IBM Bob vs. Mastra Code

Feature	IBM Bob	Mastra Code

Tagline	Your AI SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) partner from IBM	Coding agent that replaces compaction with Observational Memory
Website	https://bob.ibm.com	https://code.mastra.ai/
Language	javascript	typescript
Release Date	September 2, 2025	December 24, 2025
Last Updated	September 4, 2026	September 4, 2026
Provider Type	AI Lab	Independent
MCP Support	Yes	Yes
Multi-Agent Support	Yes	Yes
Git Integration	deep	basic
Multi-File Editing	Yes	Yes
Auto Test Running	Yes	No
Sandbox / Permissions	Yes	Yes
Image / Multimodal Input	Yes	Yes
Voice Mode	No	Yes
IDE Integration	Bob IDE	ACP (Agent Client Protocol)
Hooks / Extensions	Yes	Yes
Web Search	Yes	Yes
Local Model Support	No	Yes
Context Window	Model-dependent	Model-dependent; observation-based
Supported Models	Multi-provider (IBM-managed)	Claude, GPT, Gemini and thousands more via Mastra's unified model router, plus custom OpenAI-compatible providers
Supported Subscriptions	—	Claude Code ChatGPT GitHub Copilot SuperGrok
Pricing Model	Freemium	Free, BYOK
Free Tier	Yes	Yes
Price Range	Free / $20-200/mo	Free (BYOK)
Source Code Availability	Proprietary Software	Open Source (Apache-2.0)
Source Code	https://github.com/IBM/ibm-bob	https://github.com/mastra-ai/mastra
Development State	active	active