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

Command-line coding agents that read your repo, edit files and run commands from the terminal. Several are open source and let you bring your own model. Listed alphabetically; we only include tools whose official sites we checked. Descriptions summarize what each maker says the product does. We have not run hands-on tests.

1. Aider: AI pair programming in your terminal.
2. Amp: Coding agent and development environment that says it is built for frontier models, usable locally or in remote orbs.
3. Claude Code: Anthropic's agentic coding tool that understands your codebase, edits files and runs commands, in the terminal and IDE.
4. Crush: Open-source terminal coding agent from Charm; multi-model (OpenAI- or Anthropic-compatible APIs), LSP context, MCP extensions and multiple sessions per project.
5. Gemini CLI: Google's terminal AI agent for querying and editing large codebases, generating apps from images or PDFs and automating workflows; Google says unpaid-tier and Google One users moved to Antigravity CLI in June 2026.
6. goose: Open-source local AI agent with desktop app, CLI and API for code, workflows and automation; part of the Linux Foundation Agentic AI Foundation.
7. Kilo Code: Open-source AI coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, the CLI and the cloud; works with 500+ models at zero markup, your own API keys or local models.
8. OpenAI Codex: OpenAI's coding agent across ChatGPT, the terminal, IDE and cloud; runs parallel tasks and reviews pull requests. Included in ChatGPT plans per its site.
9. OpenCode: Open-source AI coding agent for editing and working in codebases.
10. Qwen Code: Open-source AI coding agent for the terminal, editor, desktop, browser and chat; supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and Qwen APIs plus local models.

Comparisons

• Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex
• Gemini CLI vs Claude Code

FAQ