--- title: "Terminal agents compared" description: "Terminal agents are the engines. They read the repo, edit files and run commands from your shell, and most of the other layers are ways to host one. Pricing usually comes from the vendor plan you sign in with, so the question is less what the tool costs and more which plan it needs." canonical_url: "https://whichcoding.tools/layers/harness" --- # Terminal agents > Terminal agents are the engines. They read the repo, edit files and run commands from your shell, and most of the other layers are ways to host one. Pricing usually comes from the vendor plan you sign in with, so the question is less what the tool costs and more which plan it needs. ## Terminal agents (24) - [Aider](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/aider) (Free): Terminal pair programmer written in Python. Edits files in your git repo and commits each change with a message, using your own API keys for almost any model including local ones. - [Amp](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/amp) (Free tier): Amp Frontier Corporation's terminal agent. Low, medium, high and ultra modes pick the model per task, subagents run in parallel, orbs run threads on remote machines. - [Claude Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/claude-code) (From $20/mo): Anthropic's terminal agent. Reads the codebase, edits files and runs commands, with a VS Code and JetBrains extension and a web surface on the same engine. - [CodeBuddy](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/codebuddy) (Free tier): Tencent Cloud's AI coding assistant. It ships as the CodeBuddy Code CLI, a desktop IDE and an IDE plugin. - [Codex CLI](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/codex-cli) (Free tier): OpenAI's open source terminal agent. Signs in with a ChatGPT account and shares the plan's usage window, or bills an API key at token prices. - [Command Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/command-code) (From $1/mo): Terminal coding agent and desktop app that learns a developer's coding taste and gives access to open and frontier models. - [Crush](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/crush) (Free tier): Terminal coding agent from Charm, written in Go. Works with almost any model provider through your own API keys, plus an optional first-party Hyper plan. - [DeepSeek Harness](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/deepseek-harness) (Free): Open source agent harness from DeepSeek with a browser UI, in developer preview, bring your own key for DeepSeek and catalog providers such as Anthropic or OpenAI. - [fx](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/fx) (Free): Vercel Labs' coding agent harness written in Zig, built for research and for embedding in larger systems. A 6 MB CLI closer to a Unix shell than a terminal IDE. - [Gemini CLI](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/gemini-cli) (Usage-based): Google's open source terminal agent for Gemini models. Since 18 June 2026 it only serves paid Gemini API keys and Vertex AI, Google points individuals to Antigravity CLI. - [GitHub Copilot CLI](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/copilot-cli) (Free tier): GitHub's terminal agent on the Copilot subscription. Parallel subagents through /fleet, cloud sandboxes, worktrees and remote control from mobile. - [goose](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/goose) (Free): Open source agent from Block under the Agentic AI Foundation. CLI and desktop app, MCP extensions, runs with your own keys or your Claude and ChatGPT subscriptions over ACP. - [Grok Build](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/grok-build) (Free tier): xAI's terminal coding agent, a fullscreen TUI in Rust that edits files, runs commands and spawns subagents. Signs in with a grok.com account or an API key, headless or over ACP. - [Hermes Agent](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/hermes) (Free tier): Nous Research's open source general purpose agent with a terminal TUI, file and shell tools, git worktrees and subagents. Any provider, or a Nous Portal login for 300 plus models. - [jcode](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/jcode) (Free tier): Open source terminal coding agent from Solo Systems, written in Rust. Several agents work the same repo as a swarm, with optional hosted inference at $10 a month. - [Junie CLI](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/junie-cli) (Free tier): An AI coding agent by JetBrains that ships code from your terminal, IDE, or CI/CD pipeline, powered by any LLM you choose. - [Kimi Code CLI](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/kimi-code) (Free tier): Moonshot AI's terminal agent for the Kimi models, a single binary with a VS Code extension. Logs in with a Kimi membership or a platform key, runs in Zed or JetBrains over ACP. - [MiniMax Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/minimax-code) (From $20/mo): MiniMax's open source terminal coding agent, with ACP and headless modes. A closed-source desktop companion app adds Agent Team, memory and scheduled tasks. - [Mistral