Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
OpenCode vs Paseo
OpenCode scores 68.8 (B) on agent readiness against Paseo's 62.1 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1500 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
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 50
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 65
- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 70
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 75
Also in its favour
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
Most permissions default to allow, and SECURITY.md says the permission system is not a sandbox
Paseo B
Best for Developers who want parallel coding agents on their own machines with no telemetry, reachable from anywhere.
Also in its favour
- No incidents deducted, where OpenCode loses 4 points for them
Watch for
Pre-1.0, at 0.15.3
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.
Schema & documentation OpenCode +23
OpenCode 88
A JSON Schema for the config file at opencode.ai/config.json, and an OpenAPI 3.1 spec for the 1.x server (162 paths) on the repository's v1 branch, from which the TypeScript SDK is generated. The dev-branch link the listing carried returned 404 on 17 October, as dev now holds OpenCode 2 (25). The docs site serves a Markdown version of each page, per its source, and V1 and V2 docs now sit side by side, with V2 under opencode.ai/v2/docs (10). Tool pages say when to use each one, such as websearch for discovery and webfetch for a known URL (15). Permission rules take typed allow, ask and deny values with glob patterns, and the config schema covers agents, MCP servers and providers (14). Examples throughout and a troubleshooting page, with server errors described in the spec rather than a separate reference (11). A dated changelog at opencode.ai/changelog and GitHub releases (13).
Paseo 65
Harness reading. Public docs, a CLI and plugin examples in the repository (65).
Reliability OpenCode +22
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).
Paseo 50
Local software. Desktop builds, an Android APK, a Docker image and a Nix package (20). ci.yml on the repository; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). CHANGELOG.md (15). Version 0.15.3 (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 50.
Agent ergonomics OpenCode +9
OpenCode 79
Harness reading of the framework line, scored on what an agent or pipeline driving it has to supply. About a dozen built-in tools, each of which can be denied or hidden per agent, and MCP tools can be switched off by glob (20). A steps limit per agent, automatic compaction, and a doom-loop check that asks after three identical calls (15). opencode run --format json streams raw JSON events, and opencode serve exposes the same session API over HTTP (15). Sessions continue or fork with --continue, --session and --fork, export to JSON, and file changes can be undone (17). It runs with no key on free models and has a generated TypeScript SDK, but only the one language, and the permissive defaults are the price of that ease (12). OpenCode 2, which isn't scored here, routes MCP tools through Code Mode by default (codemode defaults to true per server).
Paseo 70
Harness reading. A self-hosted daemon that agents can use to create worktrees, launch other agents and talk to them, scriptable from the CLI (70).
Maintenance & community OpenCode +6
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).
Paseo 75
v0.15.3 and commits on 7 November 2026 (30). More than three releases in 90 days (20). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Current builds (15). CI on push (10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 10 = 75.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | OpenCode | Paseo | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 72 | 50 | OpenCode +22 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 88 | 65 | OpenCode +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 79 | 70 | OpenCode +9 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 60 | 58 | OpenCode +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 81 | 75 | OpenCode +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 71 | 68 | OpenCode +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | 0 | |
| Total | B 68.8/100 | B 62.1/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | OpenCode | Paseo |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Anomaly | Mohamed Boudra |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | ||
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-28 | 2026-11-07 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-15 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-03-06 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not read yet |
| Popularity | 211k stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | none |
How the scores have moved
Verdicts
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.
Paseo
A self-hosted, open-source workspace for running many coding agents on your own machines, scriptable from the CLI and reachable from phone, web or desktop, with no telemetry or forced log-in. It's pre-1.0 and run largely by one maintainer.
Before you call either
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
Paseo
- Run the daemon on the machine that has your tools and credentials, and connect from the clients
- Script runs from the CLI for repeatable agent jobs
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, OpenCode or Paseo?
OpenCode scores 68.8 (B) on agent readiness against Paseo's 62.1 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.
Are OpenCode and Paseo open source?
Yes. OpenCode is open source (MIT). Paseo is open source (Apache-2.0).
Other comparisons with OpenCode or Paseo
- Agent Zero vs OpenCode
- Agent Zero vs Paseo
- Aider vs OpenCode
- Aider vs Paseo
- Amp vs OpenCode
- Amp vs Paseo
- Antigravity CLI vs OpenCode
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- Auggie CLI vs OpenCode
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- AXLR vs OpenCode
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- Claude Code vs OpenCode
- Claude Code vs Paseo
- Cline vs OpenCode
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- Conductor vs OpenCode
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- Crush vs OpenCode
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- Cursor CLI vs OpenCode
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- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs OpenCode
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Paseo
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs OpenCode
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs Paseo
- Devin vs OpenCode
- Devin vs Paseo
- Droid CLI vs OpenCode
- Droid CLI vs Paseo
- Pi vs OpenCode
- Pi vs Paseo
- Emdash vs OpenCode
- Emdash vs Paseo
- Gemini CLI vs OpenCode
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- GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenCode
- GitHub Copilot CLI vs Paseo
- goose vs OpenCode
- goose vs Paseo
- Harness² vs OpenCode
- Harness² vs Paseo
- HarnessRouter vs OpenCode
- HarnessRouter vs Paseo
- Jules vs OpenCode
- Jules vs Paseo
- Junie CLI vs OpenCode
- Junie CLI vs Paseo
- Kilo Code CLI vs OpenCode
- Kilo Code CLI vs Paseo
- Kimi Code CLI vs OpenCode
- Kimi Code CLI vs Paseo
- Kiro CLI vs OpenCode
- Kiro CLI vs Paseo
- Letta vs OpenCode
- Letta vs Paseo
- mini-swe-agent vs OpenCode
- mini-swe-agent vs Paseo
- MiniMax Code vs OpenCode
- MiniMax Code vs Paseo
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs OpenCode
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs Paseo
- Muse Code vs OpenCode
- Muse Code vs Paseo
- OpenAI Agents API vs OpenCode
- OpenAI Agents API vs Paseo
- OpenAI Codex vs OpenCode
- OpenAI Codex vs Paseo
- OpenCode vs OpenHands
- OpenCode vs OpenMausBot
- OpenCode vs Orca
- OpenCode vs Prime Agent
- OpenCode vs Qoder CLI
- OpenCode vs Qwen Code
- OpenCode vs Mirror CLI
- OpenCode vs Rovo Dev CLI
- OpenCode vs Sculptor
- OpenCode vs T3 Code
- OpenCode vs Traycer
- OpenCode vs Unstoppable
- OpenCode vs Verdent
- OpenCode vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenCode vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- OpenHands vs Paseo
- Orca vs Paseo
- Paseo vs Prime Agent
- Paseo vs Qoder CLI
- Paseo vs Qwen Code
- Paseo vs Mirror CLI
- Paseo vs Rovo Dev CLI
- Paseo vs Sculptor
- Paseo vs T3 Code
- Paseo vs Traycer
- Paseo vs Unstoppable
- Paseo vs Verdent
- Paseo vs Vibe-Trading
- Paseo vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Clawboo vs OpenCode
- Clawboo vs Paseo
- CLI Manager vs OpenCode
- CLI Manager vs Paseo
- Harness vs OpenCode
- Harness vs Paseo
- OpenCode vs Paperclip
- OpenCode vs Parallax
- OpenMausBot vs Paseo
- Paperclip vs Paseo
- Parallax vs Paseo
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/opencode-vs-paseo.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/opencode.json·/api/v1/tools/paseo.json - From a terminal
anchor compare opencode paseo(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "opencode", "b": "paseo"}at/mcp, no key