AgentIndex icon
AgentIndex
Codewhale logo
Codewhale
★ 41.1k
vs
pi-from-scratch logo
pi-from-scratch
★ 1.3k

Codewhale vs pi-from-scratch

Codewhale: Codewhale is an open-source coding agent for the terminal, written in Rust, that reads the repository, edits files and runs commands until a task is done. It ships more than 40 built-in providers plus any OpenAI-compatible endpoint and local runtimes like Ollama, vLLM and SGLang, defaulting to DeepSeek. Plan, Work and Operate modes combine with Ask, Auto-Review and Full Access permissions; /receipts lists files changed, commands run and web/MCP calls, and /undo and /restore roll work back.; pi-from-scratch: PI from Scratch is a Chinese-language article that rebuilds a minimal version of the pi coding agent, called nano-pi, in TypeScript. The companion site fills in the code alongside the text and offers a step-through trace of the execution flow.

01

TL;DR

Codewhale logo
CodewhaleCode Assistant · ★ 41.1k

A terminal coding agent on cheaper or local models

Read Codewhale full review →
pi-from-scratch logo
pi-from-scratchCode Assistant · ★ 1.3k

Learn how a coding agent's tool loop works internally

Read pi-from-scratch full review →
02

Side-by-Side Comparison

Field
Codewhale logoCodewhale
pi-from-scratch logopi-from-scratch
Category
Code Assistant
Code Assistant
Stars
★ 41.1k
★ 1.3k
License
MIT
MIT
Install Command
curl -fsSL https://codewhale.net/install.sh | sh
npm install && npm run dev
Updated
1d ago
4d ago
Open Source
Yes
Yes
Website
↗ Visit
↗ Visit
GitHub
↗ GitHub
↗ GitHub
Tags
coding-agent, terminal, rust
coding-agent, tutorial, typescript
03

Features

Codewhale logoCodewhale
0140+ built-in providers, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, and local models via Ollama, vLLM or SGLang
02Plan, Work and Operate modes with Ask, Auto-Review and Full Access permissions
03/receipts audit trail of files, commands, web and MCP calls and approvals
04/undo and /restore to roll back a request or the whole workspace
05codewhale exec for headless runs in scripts and CI, with an optional workspace sandbox
pi-from-scratch logopi-from-scratch
01Step-by-step article that builds a working coding agent from zero
02Website shows code completing in an editor as you read
03Trace view to step through the agent's execution line by line
04nano-pi runs against any OpenAI-compatible API
04

Use Cases

Codewhale logoCodewhale
↳A terminal coding agent on cheaper or local models
↳Fixing failing tests or refactoring with an audit trail of what changed
↳Running agent tasks in CI with codewhale exec
pi-from-scratch logopi-from-scratch
↳Learn how a coding agent's tool loop works internally
↳Use nano-pi as a small base for your own agent experiments
↳Prepare to read the full pi codebase
05

Best For

Codewhale logoCodewhale
Most Popular
pi-from-scratch logopi-from-scratch
—
FAQ

FAQ

What is the difference between Codewhale and pi-from-scratch?
Both Codewhale and pi-from-scratch are in the Code Assistant category. Codewhale has 41.1k stars, while pi-from-scratch has 1.3k stars.
Which is better, Codewhale or pi-from-scratch?
The best choice depends on your use case. Choose Codewhale if A terminal coding agent on cheaper or local models, and pi-from-scratch if Learn how a coding agent's tool loop works internally.
Is Codewhale free or open source?
Yes, Codewhale is open source on GitHub (MIT).
Is pi-from-scratch free or open source?
Yes, pi-from-scratch is open source on GitHub (MIT).
Cloud Infrastructure
Ad

Deploy on DigitalOcean

Host your MCP servers, Docker containers, and AI agents with $200 free credit over 60 days.

Claim $200 Free Credit
→

Related

Alternatives to Codewhale →Alternatives to pi-from-scratch →Codewhale details →pi-from-scratch details →