Warning signs detected
Legitimate AI coding agent with 1M+ users, but multiple complaints about deceptive billing and unauthorized auto-charges on independent review sites. Several risk indicators suggest caution. This site might be legitimate — but treat it as unverified until you can independently confirm.
Is kilo.ai legit or a scam?
Legitimate AI coding agent with 1M+ users, but multiple complaints about deceptive billing and unauthorized auto-charges on independent review sites.
These checks passed — but they don't clear the site. A clean antivirus result, valid SSL, and a calm server only mean it isn't hosting malware; they say nothing about whether the business is real. This verdict is based on the site's conduct and content, not a malware detection.
Analysis Summary
MT Intelligence
Kilo operates as a genuine open-source AI coding platform backed by an active GitHub repository, a San Francisco-based company (Kilo Code Inc., founded 2025), and substantial developer adoption through the VS Code marketplace. The domain is 8.5 years old, SSL is valid, and our antivirus network reports no malicious flags. However, independent review aggregators show a pattern of billing complaints: independent review aggregator reports unauthorized auto-renewals and difficulty removing payment methods, while Reddit users describe deceptive promotions where credits were given expiration dates retroactively. These are not phishing or malware indicators, but rather operational practices that harm user trust. The scanner flagged a false-positive 'PayPal impersonation' and 'Crypto-Only Checkout' — the site legitimately uses Stripe and Coinbase (crypto as an option, not the only method). The mixed signal is the gap between strong product legitimacy and documented billing-practice complaints.
Website Preview
Automated page render — captured in a safe sandbox. What an ordinary visitor would see when loading the site. See full visual analysis →
Web Research Findings
Our live research agent queries scam-report databases, consumer-review sites, news coverage, and general web search for kilo.ai, then cross-checks business-registration records and look-alike domain patterns. Everything below is pulled from what it actually found.
- Domain kilo.ai is 3096 days old (~8.5 years). Product launched ~2025 as open-source AI coding agent (fork of Roo Code or similar).
- Active GitHub org (Kilo-Org/kilocode) with Apache 2.0 license, high activity, VS Code extension with 1.1M+ installs and positive marketplace presence.
- Company: Kilo Code Inc., San Francisco-based (11-50 employees per LinkedIn), founded 2025 by Sid Sijbrandi and Scott Breitenother. Offices in US/Europe.
- Pricing: Free open-source core; pay-as-you-go for AI inference at provider rates (zero markup), optional subscriptions like Kilo Pass. Uses Stripe and Coinbase for payments (crypto supported).
- Trustpilot for kilocode.ai shows mixed reviews (2.7/5 from 14 reviews) with specific complaints about unauthorized auto-renewals, predatory billing, and difficulty removing cards.
- Reddit contains both praise for coding capabilities and complaints about billing practices, deceptive promotions (e.g., expiring credits added retroactively), and high holds for payment verification.
- No malware, phishing, or major scam reports found beyond billing disputes. Positioned as legitimate open-source alternative to tools like Cursor; covered positively in tech blogs.
- Trustpilot (kilocode.ai)open
"Subscription Trap: Unauthorized Auto-Charge and Blocks Card Removal. Warning to all users: I tested Kilo Code and paid for credits, but the platform has a predatory billing system. ... Unauthorized Auto-Renewal: I was automatically charged "
- Reddit (r/kilocode)open
"Lost all trust in Kilo Code after their deceptive promotion... Kilo Code lured users in with a "top up $5, get $25 free" offer, only to retroactively add a 20-day expiration date a week later."
- VS Code Marketplaceopen
"Open Source AI coding agent that generates code from natural language, automates tasks, and runs terminal commands. ... 1,178,987 installs (191 reviews)"
- Trustpilot (kilocode.ai)open
"As a senior dev who's tried plenty of AI coding setups, Kilo (Kilocode) stands out for keeping things practical and open. ... worth a try at kilo.ai"
- GitHub / OpenRouter / Articlesopen
"Kilo is the all-in-one agentic engineering platform. Build, ship, and iterate faster with the most popular open source coding agent. 3M+ Kilo Coders. 40T+ tokens processed."
Kilo Code Inc., founded 2025, headquartered in San Francisco, CA (455 Market St). Remote-first with offices in Amsterdam. Terms reference Kilo Code Inc.
