Codex vs Gemini CLI for MCP servers
Codex and Gemini CLI differ in 6 of 10 facts: publisher, kind, price, connects to, server config, servers that work in it.
| Fact | Codex | Gemini CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | OpenAI | |
| Kind | Terminal, Editor extension, Desktop app | Terminal |
| Runs on | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Price | Free plan | Paid |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Connects to | Local (stdio), Remote (HTTP) | Local (stdio), Remote (HTTP), Remote (SSE) |
| Headers for remote servers | Yes | Yes |
| Server config | ~/.codex/config.toml | ~/.gemini/settings.json |
| Servers that work in it | 119,253 | 123,011 |
| What we checked | Matches the official docs | Matches the official docs |
| Add a server | In Codex | In Gemini CLI |
From each client's own documentation and site, as linked on its page. The server counts are today's install configs that work in each.