Rating certificate · AW/26-09/61726 Sept 2026
65of 100
The Register / Coding agents / Amp
Register entry · Coding agents · updated 26 Sept 2026
Amp
Amp is a coding agent originally built at Sourcegraph and run by the independent Amp Inc. since December 2025. It offers a terminal CLI, web and macOS/iOS apps, and 'orbs' (remote machines where agents run without supervision), plus a meta-agent called Puck, Slack integration and multi-model routing through a 'dial' of modes. Since 13 September 2026 it is free when users bring their own compute and model keys or subscriptions; paid individual and enterprise plans add hosted orb time. By default Amp does not ask for approval before running tools; control is via custom policy plugins.
What reviewers and users praise
- Model routing and orchestration praised by practitioners (Alex Dunlop; HN)
- Orbs / one-thread-one-VM workflow liked by several users (HN)
- Very high shipping cadence (43 dated changelog entries in 90 days)
What they criticise
- Cost is a recurring complaint (HN; r/AmpCode 'spending thousands a month')
- Frequent removal of features users relied on (plan mode, VS Code integration, handoff) (r/AmpCode; HN)
- No approval prompts by default; tool control requires writing a policy plugin (docs)
Experts vs the crowdcrowd cooler by 17
Experts77
Crowd61
| Price | Free, paid from $20 |
|---|---|
| Use it via | CLI, Web app, Desktop app, Mobile app, IDE extension, Chat apps |
| Runs on | macos, web |
| Licence | proprietary |
| Updated | Evidence collected 26 Sept 2026 |
How the rating was worked out
Weights for Coding agents: adoption 35%, experts 40%, crowd 25%. Pillars without enough evidence are left out and the others re-weighted. The method.
| Adoption & momentumweight 35% | 54 | npm weekly downloads 33k → 41 · VS Code / Open VSX installs 108k → 28 · 43 releases in 90 days → 100reach × 0.7 + momentum × 0.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Expertsindependent reviews · weight 40% | 77 | 8 independent reviews (6 positive · 2 mixed · 0 negative), averaged toward 50 for small samples. |
| Crowdcommunity sample · weight 25% | 61 | 22 dated posts from reddit, hackernews, youtube: 12 positive · 4 mixed · 6 negative (positive + ½ mixed) ÷ n, averaged toward 50 for small samples |
| Rating | 65 | high confidence (3 of 3 pillars, 22 community posts). |
Trust & safety
Seven dimensions graded A–D from documented facts. Overall: B.
C
Permission model
Docs state 'By default, Amp does not ask for approval before running tools.' Tool control is via custom policy plugins (distributable workspace-wide); tool-level allow/reject/ask/delegate permission entries also exist. Remote orbs isolate agents on separate machines, but local runs auto-execute by default. source
B
Data access scope
Local agent operates with the user's access to the workspace; docs acknowledge exposure to untrusted repositories/MCP servers and recommend policy plugins or isolated environments. Enterprise adds IP allowlisting and access controls. source
B
Data storage
User and thread data stored on Google Cloud Platform in the US; thread data removed within 30 days of deletion; audit logs retained at least 30 days. source
A
Data retention & training
Neither Amp nor subprocessors train on user data unless the user explicitly opts in (Enterprise cannot enable training); deleted thread data removed within 30 days; provider agreements limit model-provider retention, with Minimal Data Retention agreements available. source
C
Incident history (24 months)
August 2025 disclosures by Johann Rehberger (Embrace The Red): arbitrary command execution via prompt injection (agent modifying its own configuration), invisible Unicode-tag prompt injection, and data exfiltration via image rendering; all reported fixed by Sourcegraph. No GHSA/CVE entries found for @sourcegraph/amp or @ampcode/cli. source
A
Compliance
Security page: 'Amp is SOC 2 Type II certified, and we perform annual pentesting of our entire stack.' source
B
Transparency
Closed source; detailed, frequently updated dated changelog/news page and public manual. source
The experts
8 named independent reviews found; dated reviews from the last 12 months are scored.
- mixed
Most Claude Code users don't need to switch. Consider Amp if you specifically want automatic model switching, native remote-codebase search, or clearer parallel-agent runs.
Alex Dunlop · 15 Jun 2026 · alexdunlop.com - positive
Amp sits between the two on IDE polish but ahead of both on parallel execution and model flexibility.
baeseokjae (independent blog) · 8 May 2026 · baeseokjae.github.io - positive
This post isn't an advertisement for Amp, it just happens to be the agentic coding tool I use the most currently.
