# Qoder CLI vs Sculptor (slim)

> Qoder CLI scores 59.5 (C) to Sculptor's 53.1 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qoder-cli-vs-sculptor.md (~5,450 tokens) · this version ~1,880 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qoder-cli-vs-sculptor.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qoder-cli-vs-sculptor
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Qoder CLI scores 59.5 (C) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Sculptor leads on payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.

- Qoder CLI: C 59.5, rank #695 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qoder-cli.min.md
- Sculptor: D 53.1, rank #960 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sculptor.min.md
- Qoder CLI, good for Developers already on Qoder who want the same agent in a terminal, in CI through a PAT, in Zed through ACP, or embedded through the Agent SDK. Ahead on Reliability, 51 against 43; Schema & documentation, 81 against 45; Agent ergonomics, 80 against 50.
- Sculptor, good for Developers who want parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces and are fine with a research preview. Ahead on Payments & pricing, 60 against 35. Also No key needed to call it; Open source; No incidents deducted, where Qoder CLI loses 3 points for them.

| Category | Qoder CLI | Sculptor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 51 | 43 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 81 | 45 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 80 | 50 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 58 | 57 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 35 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 72 | 75 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 61 | 57 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Qoder CLI | Sculptor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Qoder (BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED) | Imbue, Inc. |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| Licence | Proprietary, under the Qoder Terms of Service (BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED, last updated 29 April 2026). No source is published, and the Agent SDK's LICENSE file points to the same terms | MIT |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-16 | 2026-11-06 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Popularity | 5k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Qoder CLI +36: Qoder CLI 81 (Framework reading. A CLI reference with types and defaults for every flag, a settings reference with types and defaults, TypeScript declaration files and a Python reference for the SDK, and Result and error-code tables. No schema for the stream-json events was found (16). docs.qoder.com/llms.txt indexes every page with a Markdown twin, and robots.txt allows both (10). The permissions page states what each mode does and is best for, what headless runs do with ask, and which actions skip the auto classifier (17). Permission modes and output formats are enums and rules have a fixed syntax (12). CI examples, an SDK error page with exit codes 0, 1, 41, 42, 44, 52, 53, 54 and 130, Result subtypes and a troubleshooting index. Code 44 names a sandbox the docs don't describe (14). Dated release notes for the CLI and the SDK, though the SDK notes stop at 1.0.41 on 15 September while npm has 1.0.53, and the CLI reference still names the removed `lite` model (12). 16+10+17+12+14+12 = 81. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).); Sculptor 45 (Harness reading. A README, specs and agent docs in the repository; no API reference (45).)
- Agent ergonomics, Qoder CLI +30: Qoder CLI 80 (Framework reading, adapted to a harness driven by a pipeline. `--tools`, `--allowed-tools` and `--disallowed-tools` restrict built-in tools, and `--strict-mcp-config` with `--allowed-mcp-server-names` limits MCP servers. Nothing on deferred MCP tool loading was found (18). text, json and stream-json output, `--max-turns`, `--max-output-tokens` and `--no-session-persistence` (16). Distinct exit codes for authentication, input, configuration, turn-limit and tool failures, and SDK Result subtypes with error codes (16). `--continue`, `--resume`, `--session-id`, `--fork-session`, SDK checkpoints with rewind, and `--max-model-request-retries` (15). Official SDKs in TypeScript and Python, an ACP server, and headless runs that need only a PAT and a permission flag (15). 18+16+16+15+15 = 80. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).); Sculptor 50 (Harness reading. Workspaces as isolated copies, review and merge back, and built-in skills (50).)
- Payments & pricing, Sculptor +25: Qoder CLI 35 (Harness reading of the published rubric, scored on the Qoder subscription the CLI needs. No payment protocol (0). Plan prices, the Credit Pack price ($20 for 1,500 credits) and per-model credit factors are public in the docs without a login. qoder.com/pricing is disallowed by robots.txt and wasn't read (20). A Free plan with basic models for a limited number of messages and a 14-day Pro trial with 300 credits. We found no statement on whether a card is needed (15). A person signs in through a browser, and a PAT is created by hand at qoder.com/account/integrations (0). 0+20+15+0 = 35. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).); Sculptor 60 (Free self-hosted software with nothing to buy, so 0 for a protocol and 20 each for public pricing, a free tier and onboarding with no sign-up, 60.)
- Reliability, Qoder CLI +8: Qoder CLI 51 (Local-package reading, the same as the other closed-source harnesses. An install script for macOS, Linux and Windows on arm64 and amd64 that checks a SHA-256 from a manifest on the same download host, and an npm package with Node.js 20 or later stated (20). No public CI or test suite, since no source is published (0). We found no public issue tracker for the CLI. The forum's bug-reports category, shared by every Qoder product, had 116 new topics in the month to 18 October, and 15 of the 29 topics on its first page had no reply. A few named the CLI (8). Versions are semver-shaped and every release is dated in the release notes, but removals such as `/goal take` in 1.1.11 shipped in patch versions without a breaking-change label (8). 1.0.0 on 20 May 2026, now 1.1.73 (15). 20+0+8+8+15 = 51. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).); Sculptor 43 (Local software. Desktop downloads for Mac (Apple Silicon), Linux and Linux ARM64 (20). checks.yml and a PR gate run 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). sculptor-v tags up to v0.49.0, no changelog file (8). 0.x and labelled a research preview (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 43.)