Kilo Code vs Claude Code
Side by side, as alternatives to Claude Code. Rows that differ are highlighted; the strongest value in a row is marked. Unknown means no source yet.
Also replaces Claude Code: + OpenCode+ OpenAI Codex CLI+ Gemini CLI+ Zed+ OpenHands+ Cline
Kilo CodeKilo-Org/kilocode
Claude Codepaid product
Cost and coverage
Price
$0 software; you run it
Included with Claude Pro ($20/month, or $17/month billed annually), Max (from $100/month), Team and Enterprise; not on the free plan source ↗
Edit code across a repo from the terminal with an AI agent
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Run commands and tests
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Use the agent inside VS Code or JetBrains
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Connect tools and data through MCP
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Write commits and pull requests
No: No
Confirmed: Yes
Run the agent headless in scripts or CI (GitHub Actions)
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Jobs covered
5 of 6 jobs
All 6
Popularity and activity (from GitHub)
Stars
27,695
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Gain this week
Unknown
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Signal
Building history
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Commits / 4 wk
940
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Latest release
v7.8.15 · 2026-10-19
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Commits / 12 wk
5,236
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People committing / 12 mo
442+
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Issues opened / closed, 30 days
318 / 231
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Facts, with sources on each project page
Runs on my machine?
Confirmed: Yes, the extension and CLI run on your machine; an optional hosted Cloud Agent also exists
Hosted by the vendor
Code licence
Confirmed: MIT
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Model weights licence
Confirmed: No separate model weights
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Commercial use
Confirmed: MIT allows commercial use with attribution
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Paid services needed?
Partial: Not required with local models via Ollama (no API key needed); Kilo Gateway credits, cloud model keys, Cloud Agent and Code Reviews are optional
Subscription
Hardware
Confirmed: No stated needs with cloud models; local models via Ollama need a GPU with 24GB+ VRAM or a Mac with 32GB+ unified RAM
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Operating systems
Confirmed: CLI binaries for Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux (x64 and ARM); extensions run wherever VS Code or JetBrains IDEs run
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Setup effort
Confirmed: Easy; install the VS Code or JetBrains extension from the marketplace, or the CLI with one npm or curl command
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Stars over time
Switch to Growth % to compare projects of different sizes fairly.
The chart appears after a few nightly checks.
Notes for a video or post
A plain summary with today's date and a link to the sources. Check each project page before you publish.
Want share images and a ready video description? Open a project's creator kit.
Numbers: GitHub, fetched nightly. Facts: read from each project's own documentation, with the source on its page. How we check. Kilo-Org/kilocode ↗