opencode vs Open SWE
Two of the top coding agents and assistants, side by side: score, setup, license, activity and what each review found.
opencode
Terminal coding agent with build and plan modes
Open SWE
LangChain coding agent that plans, implements and reviews pull requests
| What we compare | opencode | Open SWE |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 99, widely used | 31, known |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 92, healthy | 100, healthy |
| Easy to run | 50, easy | 67, easy |
| Agent-ready | 30, minimal | 85, ready |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 212.9k | 11k |
| License | MIT (permissive) | MIT (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Docker | No | Yes |
| GPU | Not needed | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Mentioned | Mentioned |
opencode
Runs an AI coding agent in the terminal with two built-in agents: build (full access) and plan (read-only, asks before running bash), plus a general subagent for multi-step searches. Installs via a curl script, npm, Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey, pacman, mise or Nix, and ships a beta desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. For developers who want an open, configurable coding agent.
Who it is for: Developers wanting an open terminal coding agent
Strengths
- MIT license; installable from npm, Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey, pacman, mise and Nix
- Plan agent denies file edits and asks before bash, for safe codebase exploration
- Desktop app (beta) for macOS, Windows and Linux alongside the terminal UI
Weaknesses
- README covers install only; providers, config and server mode are in external docs
- No Dockerfile or compose file in the repo
- Desktop app is still beta
- no GPU
Open SWE
LangGraph-based agent that investigates a repository, implements changes in a per-thread Linux sandbox, validates them and opens a pull request, then reviews PRs and watches CI with /baby-sit. Work starts from a dashboard, GitHub issues or PR comments, Slack or Linear. Deploys into your infrastructure with a backend, dashboard, GitHub and Slack apps, for teams building an internal coding-agent service.
Who it is for: Engineering teams building an internal coding-agent service
Strengths
- Covers build, review, investigate and operate flows, with subagents for parallel work
- Durable execution and thread state via LangGraph; sandboxes persist per thread
- Configurable models, reasoning effort, skills, MCP integrations and sandbox providers
- Push approvals gate detected git pushes; PR chat excludes mutation tools
Weaknesses
- Production standalone Agent Server deployments require a license key
- Maintainers are not accepting issues or contributions; breaking changes expected
- LangSmith is the default sandbox and tracing provider; alternatives need configuration
- CLI mode executes commands locally as you, with no sandbox isolation
- no GPU
- Docker + Compose
- Needs LangSmith (default sandbox and tracing), GitHub App, Slack app (optional), model provider credentials
- Models: configurable LLM providers
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