# Alternatives to Kilo Code

> Source: https://theagentsindex.com/kilo-code/alternatives (current datasheets, evidence-ranked)

Candidates share the baseline category or are previously researched peers. Requirements, preserved strengths, explicit trade-offs and research coverage decide the order; paid tier does not.

## Shortlist

### 1. Cursor

Coding agent in a desktop editor, terminal CLI, cloud VMs and CI, priced per seat plus token usage.

**Research coverage:** 35/35 criteria

**Where it improves on Kilo Code:**
- [Agent permissions: yes — Run Modes set how much runs unasked, with a sandbox and a review classifier; permission tokens allow or deny shell, read, write, web fetch and named MCP tools.](https://cursor.com/docs/agent/security/run-modes)
- [API access: yes — Cloud Agents API is beta on all plans and the TypeScript/Python SDKs are for all users; Admin, Analytics, AI Code Tracking and Bugbot APIs are Enterprise-only, and the India-only Start plan excludes the SDK.](https://cursor.com/docs/api)
- [Seat model: yes — Billed per active paid seat with no published floor or ceiling; two paid seat types plus a free admin-only seat, changeable mid-cycle.](https://cursor.com/docs/account/teams/pricing)

**Trade-offs against Kilo Code:**
- [Open models: partial — All inference is hosted: the catalogue includes GLM 5.2 from Z.ai and Kimi K3 from Moonshot, but there is no path to point Cursor at open weights you run.](https://cursor.com/docs/models-and-pricing)
- [Open source: no — The Terms of Service forbid deriving or accessing the source; the /licenses page covers only third-party open source components used inside the IDE.](https://cursor.com/terms-of-service)
- [MCP server: partial — MCP is inbound only: Cursor is the client that connects to MCP servers. Another agent drives Cursor over ACP (agent acp) or the SDKs, not by querying an MCP endpoint Cursor exposes.](https://cursor.com/docs/mcp)

[View Cursor](https://theagentsindex.com/cursor)

### 2. Devin

Cloud AI software engineer that takes a ticket, works in its own VM, and opens a pull request.

**Research coverage:** 35/35 criteria

**Where it improves on Kilo Code:**
- [Agent permissions: yes — Graded modes from prompt-before-writing up to full bypass, plus an OS-sandboxed autonomous mode.](https://docs.devin.ai/cli/reference/permissions)
- [API access: yes — REST API creates and drives sessions under an organization scope, with a separate enterprise scope for analytics and audit logs.](https://docs.devin.ai/api-reference/overview)
- [Seat model: yes — Teams charges $40 per full seat with unlimited free flex seats, under an $80/month account floor and no seat ceiling.](https://docs.devin.ai/admin/billing/self-serve)

**Trade-offs against Kilo Code:**
- [Model choice: partial — You pick the model in Devin CLI, or leave it to the Adaptive router; cloud Devin sessions document no model selector.](https://docs.devin.ai/cli/models)
- [Open source: partial — Only the Outposts Kubernetes orchestration operator is published as open source; no source distribution is documented for Devin itself.](https://docs.devin.ai/cloud/outposts/overview)
- [Bring your own key: partial — Your own AWS KMS key encrypts data at rest, but only on the Enterprise Assured deployment; no bring-your-own-inference is documented.](https://docs.devin.ai/enterprise/security-access/security/customer-managed-keys)

[View Devin](https://theagentsindex.com/devin)

### 3. Junie

JetBrains coding agent for the terminal, JetBrains IDEs and CI, running on hosted or your own model keys.

**Research coverage:** 35/35 criteria

**Where it improves on Kilo Code:**
- [Agent permissions: yes — It asks before sensitive actions by default and the boundary is editable: a JSON allowlist governs command execution, file edits outside the project, MCP tool calls and reads of secret files.](https://junie.jetbrains.com/docs/action-allowlist-junie-cli.html)
- [API access: yes — You drive it from your own stack through the headless CLI with an API-key token, plus an ACP mode and a GitHub Action; there is no REST API for the agent itself.](https://junie.jetbrains.com/docs/junie-headless.html)
- [Seat model: yes — Priced per named user on every tier, with each seat carrying its own credit allowance; no minimum seat count or upper ceiling is published on any plan page.](https://www.jetbrains.com/ide-services/ai-enterprise/)

**Trade-offs against Kilo Code:**
- [In a browser: partial — The web app is a companion view onto a CLI session still running on your own machine, not a standalone hosted agent, and the vendor lists a dozen features it cannot do.](https://junie.jetbrains.com/docs/junie-cli-remote-mode.html)
- [Open source: no — The public repository carries installers, model profiles and a plugin rather than agent source, and its licence section reserves all rights and points at proprietary service terms.](https://github.com/JetBrains/junie)
- [MCP server: partial — MCP runs one way only: Junie consumes external MCP servers as a client. Another program reaches it through ACP instead, and no MCP server exposing Junie is documented.](https://junie.jetbrains.com/docs/junie-cli-acp.html)

[View Junie](https://theagentsindex.com/junie)

### 4. Cline

Open-source coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, the terminal and CI, running on whichever model you bring.

