Zero vs. IBM Bob

Feature	Zero	IBM Bob

Tagline	Open-source Go coding agent for the terminal, 25+ providers	Your AI SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) partner from IBM
Website	https://zero.gitlawb.com/	https://bob.ibm.com
Language	go	javascript
Release Date	May 28, 2026	September 2, 2025
Last Updated	September 4, 2026	September 4, 2026
Provider Type	Independent	AI Lab
MCP Support	Yes	Yes
Multi-Agent Support	Yes	Yes
Git Integration	deep	deep
Multi-File Editing	Yes	Yes
Auto Test Running	Yes	Yes
Sandbox / Permissions	Yes	Yes
Image / Multimodal Input	Yes	Yes
Voice Mode	Yes	No
IDE Integration	Zed, JetBrains, Neovim (via ACP)	Bob IDE
Hooks / Extensions	Yes	Yes
Web Search	No	Yes
Local Model Support	Yes	No
Context Window	Model-dependent; auto-compaction	Model-dependent
Supported Models	25+ providers: GitLawb OpenGateway (default), AI/ML API, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, xAI, ChatGPT/Codex, OpenRouter, Groq, DeepSeek, Together, Fireworks, Qwen, Moonshot, MiniMax, Bedrock, Vertex, Z.ai, KiloCode, OpenCode Zen/Go; local via Ollama and LM Studio	Multi-provider (IBM-managed)
Supported Subscriptions	ChatGPT SuperGrokX Premium+	—
Pricing Model	Free, BYOK	Freemium
Free Tier	Yes	Yes
Price Range	Free (BYOK)	Free / $20-200/mo
Source Code Availability	Open Source (MIT)	Proprietary Software
Source Code	https://github.com/Gitlawb/zero	https://github.com/IBM/ibm-bob
Development State	active	active