Best Open-Source Coding Agents: Codex vs Qwen Code
A data-backed comparison of the top two coding agents on HVTracker, built from public trust signals rather than stars alone.
Short answer: Codex currently leads Qwen Code on HVTracker's evidence-weighted trust score: 93.2 vs 90.8/100. This is not a popularity ranking; it combines supply-chain safety, identity/provenance, transparency, maintenance, and adoption signals.
Codex
Lightweight coding agent that runs in your terminal
Qwen Code
An open-source AI coding agent that lives in your terminal.
Codex vs Qwen Code: trust signal breakdown
Both projects are tracked in the Coding Agents category, but they do not expose the same evidence. The table below compares the public signals that feed HVTrust.
| Signal | Codex | Qwen Code |
|---|---|---|
| HVTrust score | 93.2 | 90.8 |
| Safety / Integrity | 20.0/30 | 20.5/30 |
| Identity / Provenance | 18.0/20 | 18.0/20 |
| Transparency | 13.6/20 | 13.9/20 |
| Maintenance | 20.0/20 | 20.0/20 |
| Adoption | 20.0/10 | 17.2/10 |
| OSSF Scorecard | 6.0 | 6.4 |
| Signed commits | 100% | 100% |
| Package provenance | Verified | Verified |
Which one should you evaluate first?
If your priority is the most verifiable trust profile today, start with Codex. It has the stronger current HVTrust score and ranks higher in Coding Agents. If your use case depends on a specific runtime, language, license, or integration model, use the individual profiles rather than the headline score alone.
For production use, the practical checklist is: inspect the security policy, confirm package provenance or release signing where available, review recent maintenance cadence, and compare the exact trust breakdown. HVTracker is meant to reduce the first-pass research burden, not replace your own risk review.