Both are terminal coding agents and both are open source. The differences that actually change your day are the account they require, how many model providers they reach, and how much control a host process can hand them. The last group is measured — Orkas ships both as CLI backends and has to honour each one's contract.
Four rows go to each. The rows marked “measured” are what a host observes driving them, not a feature list from either project's docs.
| Capability | CodexOpenAI coding agent | OpenCodeTerminal coding agent, MIT |
|---|---|---|
| Running the task off your machine | A cloud version runs on OpenAI's own infrastructure | Your machine only |
| Inside the editor you already use | Extensions for VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf | Extensions for VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium |
| Answering it mid-run <em>(measured)</em> | Takes a new message while a run is still going | The turn finishes first |
| Permission modes a host can set <em>(measured)</em> | Inherit, ask each time, or full access | Full access only |
| Starting without a vendor account | OpenAI setup uses ChatGPT or an API key; local providers need neither | MIT; bring whichever key you already have |
| Breadth of model choice | OpenAI, compatible custom providers and local models | Dozens of providers, anything OpenAI-compatible, and local runtimes |
| Separating planning from doing | One agent, with approval modes around it | A read-only plan agent and a full-access build agent, one key apart |
| Forking the thing you depend on | The CLI is open source; the hosted service is not | One MIT codebase you can fork and run yourself |
Rows three, four and the resume behaviour are what Orkas observes when it drives each CLI, so they describe the contract a host gets — not how good either agent is at writing code. Neither project publishes a number we would repeat here.
This comparison was last updated on September 17, 2026; check each vendor's site for current terms.
Orkas is a desktop app that runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw and Hermes as local sessions. The measured rows above are the contract each one gives a host.
Install both and keep both signed in — Orkas uses the CLI and the account you already have.
Add each as an external CLI agent. They get separate local sessions and run in parallel in one window.
Send the same task to both and read the two answers side by side, in the same chat.
Yes, from one desktop window. In Orkas each external agent gets its own local CLI session, so both run in parallel and their output lands in the same chat. Codex will also take a new message while its run is still going; OpenCode finishes the turn first.
Both Codex and OpenCode provide editor integrations; their workflows and features differ. Comparisons of host controls on this page describe what the current Orkas CLI adapters support.
Codex. Driving them from Orkas, Codex accepts all three permission modes (inherit, ask each time, full access) and a native developer-instruction field that survives the session. OpenCode runs in full-access mode only and receives its durable instructions as the first user turn.
No. OpenCode Go is a paid subscription from the OpenCode team: for a flat monthly fee (US$10 on its docs page) it gives the OpenCode CLI, or another coding agent, metered access to hosted open-weight coding models. OpenCode itself is still the MIT agent you run with whichever key you already have. So “OpenCode Go vs Codex” is really a model plan against OpenAI's own agent and models, not two agents side by side.
Orkas is free and MIT licensed. It drives Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw and Hermes as local sessions on your own machine.
