Amp vs Mainline (2026)

Amp

by Amp Frontier Corporation

Mainline

by Mainline

Pros

• ✓Each thread can run in a cloud orb set up with the project's code, tools and plugins, so agents keep working after the laptop closes, and threads can be started or followed from the web, Mac, iPhone or the CLI.
• ✓Multi-model by design: four modes route work across OpenAI, Anthropic and fast models, and on Hobby, Individual and Teams developers can bring a ChatGPT subscription or their own keys with no Amp token fees.
• ✓Team features come at no extra charge, including shared threads, multiplayer, shared portals, plugins and skills and pooled credits, and a GitHub App lets agents open pull requests and read CI status.

Limitations

• ⚠Model usage beyond a tier's included credits is paid separately, through the developer's own provider subscription or keys or through Amp credits at provider API prices, and purchased credits expire after twelve months.
• ⚠Paid tiers are billed monthly and orb time is metered by the minute: Megawatt's 45,000 minutes go faster on larger orbs, and the largest orb size is limited to Gigawatt and Enterprise.
• ⚠SCIM, audit logs, IP allowlisting and regional endpoints are on the quote-based Enterprise tier, and SAML or OIDC SSO needs at least one workspace member on a paid tier.

Pros

• ✓Git-native storage means repo memory travels with the codebase through normal Git fetch and push: no vendor lock-in, no third-party cloud dependency, and no additional infrastructure beyond existing Git workflows.
• ✓Hooks auto-inject intent context at every Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex session start: agents see abandoned paths and superseded decisions before making changes, eliminating the manual step of providing historical context.
• ✓Apache-2.0 open source core is free for all developers with the full CLI, agent protocol, and intent record format available without a paid tier or account requirement.

Limitations

• ⚠Team collaboration features (shared Hub, hosted intent sync, PR review integration, policy controls) are not yet released: the current product is a solo and early-team CLI only, limiting utility for larger engineering organizations.
• ⚠Not a coding agent: Mainline is a context and memory layer that must be paired with a separate coding agent such as Cursor or Claude Code; teams expecting AI-driven code generation will not find that here.
• ⚠Very early product with 195 GitHub stars and no G2 reviews: teams evaluating long-term infrastructure tools carry meaningful adoption risk compared to established alternatives with larger communities.