Vibe Answers · Last updated 2026-10-17
Best open-source coding agents with MCP support
Which open-source coding agents support MCP?
Short answer: 11 open-source coding-agent harnesses on Vibe Shipped have MCP support documented in their official docs and are not archived or inactive. By GitHub stars, the top three are Hermes Agent (254,611, 2026-10-17), OpenCode (214,864, 2026-10-17), OpenAI Codex CLI (129,621, 2026-10-17).
| Agent | Maker | Licence | Interface | GitHub stars (date) | Any model | Subagents | Sandboxing | Pricing (official) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hermes Agent | Nous Research | MIT | CLI, desktop, messaging, SDK | 254,611 (2026-10-17) | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| OpenCode | Anomaly (formerly SST; repo anomalyco/opencode) | MIT | CLI, desktop, IDE | 214,864 (2026-10-17) | Yes | Yes | Not verified | — |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | OpenAI | Apache-2.0 | CLI, IDE | 129,621 (2026-10-17) | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Included in ChatGPT plans: Free $0, Go $8/mo, Plus $20/mo, Pro from $100/mo; Business/Enterprise; or API key at API rates. (2026-10-16) |
| Pi | Earendil (Mario Zechner, badlogic) | MIT | CLI, SDK | 115,920 (2026-10-17) | Not verified | No | Not verified | — |
| Gemini CLI | Apache-2.0 | CLI | 107,416 (2026-10-17) | Not verified | Yes | Yes | — | |
| OpenHands | OpenHands (All Hands AI) | MIT | CLI, desktop, SDK | 91,121 (2026-10-17) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Open source free; Cloud Individual free (BYOK or models at cost); Enterprise custom. (2026-10-16) |
| Cline | Cline Bot Inc. | Apache-2.0 | IDE, CLI | 70,458 (2026-10-17) | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Free for individuals (pay inference only); Enterprise custom. (2026-10-16) |
| goose | Block (repo now under aaif-goose org) | Apache-2.0 | CLI, desktop | 55,362 (2026-10-17) | Not verified | Yes | Yes | — |
| Qwen Code | Alibaba Qwen team | Apache-2.0 | CLI | 28,539 (2026-10-17) | Not verified | Yes | Yes | — |
| Kilo Code | Kilo Code (Kilo-Org) | MIT | IDE, CLI | 27,638 (2026-10-17) | Yes | Not verified | Yes | Free individual (inference billed separately at provider rates); Teams $15/user/mo; Enterprise custom; optional Kilo Pass from $19/mo; cloud agents $0.60–$1.20/hr. (2026-10-16) |
| Grok Build | SpaceXAI (xAI) | Apache-2.0 | CLI, IDE (ACP) | 27,429 (2026-10-17) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Included in xAI subscription plans. Plus ($8/mo) lists Grok Chat, Voice, Imagine and Build. Premium is $30/mo, Super $100/mo and Ultra $200/mo, each with more usage. Teams costs $30+/user/mo and Enterprise is custom. You can also use an XAI_API_KEY. (2026-10-17) |
Key sources: github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent · hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/mcp · github.com/anomalyco/opencode · opencode.ai/docs/mcp-servers/ · github.com/openai/codex · all 20 sources
Full answer
11 open-source coding-agent harnesses on Vibe Shipped have MCP support documented in their official docs and are not archived or inactive. By GitHub stars, the top three are Hermes Agent (254,611, 2026-10-17), OpenCode (214,864, 2026-10-17), OpenAI Codex CLI (129,621, 2026-10-17).
Method
Filter: coding-agent harnesses (not frameworks) with open_source = true, MCP documented in official docs, and no archived/inactive flag. Sorted by GitHub stars from the GitHub API on the date shown. Stars measure popularity, not quality.
Sources
- https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent
- https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/mcp
- https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode
- https://opencode.ai/docs/mcp-servers/
- https://github.com/openai/codex
- https://developers.openai.com/codex/mcp
- https://github.com/earendil-works/pi
- https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli
- https://geminicli.com/docs/tools/mcp-server/
- https://github.com/OpenHands/OpenHands
- https://docs.openhands.dev/openhands/usage/settings/mcp-settings
- https://github.com/cline/cline
- https://docs.cline.bot/mcp/mcp-overview
- https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose
- https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code
- https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en/users/features/mcp/
- https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode
- https://kilo.ai/docs/automate/mcp/overview
- https://github.com/xai-org/grok-build
- https://docs.x.ai/build/features/mcp-servers
Cite as: Vibe Shipped, “Best open-source coding agents with MCP support”, https://vibeshipped.io/best/best-open-source-coding-agent-with-mcp (updated 2026-10-17). Markdown: send Accept: text/markdown.