAI Codex +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -1 | |
| **Total** | | **73.4 · BB** | **59.8 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenAI Codex | Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | OpenAI | Warp |
| 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 | Mixed. The client, including the `warp` and `oz` binaries, is AGPL-3.0 with the `warpui_core` and `warpui` crates under MIT. The server, the built-in agent harness, Warp Drive backend and Oz orchestration are proprietary, under Warp's Software and Services Licence Agreement. The SDKs are Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read |  |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read |  |
| Popularity | 126k stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 3.3/5 (4) |

## 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 0.163.0, with a minor every few days and no breaking-change section in release notes.

**Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API).** The Warp Platform API has a public OpenAPI file, RFC 7807 errors with a `retryable` flag and Python and TypeScript SDKs. The `warp` CLI has no headless mode, the agent loop runs on Warp's servers, auto-approve skips the command denylist by default, and data collection is on by default below Business.

## 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, which has the network off. `--yolo` removes both the sandbox and approvals
3. Replace `gpt-5.5` with `gpt-6.1-sol` in saved configs, custom agents and scripts under ChatGPT sign-in. GPT-5.5 retired there on 14 October 2026
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

### Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)

1. For unattended work, call `POST https://app.warp.dev/api/v1/agent/runs` with `Authorization: Bearer $WARP_API_KEY`. The `warp` CLI is interactive only
2. Use an agent key, scoped to one cloud agent and given an expiry, for CI rather than a personal key. Keys are created in the Oz web app or the Warp app
3. Set `auto_approve_bypasses_command_denylist = false` under `[agents.warp_agent.other]` before starting `warp --auto-approve`
4. Read `code` and `retryable` in error bodies. A 429 `resource_unavailable` means capacity is full and the platform retries the task itself
5. Pin a version with `WARP_TUI_VERSION` at install, or set `general.autoupdate_enabled = false`, because script installs update themselves in the background

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, OpenAI Codex or Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)?

OpenAI Codex scores 73.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)'s 59.8 (C), and leads in every scored category.

### Are OpenAI Codex and Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) open source?

Yes. OpenAI Codex is open source (Apache-2.0 (Codex CLI, its Rust crates and the TypeScript and Python SDKs). Codex cloud is a hosted service under OpenAI's terms). Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) is open source (Mixed. The client, including the `warp` and `oz` binaries, is AGPL-3.0 with the `warpui_core` and `warpui` crates under MIT. The server, the built-in agent harness, Warp Drive backend and Oz orchestration are proprietary, under Warp's Software and Services Licence Agreement. The SDKs are Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with OpenAI Codex or Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)

- [Agent Zero vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-openai-codex.md)
- [Agent Zero vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-warp.md)
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