# Kilo Code 46 Hacker News commenters recommended Kilo Code and 12 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Open-source VS Code extension for switching between many AI models and providers, a model-agnostic alternative to Cursor. Critics mainly flag background npm package downloads. ## Why people recommend it - Strong alternative to Cline and RooCode (7 comments): "found Cline/RooCode/KiloCode in VSC to be pretty good, while letting me preserve my existing setup" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47290603)) "KiloCode/RooCode/Cline in VSC which are nice, but might miss out on some more specific tools" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46238374)) "be it with OpenCode or Copilot or Cline/RooCode/KiloCode" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46552392)) - Works with many models and providers (5 comments): "RooCode and KiloCode also have an Orchestrator mode that can create sub-tasks and you can specify which model to use for what" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46354515)) "Using openrouter+kilocode I can simply switch between different providers' models and not miss out on anything." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033250)) "You also have model-agnostic agents like Cursor and Kilo Code (disclaimer: I work at Kilo)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46262736)) - Credits roll over, free models (4 comments): "It's basically a fixed subscription and your credits roll over each month, and you get free extra credits too" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46905063)) "I have had very good results and compared to others it just costs pennies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48487111)) "Kilocode with options of free models has been very nice so far." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334372)) - Open source, Cursor-like without lock-in (3 comments): "Similar to Cursor, open source, based on open code, compatible with claude code configuration and works with all providers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47870209)) "does most of what I liked in Cursor without tying me to their particular subscription" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47860116)) "vscode extension as well but open source and based on OpenCode" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47870235)) ## What people warn about - Installs npm packages in background silently (4 comments): "popular AI coding harness (e.g. OpenCode/KiloCode) will just download random npm packages in the background without you knowing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48362911)) "popular AI coding harness (OpenCode/KiloCode) will just download random npm packages in the background without you knowing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48362783)) "popular harness (OpenCode/KiloCode) just random downloads npm packages in the background and didn't tell you" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48381188)) - Output quality often weaker than alternatives (2 comments): "OpenCode and Kilocode and others are great, but not as good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48098816)) "I tried Kilo Code and CoPilot and JetBrain's agent and others direct against Sonnet 4 and the output was ... not good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791929)) - Recent versions feel worse (2 comments): "it's a noticeable regression when I hit a limit and move to kilocode" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47518414)) "most recent Kilocode is streamlined into mediocrity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48416832)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Claude Code](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-code.md): 4522 recommend - [OpenAI Codex](https://hackerapproved.com/p/codex.md): 2474 recommend - [OpenCode](https://hackerapproved.com/p/opencode.md): 1060 recommend - [Gemini CLI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gemini-cli.md): 172 recommend - [Cline](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cline.md): 63 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Kilo Code", https://hackerapproved.com/p/kilo-code/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).