Crush and Goose, fact by fact
| Fact | Crush | Goose |
|---|---|---|
| StarsGoose has 26,522 more stars (1.9×). | 28,542Verified 8 Oct 2026 | 55,064Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Newest commitBoth committed on the same day. | 6 Oct 20261 days old when we read itVerified 8 Oct 2026 | 7 Oct 20260 days old when we read itVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| ContributorsGoose has 299 more contributors (2.9×). | 154Verified 8 Oct 2026 | 453Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| LicenseOther against Apache-2.0. | OtherVerified 8 Oct 2026 | Apache-2.0Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Latest stable releaseGoose released 3 days more recently. | v0.97.1published 29 Sep 2026Verified 8 Oct 2026 | v1.53.0published 2 Oct 2026Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| npm downloads | 7,773 a week@charmland/crushVerified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for Goose |
| Repository | charmbracelet/crushGoVerified 8 Oct 2026 | aaif-goose/gooseRustVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
What we know about Crush
Crush is configured by a `crushrc` that is Bash, and it runs that Bash identically on Windows because Crush embeds its own Bash interpreter rather than calling the host shell.
“Because Crush has a native, built-in Bash interpreter, Bash-based config works identically across all platforms, including Windows.”
Code in a terminal on a platform the other agents skip: Crush ships first-class builds for Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD as well as macOS, Linux and Windows.
“- **Works Everywhere:** first-class support in every terminal on macOS, Linux, Windows (PowerShell and WSL), Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD”
Work in a typed language where the compiler knows more than the file: Crush attaches language servers, so `lsp add go --command "gopls"` feeds gopls output into the agent's context.
“- **LSP-Enhanced:** Crush uses LSPs for additional context, just like you do”
Start a task on an expensive model and finish it on a cheap one: Crush swaps the model mid-session and keeps the context.
“- **Flexible:** switch LLMs mid-session while preserving context”
Crush is not open source today: it ships under the Functional Source License 1.1, which bars any competing commercial use until each version turns MIT two years after release.
“A Permitted Purpose is any purpose other than a Competing Use. A Competing Use · means making the Software available to others in a commercial product or · service that: · 1. substitutes for the Software;”
A new model reaches Crush only when a separate repository merges it, because the default model list lives in Catwalk, not in Crush.
“Crush’s default model listing is managed in [Catwalk](https://github.com/charmbracelet/catwalk), a community-supported, open source repository of Crush-compatible models, and you’re welcome to contribute.”
Crush has no read-only planning mode: the request for Build and Plan modes has been open since 2025-12-28 with 61 reactions.
“Build / Plan Modes”
A team that needs an approval prompt on every shell command out of the box should pick Codex CLI or GitHub Copilot CLI.
“- **Full control:** Preview every action before execution — nothing happens without your explicit approval.”
What Crush costs
Charm Hyper, the provider built for Crush, gives 100 Hypercredits a month at $0 and 250 a day on a $20 monthly subscription; 1 Hypercredit is 5 cents.
“Hypercredits are the core of Hyper's usage-based pricing model, where credits map directly to token costs. 1 Hypercredit is currently 5¢, and they're distributed based on your subscription tier.”
What we know about Goose
goose is the only agent in this set governed by a foundation rather than a vendor, and it can borrow an existing Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini subscription over the Agent Client Protocol instead of an API key.
“goose is part of the [Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF)](https://aaif.io/) at the Linux Foundation.”
Automate work that is not coding — research, writing, data analysis — on the same machine and the same agent, through the desktop app, the CLI or the API.
“goose is a general-purpose AI agent that runs on your machine. Not just for code — use it for research, writing, automation, data analysis, or anything you need to get done.”
Wire the agent into tools you already run: goose connects to 70+ extensions over the Model Context Protocol.
“Connect to 70+ extensions via the [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) open standard.”
Ship one configuration to a whole team: a custom distribution bundles the providers, extensions and branding before anybody installs it.
“[Custom Distributions](https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose/blob/main/CUSTOM_DISTROS.md) — build your own goose distro with preconfigured providers, extensions, and branding”
Model choice is not free: goose leans on tool calling, so a weak or local model degrades it, and the vendor names Claude 4 as the model it works best with.
“goose relies heavily on tool calling capabilities and currently works best with Claude 4 models.”
Two OpenAI reasoning models do not run at all, because they cannot call tools.
“o1-mini and o1-preview are not supported because goose uses tool calling.”
Unattended scheduling is broken in 1.45.0: headless runs die at the first tool call and a recipe's own goose_mode is ignored.
“Scheduler unusable for unattended recipes on 1.45.0: headless runs die at first tool call, recipe-level goose_mode is silently ignored, an interrupted run-now permanently wedges the job, and spawned sessions get no schedule_id”
A developer who wants the widest model catalogue in a terminal should pick OpenCode, which reaches 75+ providers from one config file.
“OpenCode uses the AI SDK and Models.dev to support 75+ LLM providers and it supports running local models.”
What Goose costs
goose charges nothing for itself; you pay whichever provider you configure, and it accepts a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription in place of an API key.
“Access GPT-5 Codex models optimized for code generation and understanding. Requires a ChatGPT Plus/Pro subscription.”
Questions people ask
- Are Crush and Goose still maintained?
- Crush committed to charmbracelet/crush (main) on 6 Oct 2026. Goose committed to aaif-goose/goose (main) on 7 Oct 2026. Both readings come from the default branch of each repository, on the date shown beside them.
- What do Crush and Goose cost?
- Crush: Charm Hyper, the provider built for Crush, gives 100 Hypercredits a month at $0 and 250 a day on a $20 monthly subscription; 1 Hypercredit is 5 cents. Goose: goose charges nothing for itself; you pay whichever provider you configure, and it accepts a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription in place of an API key. Every figure here is quoted from the vendor's own page and linked beside the claim.
- Is Crush or Goose open source?
- Crush's repository charmbracelet/crush reports the Other licence. Goose's repository aaif-goose/goose reports the Apache-2.0 licence. We read the licence GitHub reports for the repository, which is not the same question as whether the hosted product is free.
How we check this page
- Machine facts. Stars, contributors, the newest commit on the default branch, the licence GitHub reports and the latest stable release come from the GitHub API, and download counts from npm, PyPI, Homebrew and the VS Code Marketplace. Each value carries the day it was last confirmed, never the day this page was built. The line under each label is arithmetic on those two values.
- Judgments. Every claim about what a tool suits, what it is bad at and what it costs is quoted from a page we read, and that page is linked beside the claim. Where there is no link, we wrote no claim.
- Index status. Both Crush and Goose carry claims we read, quoted and linked. So this page is offered to search engines.
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