# OpenHands vs Mirror CLI

> OpenHands scores 70.8 (BB) to Mirror CLI's 54.2 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-17

OpenHands scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Mirror CLI's 54.2 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- OpenHands: grade BB, 70.8/100, rank #152 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openhands.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openhands.json
- Mirror CLI: grade C, 54.2/100, rank #765 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/reflection-mirror.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/reflection-mirror.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 331 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### OpenHands (BB)

Good for: Teams that want to self-host a coding agent with a web UI, per-conversation Docker sandboxes and scheduled or webhook automations, or embed the agent through a Python SDK and REST API.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 83 against 37
- Schema & documentation, 87 against 65
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 58
- Security & auth, 66 against 58
- Maintenance & community, 85 against 47
- Transparency & trust, 67 against 58

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Confirmation mode is off by default in Agent Canvas, and the npm install gives the agent the host's whole filesystem

### Mirror CLI (C)

Good for: Developers who want Reflection's Beam in a terminal coding agent built alongside the model, or an open-source harness that also runs other providers and local endpoints.

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.0 against 2.5 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where OpenHands loses 5 points for them

Watch for: Version 0.1.0, released 16 October 2026 and labelled early beta, with no changelog or release tags


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenHands | Mirror CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 37 | OpenHands +46 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 65 | OpenHands +22 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 58 | OpenHands +20 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 58 | OpenHands +8 |
| 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) | 85 | 47 | OpenHands +38 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 58 | OpenHands +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **70.8 · BB** | **54.2 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenHands | Mirror CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | All Hands AI | Reflection |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-09-03 |  |
| Customer content may train models | yes |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 90k stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | 3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Mirror CLI.** Mirror CLI is Apache-2.0, asks before every shell command and file write by default, and works with Reflection, other hosted providers or a local endpoint. It is a one-day-old 0.1.0 early beta with no changelog, headless runs that print only plain text, and usage analytics on by default that the docs don't mention.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Mirror CLI

1. Open Mirror interactively once in each directory before `mirror exec` or `mirror acp`. Both refuse to run until the usage and folder notices are accepted
2. Pass `--approval-mode auto` to `mirror exec` only inside a container or VM. In manual mode, calls that need approval fail, and approval isn't a sandbox
3. Set `--max-iterations` on unattended runs. Turns are unlimited by default
4. Check the result with your own tests. `exec` returns 0 whenever it prints an answer
5. Never share logs recorded with `--log-level debug`. The docs say they contain request headers with the API key

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, OpenHands or Mirror CLI?

OpenHands scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Mirror CLI's 54.2 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are OpenHands and Mirror CLI open source?

Yes. OpenHands is open source (MIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service). Mirror CLI is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with OpenHands or Mirror CLI

- [Agent Zero vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-openhands.md)
- [Agent Zero vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Aider vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-openhands.md)
- [Aider vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Amp vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-openhands.md)
- [Amp vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Claude Code vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-openhands.md)
- [Claude Code vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Cline vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openhands.md)
- [Cline vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Devin vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-openhands.md)
- [Devin vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Droid CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [Droid CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Pi vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-openhands.md)
- [Pi vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [goose vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-openhands.md)
- [goose vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [HarnessRouter vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-openhands.md)
- [HarnessRouter vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Kilo Code CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [Kilo Code CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Muse Code vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-openhands.md)
- [Muse Code vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [OpenAI Codex vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-openhands.md)
- [OpenAI Codex vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [OpenCode vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-openhands.md)
- [OpenCode vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [OpenHands vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [OpenHands vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Prime Agent vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Qwen Code vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwen-code-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [CLI Manager vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-openhands.md)
- [CLI Manager vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Harness vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-openhands.md)
- [Harness vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [OpenHands vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-paperclip.md)
- [OpenHands vs Parallax](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-parallax-agents.md)
- [Paperclip vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Parallax vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallax-agents-vs-reflection-mirror.md)

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