AI coding agents for the terminal (CLI) (2026)

Coding agents that run in your terminal: they read files, run commands and propose changes from a prompt. Here are the top 25 of 26 from the AgentScout directory.

How we picked and ranked: tools are matched by category, the pricing each maker states and what each tool says it does. They are ranked by GitHub stars as recorded on each listing (link checks 2026-10-18); tools without a tracked repo follow, by listing maturity. No paid placements.

1. O

   1. opencode

   codingOpen source★ 213,329 GitHub stars

   Open-source terminal coding agent that works with many model providers.

   Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active

2. C

   2. Claude Code

   codingPaid★ 150,707 GitHub stars

   Anthropic's terminal coding agent that edits code, runs commands and handles git.

   Pricing (as stated): Paid (Claude plan or API) · Mature

3. O

   3. OpenAI Codex CLI

   codingOpen source★ 129,112 GitHub stars

   OpenAI's open-source coding agent for the terminal; also runs in the cloud.

   Pricing (as stated): Open source; uses ChatGPT plan or API · Mature

4. G

   4. Gemini CLI

   codingOpen source★ 107,334 GitHub stars

   Google's open-source terminal agent powered by Gemini.

   Pricing (as stated): Open source; free tier · Mature

5. O

   5. Open Interpreter

   codingOpen source★ 68,591 GitHub stars

   Terminal coding agent forked from OpenAI's Codex and tuned for low-cost and open-weight models, with switchable harness modes that imitate tools like Claude Code.

   Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

6. C

   6. Codewhale

   codingOpen source★ 41,093 GitHub stars

   Rust agent engine and terminal coding client with model choice, tool approvals and review flows.

   Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

7. O

   7. Oh My Pi

   codingOpen source★ 35,686 GitHub stars

   Terminal coding agent with IDE features wired in, from Stencil Labs.

   Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

8. C

   8. Crush

   codingOpen source★ 28,674 GitHub stars

   Charm's terminal coding agent with a polished TUI, multiple models and MCP support.

   Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

9. Q

   9. Qwen Code

   codingOpen source★ 28,529 GitHub stars

   Open-source terminal coding agent from the Qwen team.

   Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

10. M

    10. MiMo Code

    codingOpen source★ 13,675 GitHub stars

    Xiaomi's terminal coding agent with persistent project memory across sessions; works with any major model provider and is tuned for Xiaomi's MiMo models.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

11. Q

    11. Qodo

    codingFreemium★ 13,415 GitHub stars

    AI code review and testing agents that work in the IDE, the terminal and pull requests to catch issues before merge.

    Pricing (as stated): Freemium · Mature

12. H

    12. Hunk

    codingOpen source★ 9,615 GitHub stars

    Review-first terminal diff viewer for checking what coding agents changed.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

13. T

    13. Terax

    codingOpen source★ 9,324 GitHub stars

    Lightweight terminal-first AI development environment.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

14. W

    14. Worktrunk

    codingOpen source★ 9,263 GitHub stars

    CLI for managing Git worktrees so several AI agents can work in parallel.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

15. M

    15. Munder Difflin

    codingOpen source★ 8,802 GitHub stars

    Free, open-source harness that runs Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and other terminal agents together like an office.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

16. M

    16. mini-SWE-agent

    codingOpen source★ 8,580 GitHub stars

    Tiny 100-line agent that solves GitHub issues or helps on the command line, from the SWE-agent team.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

17. T

    17. Tokscale

    codingOpen source★ 5,695 GitHub stars

    Tracks token usage across AI coding agents from your terminal.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

18. E

    18. Entire CLI

    codingOpen source★ 5,187 GitHub stars

    CLI that captures AI agent sessions alongside your Git commits.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

19. G

    19. gptme

    codingOpen source★ 4,452 GitHub stars

    Terminal agent with local tools that writes code, runs commands, browses the web and uses vision.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active

20. G

    20. Grok CLI

    codingOpen source★ 3,497 GitHub stars

    Open-source coding agent for the Grok API.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active

21. C

    21. Chaterm

    codingOpen source★ 3,095 GitHub stars

    Open-source AI terminal for deploying, troubleshooting and automating cloud infrastructure.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active

22. J

    22. Jevgrep

    codingOpen source★ 2,675 GitHub stars

    CLI that finds relevant repo files and excerpts from natural-language questions for coding agents; claims ~40% cheaper agent runs.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source (MIT); needs a model provider key · Early (v0.1.x)

23. N

    23. Nanocoder

    codingOpen source★ 2,519 GitHub stars

    Community-built open coding agent for your terminal.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active

24. A

    24. Aider

    codingOpen source

    Pair-programming agent in your terminal that commits changes to git.

    Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature

25. A

    25. Amp

    codingUsage-based

    Agentic coding tool for the terminal and editor.

    Pricing (as stated): Paid (usage-based) · Active

FAQ

What are the best terminal AI coding agents?

Ranked by tracked GitHub stars, the top terminal AI coding agents in our directory are opencode, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Open Interpreter. Stars measure popularity, not fit, so compare a few against your own task.

How many terminal AI coding agents does AgentScout list?

26 tools match. This page shows the top 25. Pricing mix on this page: Open source (22), Paid (1), Freemium (1), Usage-based (1).

How much do these tools cost?

Pricing is what each maker states on their site. Open-source tools are free to self-host but may need a paid model API key or offer paid cloud plans; freemium tools have a free plan with limits. Check each official site.

Where can I see every tool for coding in the terminal?

Our task page lists all 40 tools we match to coding in the terminal.

Related: All tools for coding in the terminal · Best AI Coding Agents · coding (26)

Similar searches: Free AI coding agents · Open-source AI coding agents

By role: For developers

All popular searches · AI agents by role · Free tools

Facts come from our directory listings; pricing is as each maker states it and can change. Check official sites before you choose.