Kilo Code review: parallel agents for free, but watch the defaults

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Not sponsoredAI Agents · Developer Tools

Tested on Linux · Freemium · Open source

Kilo Code is an open-source AI coding agent for VS Code with a matching CLI. It plans and builds in the editor, and its Agent Manager runs several agents or models in parallel, each in its own git worktree.

The good

Open source, any model, no account. Kilo Code is open source under MIT, runs on local Ollama or hundreds of hosted models, and needs no Kilo account for your own models.
Parallel agents, two models. The Agent Manager sends one prompt to several models, each in its own git worktree and branch, and each version gets its own diff to review.
Plan, build, preview, revert. We like Kilo Code's Plan agent, its experimental browser preview where you select an element and ask for a change, and going back to before any message.

The not so good

Constant change. Kilo Code was rebuilt in April 2026 and ships new versions several times a week; one came out during our test, and its docs contradict each other.
Defaults lean to its gateway. Defaults lean toward its own gateway and trust: the default Auto Free model may use your data for training, and most tools are auto-approved, so file edits went through without asking.

Our verdict

Recommended

MIT licensed, local models with no account, parallel agents in their own worktrees, and preview and revert in the editor, all for free. But it changes several times a week with docs that disagree, and its defaults lean to its own gateway and to auto-approve.

Reviewed: Kilo Code for VS Code 7.8.8 · facts checked 2026-10-15

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