Mitchell Hashimoto (mitchellh.com) · 11 Oct 2025 · mitchellh.com - mixed
From Claude Code and Cursor CLI to Open Code and the insanely powerful (and expensive) Amp Code, I put them all through real development work
Tech Edge AI-ML (YouTube) · 21 Nov 2025 · youtube.com - positive
Từ một công cụ mạnh mẽ nhưng đắt đỏ, Amp đang dần "chuyển đổi" mình thành một trợ lý không thể thiếu với những cập nhật cực kỳ giá trị
Tù Bà Khuỳm (YouTube, Vietnamese) · 31 Oct 2025 · youtube.com - positive
Amp is production-ready for developers who are comfortable reviewing AI-generated code and working on feature branches.
Bojan Tomic (Intelligent Tools) · 7 Feb 2026 · intelligenttools.co - positive
Claude & Codex are very capable and get the job done equally well, but the experience of Amp is just better.
Jibran (Jibran's Perspective, asadjb.com) · 8 Feb 2026 · asadjb.com - positive
Amp feels like a coding agent built by people who use coding agents all day and have strong opinions about what survives.
Sid Bharath (sidbharath.com) · 25 Aug 2026 · sidbharath.com
The crowd
22 coded posts from reddit, hackernews, youtube.
12 positive4 mixed6 negative
- positive
started using AMP after bouncing between so many other tools and agents it's hard to keep count.
r/AmpCode · 13 Nov 2025 · search snippet · reddit.com - mixed
but also pricey. Amp like Claude Code feels like a product used by the people that build it
HN comment · 9 Dec 2025 · news.ycombinator.com - positive
I've been using it a ton and it's a super nice cli. It has ads, but they are fairly non-intrusive
HN comment · 9 Jan 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
Plan mode is gone. VSCode integration will soon be gone.
r/AmpCode · 17 Feb 2026 · reddit.com - mixed
Is ampcode generally more expensive? Am I the only one spending thousands a month?
r/AmpCode · 2 Mar 2026 · reddit.com - mixed
I use claude code and AMP a lot, and yet, unless I pay attention, it easily generate bad code, introduces regressions while trying to fix bugs
HN comment · 7 Mar 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - positive
I've used Codex and Claude Max but I keep going back to Amp
HN comment · 16 Mar 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
I took about 10 days off, and apparently, that was 10 days too many for Amp.
r/AmpCode · 15 Apr 2026 · reddit.com
Pricing
As published, checked 26 Sept 2026.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby | Free | Free with your own runners or pay-as-you-go orbs; BYOK; since 2026-09-13 Amp is free when you bring your own compute and model subscriptions/keys. |
| Individual | $20 / monthly | Includes 45,000 orb minutes; BYOK with no token fees; custom portal domains. Education price $10/month (announced 2026-08-18). |
| Teams | Free | No additional charge; shared billing, SSO, multiplayer and permissions. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Pooled credits, audit logs, IP allowlisting, regional endpoints. |
Recent changes
- 13 Sept 2026
Amp becomes free to use when users bring their own compute and model subscriptions/keys ('Free Agent'). source
- 28 Aug 2026
Amp apps for iOS and macOS (threads, orbs, Puck); 2026-09-24 the Mac app launches a runner automatically. source
- 20 Jul 2026
Puck meta-agent introduced; Amp available in Slack. source
- 18 Jul 2026
Monthly subscriptions introduced. source
- 30 Jun 2026
Agents in Orbs: remote, unsupervised agent machines launched. source
Ranked alongside
Other ranked entries in Coding agents.
OpenCodeAnomaly75
Claude CodeAnthropic73
Zed (Agent Panel)Zed Industries73
GitHub CopilotGitHub (Microsoft)72
Codex (CLI and app)OpenAI71
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these, observed up to 26 Sept 2026.
- Why Sourcegraph and Amp are becoming independent companies (2025-12-02)
- Amp Frontier Corporation (news entry, 2025-12-02; not fetched — header overflow)
- @sourcegraph/amp — 'Renamed to @ampcode/cli' (16,085 weekly downloads, 2026-09-18..24)
- Tool-Level Permissions (search result)
- YouTube search used for video and comment sampling (also 'amp code sourcegraph agent', 'amp coding agent vs claude code')
- HN Algolia story search (since 2025-10-01) used to find practitioner blog posts