claude-code vs opencode
The two are close in size: 144.1k stars for claude-code, 204.4k for opencode. Over the days we have tracked them claude-code moved +4.4% and opencode +9.6%, so opencode is growing faster right now.
They split the axes: claude-code leads on setup ease, opencode on context depth and model freedom.
Stars and commit dates come from our own daily tracking. The six axes are read off each project's documentation by our review pipeline, so they describe what a project says about itself, not what we measured in its code.
Where they stand today
A terminal-first agent that executes routine coding tasks and integrates git workflows, plus @claude GitHub tagging.
- Stars
- 144.1k
- Tracked growth
- +4.4%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 15h ago
- Language
- Python
- License
- none declared
- Cost to run
- Anthropic cloud; see docs
Open-source, installable coding agent that provides both a read-only 'plan' agent for safe exploration and a full-access 'build' agent for edits.
- Stars
- 204.4k
- Tracked growth
- +9.6%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 1h ago
- Language
- TypeScript
- License
- MIT
- Cost to run
- Your API key, cloud model costs apply
Six axes, head to head
Each axis runs 0 to 5. The label under a score is what that project's own docs claim, not a category average.
| Axis | claude-code | opencode |
|---|---|---|
Context depth How much of your codebase it sees before it answers: the open diff, the diff plus related files, or the whole repository. | ●●●●● Diff / file only | ●●●●● Whole-repo analysis |
Noise control How it keeps output volume down — severity thresholds, deduplication, incremental runs over new commits only. | ●●●●● No noise controls | ●●●●● Action gating only |
Customization How far it bends to your team: custom rules, prompts, style guides, per-path config. | ●●●●● Plugins & config | ●●●●● Configurable agents |
Privacy Whether your code stays on your own infrastructure: fully local, self-hostable, or cloud API only. | ●●●●● Cloud service only | ●●●●● Cloud APIs (your key) |
Model freedom Whether you can point it at any provider, or it is wired to one. | ●●●●● Anthropic only | ●●●●● Bring-your-key |
Setup ease What it takes to get a first useful run out of it. | ●●●●● One-command install | ●●●●● Install + API key |
Which one to pick
Pick claude-code if…
Easy setup — install with one command to get a local, terminal-native coding assistant that helps with git workflows and code explanation.
- Setup ease: One-command install (5/5 against 3/5)
Pick opencode if…
Easy install — choose OpenCode when you want an open-source, locally installable coding agent that offers both safe read-only analysis and full-access development workflows.
- Context depth: Whole-repo analysis (5/5 against 1/5)
- Model freedom: Bring-your-key (3/5 against 1/5)
What people want from each one
anthropics/claude-code
Hacker News: Issue: Claude Code is unusable for complex engineering tasks with Feb updates drew 1364 points and 753 comments.
anomalyco/opencode
Hacker News: OpenCode – Open source AI coding agent drew 1274 points and 618 comments.
Questions people ask
Is claude-code better than opencode?
They split the axes: claude-code leads on setup ease, opencode on context depth and model freedom. claude-code is worth picking when easy setup — install with one command to get a local, terminal-native coding assistant that helps with git workflows and code explanation.
Which of claude-code and opencode keeps my code private?
claude-code: Cloud service only (2/5). opencode: Cloud APIs (your key) (3/5).
What does each one cost to run?
claude-code: Anthropic cloud; see docs. opencode: Your API key, cloud model costs apply.
Full profiles: anthropics/claude-code and anomalyco/opencode. Everything else in CLI coding agents.