Independent review aggregators report billing-practice complaints on independent review aggregator (2.7/5 average, 14 reviews) and Reddit. Specific issues: unauthorized auto-renewal charges, difficulty removing payment methods, and deceptive promotions where free-credit offers were later restricted with expiration dates. However, the same sources praise Kilo's coding capabilities and open-source transparency. No phishing, malware, or credential-harvesting reports found. GitHub repository and VS Code marketplace show strong legitimate developer adoption (1.1M+ installs). Company registration confirmed as active in San Francisco. The pattern suggests operational billing practices that harm user trust, not a scam operation.
Antivirus Engines
Security Scans
Checked against the major public blocklists used by browsers and security tools — no hits.
Contact Verification
We fetched the page and looked for real-world contact details. Legitimate businesses almost always publish an email on their own domain, a phone number, and a postal address. Scam shops usually don't.
- No contact email found anywhere on the page.
- Page impersonates PayPal on a non-official domain.
- Scam family match: Crypto-Only Checkout.
- Phone number listed (92.5925926).
- Postal address visible on the page.
- Links to 2 social profiles.
Domain & Encryption
Redirect Chain
- 1308http://kilo.ai/
- 2200https://kilo.ai/
Server Reputation
Scam-Type Likelihood
3 scam-type patterns detected
3 of 13 categories showed signals
We check every URL against 13 distinct scam categories so the verdict tells you not just how risky the page is, but what kind of risk it carries. Each meter pulls from page signals, web reports, our AI analyst, vision, and the scam-network cluster — not from raw AV labels.
- Crypto-only checkout — no card / bank payment option.
- Multiple contact / trust-signal red flags on the page.
- AI analyst tagged this as a subscription trap.
- Page mentions PayPal (non-official domain).
3 of 13 categories showed signals
We check every URL against 13 distinct scam categories so the verdict tells you not just how risky the page is, but what kind of risk it carries. Each meter pulls from page signals, web reports, our AI analyst, vision, and the scam-network cluster — not from raw AV labels.
- Crypto-only checkout — no card / bank payment option.
- Multiple contact / trust-signal red flags on the page.
- AI analyst tagged this as a subscription trap.
- Page mentions PayPal (non-official domain).
Fake-shop warning signs
Signals common to non-delivery scam shops were detected on this site.
- Treat kilo.ai as unverified
Do not enter credentials or send money until you have independently verified the business.
- If you already paid by card or PayPal — start a chargeback
Contact your bank or card issuer and dispute the charge as "goods not received" or "merchant fraud." PayPal users can open a case in the Resolution Centre. Act within 120 days for card chargebacks in most jurisdictions.
- Save every piece of evidence
Screenshots of the checkout, order confirmation emails, any chat transcripts, and the product listing page. Chargeback and fraud reports go faster when you have receipts.
- OpenReport the shop
Report to the FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov), Action Fraud UK, or your local consumer-protection body. Post the URL on the MalwareTips scam forum so other buyers can find it.
Reputation Sources
How this domain rates across independent threat-intelligence and blocklist providers.
Referenced Domains
Outbound domains this page links to or loads resources from. Each links to its own security scan.
Safety FAQ
Common questions about this site, answered directly from the scan data above — so the answers always reflect the latest verdict on this page.
- Our automated security review marked kilo.ai as suspicious. Several warning signs were detected; it may still turn out legitimate, but you should verify it through independent channels before trusting it with money or credentials.
- kilo.ai currently scores 55/100 on our trust scale. We found enough warning signals to recommend caution. Verify the site through independent channels before entering credentials or money.
- Yes. kilo.ai presents a valid TLSv1.3 certificate issued by Let's Encrypt · R12, expiring in 57 days. Note that SSL only encrypts the connection — it does not guarantee that the site itself is trustworthy.
- kilo.ai is 8.5 years old, registered on 12/15/2017 through NameCheap, Inc.. Scam domains are often freshly registered — a site under 6 months old warrants extra caution.
- No. All 92 antivirus engines in our malware network report kilo.ai as clean.
- No. kilo.ai is not currently listed on the major browser blocklist feeds that modern browsers use.
- kilo.ai resolves to an IP operated by Vercel, Inc in US (usage type: Content Delivery Network). Hosting location alone doesn't make a site good or bad, but unusual geography for a brand's claimed country is one of many signals we weigh.
- Yes. kilo.ai sits in the global top-100k on Cloudflare Radar, which means it has substantial real-world traffic. That does not automatically make it safe, but established brands almost always rank here and throwaway scam domains almost never do.
User reviews & comments(0)
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