Rating certificate · AW/26-09/03926 Sept 2026
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The Register / Coding agents / Junie (Junie CLI)
Register entry · Coding agents · updated 26 Sept 2026
Junie (Junie CLI)
Junie is JetBrains' coding agent. Junie CLI runs in any terminal, in CI/CD and on GitHub/GitLab, and the same engine powers the Junie tool window in JetBrains IDEs via ACP, where it can drive the IDE's debugger, semantic index and database tools. It supports models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI, bring-your-own-key including OpenRouter, and local models (Junie Local on Macs). It is proprietary; the GitHub repo holds installers and release metadata, not source.
What reviewers and users praise
- Model choice and BYOK let users control cost, e.g. cheap Gemini Flash models (HN users; altaitools review)
- Plan-before-code and test-first verification loop (vibecoding.app review)
- Deep JetBrains IDE integration including real debugger use (altaitools review; JetBrains GA post)
- Simple terminal UI that works over mosh/tmux from a phone (JVM Weekly)
What they criticise
- Many users describe output quality as behind Claude Code and Codex (HN Sep 2026; r/Jetbrains Apr 2026)
- Reported as slow, and credit pricing drew backlash in mid-2026 (altaitools review)
- Confusing JetBrains AI product line-up (Junie, Air, AI Assistant) and credit-based billing (HN Sep 2026)
- Three Junie CVEs in 24 months including an 8.3 command-validation code execution flaw (NVD)
Experts vs the crowdcrowd cooler by 19
Experts67
Crowd47
| Price | Free, paid from $8.33 |
|---|---|
| Use it via | CLI, IDE extension, API |
| Runs on | macos, linux, windows |
| 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% | 37 | GitHub stars 460 → 20 · npm weekly downloads 633 → 0 · 32 releases in 90 days → 100reach × 0.7 + momentum × 0.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Expertsindependent reviews · weight 40% | 67 | 3 independent reviews (2 positive · 1 mixed · 0 negative), averaged toward 50 for small samples. Benchmarks, shown not scored: Terminal-Bench 2.0 No. 18 of 43 (Junie CLI + Multiple) |
| Crowdcommunity sample · weight 25% | 47 | 12 dated posts from hackernews, reddit: 4 positive · 3 mixed · 5 negative (positive + ½ mixed) ÷ n, averaged toward 50 for small samples |
| Rating | 51 | high confidence (3 of 3 pillars, 12 community posts). |
Evidence checks. 1 review from tool directories, AI-written pages or unnamed authors not counted. 1 GitHub issue not counted as sentiment. How evidence is checked.
Trust & safety
Seven dimensions graded A–D from documented facts. Overall: B.
B
Permission model
Unless brave mode is enabled, Junie CLI asks for approval before terminal commands, MCP tools and other sensitive actions; allowlist rules per action type. OS sandbox mode (sandbox-runtime) exists but is only in development, nightly and experimental builds; EAP and release builds keep it off. source
A
Data access scope
Action allowlist distinguishes editing outside the project, reading outside the project directory and reading files that may contain secrets (readSecretFile), each requiring approval unless allowed; .aiignore supported. source
A
Data storage
Runs locally against the working copy; model calls go to JetBrains AI or the user's own provider key, or fully on-device with Junie Local / local runtimes; no required cloud storage of the codebase found. Remote mode is opt-in. source
C
Data retention & training
JetBrains does not collect detailed code-related data (full LLM inputs/outputs) from commercial users without consent, but for individual non-commercial licences it 'may collect analytics ... by default' with opt-out; such data can be used for training AI models and is kept 1 year. Training opt-out only for that segment. source
C
Incident history (24 months)
Three Junie CVEs in 24 months, all fixed: CVE-2025-59458 (CVSS 8.3, code execution via improper command validation), CVE-2026-41153 (5.8, command execution via malicious project file), CVE-2025-58335 (5.5, information disclosure via search_project). Graded C (serious CVE, resolved); D if the lead applies the 'repeated' clause as for gemini-cli. source
A
Compliance
JetBrains Trust Center lists a SOC 2 Type II report covering JetBrains AI and IDEs (search-snippet of trust-center.jetbrains.com; page is JS-rendered); Junie site states SOC 2 certification. source
B
Transparency
Closed source ('All rights reserved'; repo contains installers and release metadata only) with detailed public docs, JetBrains blog release posts and frequent GitHub release notes. source
The experts
3 named independent reviews found; dated reviews from the last 12 months are scored.
- positive
Junie CLI has a much simpler terminal interface. Less ANSI fanfare, less UI complexity - but what you need, works.
Artur Skowroński, JVM Weekly · 12 Mar 2026 · jvm-weekly.com - mixed
my default recommendation would still be Claude Code for most serious terminal-first engineering organizations.
Dr Hernani Costa, First AI Movers Radar · 12 Apr 2026 · radar.firstaimovers.com - positive
Junie is a well-executed IDE-native agent for JetBrains users, and as of 2026 also a respectable CLI for everyone else.
Zane, vibecoding.app · 17 Jun 2026 · vibecoding.app
The crowd
12 coded posts from hackernews, reddit.
4 positive3 mixed5 negative
- positive
Meanwhile JetBrains replies within hours and Junie is LLM agnostic. I'm a huge fan of JetBrains for AI coding.
comment thread · 8 Apr 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
I ask Junie (the JetBrains agent) to do a task and it wanders off in a direction I have no idea why I pay for that.
comment thread · 16 Apr 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - positive
I use it with jetbrains junie. Vastly cheaper than claude, faster, produces better quality code, actually listens to your instructions, more accurate.
comment thread · 22 Apr 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - mixed
Very simple tooling , it just works for this workflow. But it breaks for the “code the whole thing for me” workflow.
comment thread · 22 Apr 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
Junie - their coding agent - was also a miss.
comment thread · 18 May 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - mixed
JetBrains’ AI offering peaked last year when Junie was briefly better than Codex. Now it’s a wash.
comment thread · 11 Jun 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - positive
I use Junie straight from my JetBrain's IDEs that in turn uses Gemini Flash. Very cheap and more than enough for my use.
comment thread · 9 Aug 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
I gave Junie a solid try, but it was always too far behind the competition.
comment thread · 22 Sept 2026 · news.ycombinator.com
Pricing
As published, checked 26 Sept 2026.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free / BYOK | Free | 5 AI credits included; bring your own key at provider rates with no markup; local models supported. |
| AI Pro | $8.33 / monthly | 10 AI credits per 30 days; shown as $8.33 per user per month (appears to be the annual-billing equivalent; vibecoding.app cites $100/user/year). |
| AI Ultimate | $25 / monthly | 35 AI credits per 30 days, recommended for Junie; shown as $25 per user per month (appears annual-billing equivalent; an HN user reports $30/month). |
Recent changes
- 17 Jun 2026
Junie (IDE agent and CLI) leaves Beta: advanced plan mode, agentic debugging, remote control, code review, IDE integration rebuilt on ACP. source
- 28 Jul 2026
Local MLX models release published in the Junie repo. source
- 25 Aug 2026
Junie Local: on-device coding agent for Macs using a tuned Qwen3.6-27B, free, no credits. source
- 24 Aug 2026
JetBrains optimised a Qwen 3.6 model for the Junie agent. source
- 22 Sept 2026
Stable Junie Release 26.9.22 published. 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.