opencode vs pi
Two of the top projects in Coding agents and assistants, side by side: who leads on each score part and who each one suits, then setup, license, activity and what each review found.
opencode
Terminal coding agent with build and plan modes, plus a desktop app
pi
Terminal coding agent with extensions, skills, and an SDK
Verdict
Both score 79; opencode ranks higher on stars, 213,542 to 115,194. Of the 5 score parts we measure for both, opencode leads on 1, pi on 1 and 3 are even.
- Adoptionopencode leads by 5 points, 99 to 94.
- FreshnessEven at 100.
- Maintenancepi leads by 5 points, 97 to 92.
- Easy to runEven at 50.
- Agent-readyEven at 30.
Pick opencode if you are
Developers who want an open source coding agent in the terminal or desktop
- Read-only plan agent denies file edits by default and asks before bash commands
- Many install paths: curl script, npm, brew, scoop, choco, pacman, mise, nix
Pick pi if you are
Developers who want a scriptable, customizable terminal coding agent
- Multiple interfaces: interactive CLI, print/JSON mode, RPC and a TypeScript SDK
- Extensions, skills, prompt templates and themes ship as npm or git packages
| What we compare | opencode | pi |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 99, widely used | 94, widely used |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 92, healthy | 97, healthy |
| Easy to run | 50, easy | 50, easy |
| Agent-ready | 30, minimal | 30, minimal |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 213.5k | 115.2k |
| License | MIT (permissive) | MIT (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Docker | No | No |
| GPU | Not stated | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Mentioned | Mentioned |
opencode
OpenCode is an AI coding agent that runs in the terminal and as a beta desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. It ships a full-access build agent, a read-only plan agent that asks before running bash commands, and a general subagent invoked with @general. It installs through a curl script, npm, Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey, pacman, mise or nix.
Who it is for: Developers who want an open source coding agent in the terminal or desktop
Strengths
- Read-only plan agent denies file edits by default and asks before bash commands
- Many install paths: curl script, npm, brew, scoop, choco, pacman, mise, nix
- Switch between build and plan agents with the Tab key
- MIT licensed, with desktop installers for macOS, Windows and Linux
Weaknesses
- README does not list supported model providers or formats
- Desktop app is marked BETA
- README gives no hardware requirements; configuration is only in external docs
- Primary install command pipes a curl script into bash
pi
Pi is a TypeScript coding agent CLI that runs in your project directory and connects to LLM providers through a login or API key. It is customized with extensions, skills, prompt templates and themes, shared as npm or git packages, and can be driven interactively, in print/JSON mode, over RPC, or through a TypeScript SDK. The monorepo also ships a multi-provider LLM API, an agent runtime and a terminal UI library.
Who it is for: Developers who want a scriptable, customizable terminal coding agent
Strengths
- Multiple interfaces: interactive CLI, print/JSON mode, RPC and a TypeScript SDK
- Extensions, skills, prompt templates and themes ship as npm or git packages
- Core libraries (pi-ai, pi-agent-core, pi-tui) are published as separate packages
- Installer pins dependencies; Nix flake builds on Linux and macOS, ARM64 and x86-64
Weaknesses
- No built-in permission system; runs with the launching user's full permissions
- Sub-agents and plan mode are intentionally omitted and must be added via packages
- Requires Node.js 22.19 or newer
- New contributors' issues and PRs are auto-closed by default
- no GPU
- Needs Node.js 22.19+, LLM provider API key or subscription
- Models: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google
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