**Research coverage:** 34/35 criteria

**Where it improves on Kilo Code:**
- [Agent permissions: yes — Approval is per tool call across eight named categories - reading, editing, safe commands, all commands, browser, MCP - each toggled separately, with outside-workspace access gated behind the base toggle.](https://docs.cline.bot/features/auto-approve)
- [Self-hosted: yes — The client executes on your own machine by default, and Enterprise is documented for VPC, on-premises and air-gapped deployment with inference going straight to your providers.](https://cline.bot/enterprise)
- [API access: yes — Two documented APIs plus an SDK: an OpenAI-compatible chat completions endpoint for inference, a REST admin API for orgs and keys, and npm packages that embed the agent loop itself.](https://docs.cline.bot/api/overview)

**Trade-offs against Kilo Code:**
- [In a browser: partial — The browser UI is Kanban, a board you start yourself on localhost and label a research preview; the vendor's hosted web app is the account and admin console, not a place to run tasks.](https://docs.cline.bot/usage/kanban)
- [MCP server: partial — Cline is an MCP client - you attach local or remote servers to it, and a marketplace lists them - but the vendor documents no MCP server exposing Cline itself to another agent.](https://docs.cline.bot/mcp/mcp-overview)
- [Pooled budget: partial — Organisation members draw on providers and billing configured centrally by an admin, and spend is reported per team and per member, but no per-seat budget cap is documented.](https://docs.cline.bot/enterprise-solutions/configuration/remote-configuration/overview)

[View Cline](https://theagentsindex.com/cline)

### 5. Warp

Agentic development environment: a terminal, a standalone agent CLI, and unattended cloud coding agents.

**Research coverage:** 35/35 criteria

**Where it improves on Kilo Code:**
- [Agent permissions: yes — Four autonomy levels per action type, plus regex allowlist and denylist; the denylist wins, except that Run until completion bypasses your personal denylist while admin-enforced rules still hold.](https://docs.warp.dev/agents/capabilities/agent-profiles-permissions/)
- [API access: yes — A REST API with a published OpenAPI spec creates and inspects cloud agent runs, with official Python and TypeScript SDKs; a separate read-only analytics API is Enterprise-only.](https://docs.warp.dev/reference/api-and-sdk/)
- [Seat model: yes — Priced per user with a 25-seat ceiling on Business and unlimited seats on Enterprise; no minimum seat count is published, and seats are prorated on add and remove.](https://docs.warp.dev/enterprise/team-management/teams/)

**Trade-offs against Kilo Code:**
- [In your editor: no — There is no first-party IDE or editor extension; Warp ships its own editor and diff review and positions itself as the thing that replaces the external IDE. It can only launch your editor.](https://docs.warp.dev/code/overview/)
- [Open source: partial — The client is AGPL v3 and auditable. Nothing Warp says makes the same claim for the Automation Platform, cloud agents or Factories, and no licence is named for them.](https://docs.warp.dev/agents/)
- [Free tier: partial — The Free plan is a self-serve download with no call, but it bundles no agent usage: you must buy add-on credits or bring your own inference before the agent will run on Warp models.](https://docs.warp.dev/support-and-community/plans-and-billing/credits/)

[View Warp](https://theagentsindex.com/warp)

### 6. Augment Code

Cosmos platform running fleets of coding agents across the SDLC, plus Auggie CLI and IDE extensions.

**Research coverage:** 35/35 criteria

**Where it improves on Kilo Code:**
- [Agent permissions: yes — allow/deny/webhook/script rules per tool and per shell regex, committed in .augment/settings.json.](https://docs.augmentcode.com/cli/permissions)
- [Seat model: yes — Business is a flat $100/month for up to 50 seats with no per-seat charge; above 50 seats you move to Enterprise.](https://www.augmentcode.com/pricing)
- [Admin controls: yes — A repo-committed settings file denies tools or specific shell commands on every cloud agent; Enterprise adds granular access controls and enforced budgets.](https://docs.augmentcode.com/cli/permissions)

**Trade-offs against Kilo Code:**
- [Open models: partial — Open-weight GLM and Kimi models are offered, but only Augment-hosted; the model list is closed and has no self-supplied weights.](https://docs.augmentcode.com/models/available-models)
- [Open source: partial — Context Connectors is an open-source library on the Context Engine SDK; the agent platform itself is proprietary.](https://docs.augmentcode.com/context-services/context-connectors/overview)
- [Free tier: partial — No free plan is published; pricing lists only Business at $100/month and Enterprise. Business is self-serve, though, and trials are referenced.](https://www.augmentcode.com/pricing)

[View Augment Code](https://theagentsindex.com/augment-code)

## Method

Unknown data is never treated as a benefit or a trade-off. Featured placement is labelled but cannot alter recommendation order.