#8686th of 197 in Coding agents and AI editors

freebuff

Terminal coding agent with free hosted models, supported by text ads

Documentation ↗ Website ↗ Repository on GitHub ↗

Stars: 14.1k
License: Apache-2.0
Last commit: Nov 2026
Language: TypeScript

Stars, last 29 weeks+9,629

4,479 on 21 Apr 202614,108 on 10 Nov 2026

From GitHub's daily star counts.

Checked 11 Nov 2026 on GitHub.

Overview

Freebuff is a multi-agent coding tool installed with `npm install -g freebuff` and run inside a project directory. File-finding, editing and review agents work on the repo using a catalog of hosted models (DeepSeek, MiMo, GLM, Solar, GPT, Gemini), paid for in daily hours rather than API keys. The same brand also covers a desktop app, web app builder, GitHub cloud agents and a chat product, built on the Codebuff framework.

Who it is for: Developers wanting a free terminal coding agent without managing API keys

Strengths

No API key or subscription; free allowance of 5 hours a day in limited-access regions
Specialized agents for file finding, editing, research and review
Desktop app isolates parallel agents and can run local Claude Code and Codex
Apache-2.0 TypeScript monorepo built on the Codebuff SDK

Weaknesses

Models are hosted by Freebuff; free tier is funded by text ads
Messages and traces may be used for ad personalization and, for some models, AI training
Outside supported regions or on VPN: 4 to 5 hours a day and fewer models
Local development needs Docker and a configured .env.local

What it needs

no GPU
Needs Node.js/npm, Freebuff hosted model service, Docker (contributor setup only), Bun (contributor setup only)
Models: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, MiMo v2.6, GLM 5.3 Flash, Solar Mini 4, Solar Pro 4

Quick answers

Is freebuff open source?

Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the Apache-2.0 license.

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How to choose

Check which models it can use: your own keys, local models, or only the vendor's.
See what it may do without asking (edit files, run shell, push) and how you approve.
Prefer agents that work in a branch or worktree you can throw away.

Health

Releases: No GitHub releases
Top contributor: 67% of commits1,182 of 1,767 in the last 12 months
Security advisories: NoneOn GitHub, in the last 12 months
OpenSSF Scorecard: Not checked

Read from GitHub, deps.dev and OpenSSF on 11 Nov 2026. Bots and coding-agent accounts are left out of the commit counts. Not part of the score: how we check.

License in plain words

Apache-2.0 Permissive

Use it at work: Yes
Change it and rebrand it: Yes
Sell it or host it for others: Yes

Your part: Keep the notices and mark the files you change. It also grants you the contributors’ patent rights.

A plain summary, not legal advice. Read the license on GitHub ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Ask your AI assistant

The rankings as an MCP server for Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT and any MCP client. Free, no key, read-only.

Setup for other apps

Claude Codeclaude mcp add archestack -- npx -y @archestack/mcp

Connector URLhttps://mcp.archestack.com/mcp

Then ask: Compare freebuff with its top alternatives on Archestack

#86 of 197 in Coding agents and AI editors on Archestack, as of 11 Nov 2026.

Show it in your README or on your site

The badge below goes in a README; a card with the rank, score and signals goes on a site or blog. Both update twice a day.

Show code

README (Markdown)

[![Archestack](https://archestack.com/badge/codebuffai/freebuff.svg)](https://archestack.com/best-of-vibe-coding/projects/freebuff/)

Site or blog (HTML)

<iframe src="https://archestack.com/embed/best-of-vibe-coding/freebuff/" title="freebuff on Archestack" width="400" height="270" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>

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Best of Vibe Coding on GitHub

Each review comes from the project's README and facts we check on GitHub. The fix form opens with freebuff filled in.

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