We installed Kilo Code for VS Code and used it on camera. Not sponsored: we picked it and nobody paid for it.
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.
The full review: https://brethof.ai/reviews/kilo-code/
Partly AI-generated: Nova, our host, and her voice are AI; the testing, the verdict and the edit are ours.
#KiloCode #AItools