Vibe](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/mistral-vibe) (Free tier): Mistral's open source terminal agent on Devstral and Mistral Medium, with VS Code and JetBrains extensions and a web sandbox. Signs in with a Mistral account or an API key. - [OpenCode](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/opencode) (Free tier): Open source terminal coding agent from Anomaly, with a desktop app in beta and a VS Code extension. Works with any provider through your own keys, plus the hosted Zen and Go plans. - [Pi](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/pi) (Free): Minimal terminal coding harness from Mario Zechner, now maintained by Earendil. Four built in tools, tree structured sessions, and TypeScript extensions for everything else. - [Qwen Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/qwen-code) (Free tier): Open source terminal coding agent from the Qwen Team. Works with Qwen, DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi and MiniMax models, plus VS Code (beta), Zed and JetBrains integrations. - [Rovo Dev](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/rovo-dev) (From $20/mo): Atlassian's coding agent, run from the ACLI, the VS Code extension or as reviews on Bitbucket and GitHub. Paid per developer with monthly credits, no free tier. - [Warp](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/warp) (Free tier): Terminal with a built in agent and an Agent CLI, open sourced under AGPL-3.0 in April 2026. Runs Claude Code, Codex and other CLI agents in tabs with worktrees, plus cloud agents. ## Also available as a terminal agent (12) Products whose primary form is something else but ship one of these too. - [Amazon Q Developer](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/amazon-q-developer) (Free tier): AWS's assistant in IDE plugins and a CLI. New signups closed in May 2026 and support ends 30 April 2027, AWS points subscribers to Kiro. - [Augment Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/augment-code) (From $20/mo): Augment's agent and Context Engine in VS Code, JetBrains and Vim, the Auggie CLI and Cosmos cloud Experts. Flat Standard and Business plans each cover up to 50 seats. - [BLACKBOX AI](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/blackbox) (Contact sales): BLACKBOX AI's VS Code extension, CLI and web app with chat, completions and a multi-agent mode that fans one task out to Blackbox, Claude Code, Codex and Gemini. - [Cline](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/cline) (Free tier): Open source agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the terminal. Bring your own key for any provider, local models included, with an MCP marketplace and plan-then-act modes. - [Continue](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/continue) (Free): Apache-2.0 coding agent for VS Code and JetBrains with a terminal CLI, configured in YAML for any provider. Cursor acquired the team in June 2026, the repo is read-only. - [Cursor](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/cursor) (Free tier): The VS Code fork that popularised AI-native editing. Cursor 3 replaced Composer with an Agents window and Cursor Router picks models by cost, balance or intelligence. - [Factory](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/factory) (From $20/mo): Factory's Droid agent runs from the terminal, a desktop app, the web and Slack, on your machine or managed Droid Computers, with models from several vendors and BYOK. - [Google Antigravity](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/google-antigravity) (Free tier): Google's agentic development platform. A desktop app, a VS Code based IDE, a CLI and editor extensions share one harness. Free, with higher limits on Google AI Pro and Ultra. - [Kilo Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/kilo-code) (Free tier): Open source agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the terminal, with cloud agents and a phone app. The Kilo Gateway serves 500+ models at provider rates, or bring your own keys. - [Kiro](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/kiro) (Free tier): AWS's agentic IDE on a VS Code foundation, with a CLI, a web agent and an iOS app sharing one .kiro config. Specs, steering and hooks drive the agent. Plans are priced in credits. - [Qoder](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/qoder) (Free tier): Alibaba's agentic IDE for macOS, Windows and Linux with a JetBrains plugin, a CLI and cloud agents. Quest runs multi agent tasks in a sandbox, with a phone app for approvals. - [Tabnine](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/tabnine) (From $39/mo): Enterprise code assistant with completions, chat and an agent in VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio and Eclipse, plus a CLI. Deploys as SaaS, in a VPC, on premises or air-gapped. ## Related [Open in the finder](https://whichcoding.tools/?where=harness) Data: CC BY 4.0. Credit whichcoding.tools and link to https://whichcoding.tools. Full terms in [LICENSE-DATA](https://github.com/benjamincanac/whichcodingtools/blob/main/LICENSE-DATA). ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](https://whichcoding.tools/sitemap.md) for all pages.