codex vs opencode
The two are close in size: 121.6k stars for codex, 204.4k for opencode. Over the days we have tracked them codex moved +23.1% and opencode +9.6%, so codex is growing faster right now.
They split the axes: codex leads on setup ease, opencode on context depth and customization 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 lightweight, local-first terminal coding agent that you can install and run with one command while signing in to ChatGPT or using your OpenAI API key.
- Stars
- 121.6k
- Tracked growth
- +23.1%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 5h ago
- Language
- Rust
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Cost to run
- Sign in with a ChatGPT plan or use your OpenAI API key
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 | codex | 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. | ●●●●● None mentioned | ●●●●● Action gating only |
Customization How far it bends to your team: custom rules, prompts, style guides, per-path config. | ●●●●● No customization | ●●●●● Configurable agents |
Privacy Whether your code stays on your own infrastructure: fully local, self-hostable, or cloud API only. | ●●●●● Cloud (ChatGPT/API) | ●●●●● Cloud APIs (your key) |
Model freedom Whether you can point it at any provider, or it is wired to one. | ●●●●● OpenAI 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 codex if…
Easy setup — one-command install to run a local CLI coding agent that integrates with your ChatGPT plan or OpenAI API key.
- 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)
- Customization: Configurable agents (3/5 against 1/5)
- Model freedom: Bring-your-key (3/5 against 1/5)
What people want from each one
openai/codex
Hacker News: Replit's new Code LLM: Open Source, 77% smaller than Codex, trained in 1 week drew 891 points and 220 comments.
anomalyco/opencode
Hacker News: OpenCode – Open source AI coding agent drew 1274 points and 618 comments.
Questions people ask
Is codex better than opencode?
They split the axes: codex leads on setup ease, opencode on context depth and customization and model freedom. codex is worth picking when easy setup — one-command install to run a local CLI coding agent that integrates with your ChatGPT plan or OpenAI API key.
Which of codex and opencode keeps my code private?
codex: Cloud (ChatGPT/API) (3/5). opencode: Cloud APIs (your key) (3/5).
What does each one cost to run?
codex: Sign in with a ChatGPT plan or use your OpenAI API key. opencode: Your API key, cloud model costs apply.
Full profiles: openai/codex and anomalyco/opencode. Everything else in CLI coding agents.