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Comparison · ai-assistants

Elicit vs opencode

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Elicit and opencode — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Elicit vs opencode: at a glance

FeatureElicitopencode
Sectorai-assistantsai-assistants
Velocity score0.05.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesresearch-tools, ai-agents, evidence-synthesis, collaborationai-coding-agent, cli, open-source, release-pipeline
Last editorial update12d ago2d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Elicit?

Elicit's research agent now runs on a schedule and reports back by email.

Elicit has spent four months turning an evidence-synthesis tool into an agent platform. July made the API and an MCP server public, August introduced the Research Agent for decision work, September made projects and the library shared across teams, and the newest entry lets the agent create Routines that monitor for new evidence, update artifacts and email summaries without the user present.

Read the full Elicit trajectory →

What is opencode?

opencode keeps publishing process-daemon patches on protocol 8.

The newest tags are npm publishes of the process daemon: @opencode/pty reached 0.5.0 on protocol 8 on November 5 and got 0.5.1 and 0.5.2 patches on November 11. Before that came 0.3.x and 0.4.0 on protocol 7, a CI pin and an app animation change. None of these tags describe a change to the agent itself.

Read the full opencode trajectory →

Elicit vs opencode: editorial side-by-side

E
Elicit
AI-ASSISTANTS
0.0

Elicit's research agent now runs on a schedule and reports back by email.

◆ Current state

Elicit has spent four months turning an evidence-synthesis tool into an agent platform. July made the API and an MCP server public, August introduced the Research Agent for decision work, September made projects and the library shared across teams, and the newest entry lets the agent create Routines that monitor for new evidence, update artifacts and email summaries without the user present.

◆ Where it's heading

Each release moves Elicit further from a search box a researcher drives toward a standing service that works on a team's behalf: first callable from other tools, then agentic, then shared, now scheduled. The library is becoming the shared memory the agent reads from and writes back to.

◆ Prediction

Routines currently report by email; the next visible step is likely routines that act on shared team collections or push into other tools through the API and MCP that already exist. The entries don't say how Routines are priced or limited, which is the open question.

O
opencode
AI-ASSISTANTS
5.0

opencode keeps publishing process-daemon patches on protocol 8.

◆ Current state

The newest tags are npm publishes of the process daemon: @opencode/pty reached 0.5.0 on protocol 8 on November 5 and got 0.5.1 and 0.5.2 patches on November 11. Before that came 0.3.x and 0.4.0 on protocol 7, a CI pin and an app animation change. None of these tags describe a change to the agent itself.

◆ Where it's heading

The feed shows V2 infrastructure settling into separately versioned components. The protocol bump suggests the terminal layer the agent uses is still changing under the hood.

◆ Prediction

The entries don't show the next user-facing release; a CLI or extension update that adopts protocol 8 is the likely next visible tag.

Alternatives to Elicit and opencode

Other ai-assistants products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Elicit or opencode.

See all Elicit alternatives → · See all opencode alternatives →

Recent activity from Elicit and opencode

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 2d agoopencode@opencode/pty 0.5.2 published on protocol 8
  2. 2d agoopencode@opencode/pty 0.5.1 patch release
  3. 8d agoopencode@opencode/pty 0.5.0 moves to protocol 8
  4. 15d agoopencode@opencode/pty 0.4.0 published on protocol 7
  5. 15d agoopencode@opencode/pty 0.3.3 published on protocol 7
  6. 16d agoopencode@opencode/pty 0.3.2 published on protocol 7
  7. 1mo agoElicitResearch Agent gains scheduled Routines that email updates
  8. 1mo agoElicitElicit Library becomes a shared team research hub
  9. 2mo agoElicitElicit adds team collaboration for researchers and agents
  10. 3mo agoElicit5 August 2026: Meet the Elicit Research Agent - Rigor that powers decisions
  11. 4mo agoElicitElicit API leaves preview and ships an MCP server

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Elicit and opencode?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. opencode is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Elicit better than opencode?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. opencode is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other ai-assistants products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Elicit?

Top Elicit alternatives in ai-assistants are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Elicit alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/elicit for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to opencode?

Top opencode alternatives in ai-assistants are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "opencode alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/opencode for the full list with editorial commentary on each.