claude-code vs pi
The two are close in size: 144.1k stars for claude-code, 102.0k for pi. Over the days we have tracked them claude-code moved +4.4% and pi +42%, so pi is growing faster right now.
They split the axes: claude-code leads on setup ease, pi on context depth and privacy 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
An open-source, self-extensible coding agent harness that bundles a unified multi-provider LLM API, agent runtime, CLI and terminal UI in one project.
- Stars
- 102.0k
- Tracked growth
- +42%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 24m ago
- Language
- TypeScript
- License
- MIT
- Cost to run
- Your API key for cloud models
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 | pi |
|---|---|---|
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 | ●●●●● Diff + related files |
Noise control How it keeps output volume down — severity thresholds, deduplication, incremental runs over new commits only. | ●●●●● No noise controls | ●●●●● None mentioned |
Customization How far it bends to your team: custom rules, prompts, style guides, per-path config. | ●●●●● Plugins & config | ●●●●● Config & extensions |
Privacy Whether your code stays on your own infrastructure: fully local, self-hostable, or cloud API only. | ●●●●● Cloud service only | ●●●●● Self-hostable |
Model freedom Whether you can point it at any provider, or it is wired to one. | ●●●●● Anthropic only | ●●●●● Multiple providers |
Setup ease What it takes to get a first useful run out of it. | ●●●●● One-command install | ●●●●● Config + 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 pi if…
Privacy-friendly — can run locally or in a container while supporting multiple LLM providers via a unified API.
- Context depth: Diff + related files (3/5 against 1/5)
- Privacy: Self-hostable (4/5 against 2/5)
- Model freedom: Multiple providers (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.
earendil-works/pi
Questions people ask
Is claude-code better than pi?
They split the axes: claude-code leads on setup ease, pi on context depth and privacy 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 pi keeps my code private?
claude-code: Cloud service only (2/5). pi: Self-hostable (4/5).
What does each one cost to run?
claude-code: Anthropic cloud; see docs. pi: Your API key for cloud models.
Full profiles: anthropics/claude-code and earendil-works/pi. Everything else in CLI coding agents.