Gemini CLI vs Orca (2026): Which Vibe Coding App Is Better?

Both are popular terminal coding agents. Here is how Gemini CLI and Orca stack up on price, strengths and weaknesses, and which one we would pick.

Gemini CLI

Google's open-source terminal agent, retired for consumer accounts in June 2026 (enterprise and API keys only)

6.8 /10

Pricing: Open source

Pros

Open source (Apache-2.0) and auditable
Large context window for big repositories
Still supported for enterprise licences and paid API keys

Cons

Retired for free, AI Pro/Ultra and individual accounts on 18 June 2026
Google's development focus has moved to the Antigravity CLI

Visit Gemini CLI ↗

Orca

An ADE for running fleets of coding agents in parallel worktrees, from desktop or mobile

8.0 /10

Pricing: Open source

Pros

Runs multiple coding agents in parallel isolated worktrees with diff comparison
Free, open source (MIT), backed by Y Combinator
Mobile companion apps for monitoring/steering agents remotely

Cons

No hosted/managed tier documented — you bring your own agent subscriptions
Extremely fast recent star growth is worth watching, even though the activity looks organic

Visit Orca ↗

Gemini CLI vs Orca at a glance

	Gemini CLI	Orca
Editor score	6.8 / 10	8.0 / 10
Pricing model	Open source	Open source
Starting price	Free	Free
Reader upvotes	0	0
Best for	terminal, google, open source	ade, parallel-agents, claude-code
Agent Skills support	Yes	No
Subagents support	Yes	No
MCP support	Yes	No
AGENTS.md support	Yes	No
Plugins support	Yes	No
Hooks support	Yes	No
Rules support	No	No
Agent skills in this directory	51	0
Subagents & agents in this directory	20	3
MCP servers in this directory	73	0

Our pick

Orca edges it with a score of 8.0 versus 6.8. Orca is the better fit if you value: runs multiple coding agents in parallel isolated worktrees with diff comparison, free, open source (mit), backed by y combinator. Choose Gemini CLI instead if you need: open source (apache-2.0) and auditable, large context window for big repositories.