Headroom alternative · Updated 2026-08-02
SuperCompress vs Headroom
Searching Headroom API? See also Better than Headroom headroom-api. Looking for a Headroom alternative that keeps answers while cutting tokens — especially for Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex? SuperCompress is query-aware, MCP-first, and measured on held-out answer containment (≥98%), not just “% saved.”
Held-out proof (updated 2026-08-01)
Gates: ≥98% gold-answer containment, ≥55% mean cut, ≥55% token-weighted cut. No restore-to-98% floor.
| Suite | Answer kept | Mean cut | TW cut | Gates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real (seed 4242) | 98.4% (61/62) | 57.8% | 64.7% | pass |
| Fresh4 (seed 9091) | 100% (57/57) | 66.1% | 68.8% | pass |
| Fresh5 (seed 6161) | 100% (62/62) | 57.8% | 61.6% | pass |
| Fresh6 cold (seed 3377) | 98.6% (70/71) | 68.2% | 72.5% | pass |
Primary bundle (real + fresh4 + fresh5): 99.4% pooled answer keep (180/181), 65.4% pooled token-weighted cut. Full tables: benchmarks.
Why teams pick SuperCompress over Headroom
- True query-awareness — scores blocks against the question; Headroom leans on content-type heuristics.
- Coding-agent MCP first —
npx supercompress setupfor Cursor, Claude Code, Codex; keep your login. No provider API-key mode required. - Agent + API ready — hosted compress API, open-source library, and MCP install for coding agents — not only a local CLI workflow.
- Held-out answer gates — we publish answer containment on LongBench + OOD mixes, not only “token % saved.”
Quick comparison table
| Factor | SuperCompress | Headroom | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Query-awareness | Scores blocks against the actual question | Strong content-type / structure heuristics | SuperCompress |
| Answer quality metric | Held-out gold-answer containment ≥98% on LongBench + OOD | Primarily compression / product demos | SuperCompress |
| Coding agents | MCP + every-submit hooks (context compress; tiny asks skip; keep login) | Agent wrapping / proxy workflows | SuperCompress for login-safe every-submit |
| Provider API-key mode | Not required — keep subscription login | Often proxy / base-URL oriented | SuperCompress |
| Hosted API | Yes — free tier + pay-as-you-go | Primarily local / product-specific | SuperCompress |
| Eval transparency | Public held-out answer keep + cut gates | Fewer published answer-containment suites | SuperCompress |
| Open source | MIT | Apache 2.0 | Tie |
Held-out quality: we publish the hard number
Token cut without answer keep is marketing. SuperCompress gates on whether the gold answer string survives compression on brand-new LongBench mixes + buried-evidence OOD haystacks:
- Primary bundle: 99.4% answer keep (180/181), 65.4% pooled TW cut
- Fresh4 / Fresh5: 100% answer keep
- Fresh6 cold: 98.6% with 72.5% TW cut
Full tables on benchmarks. That is the bar Headroom alternatives should clear — and most don’t publish.
Coding agents: MCP without forcing API keys
Headroom is often positioned around wrap/proxy flows. SuperCompress’s default path is different:
npm install -g supercompress-proxy
npx supercompress setupThat detects agents, installs MCP + hooks, and compresses every submit with context (Headroom-parity; tiny asks skip) before tokens burn — while you keep Cursor / Claude / Codex login. Optional supercompress wrap claude covers full-traffic proxy when you want it. Docs: coding agents.
Wrong lens: parameter-count contests
Older writeups sometimes framed this as a parameter-count contest. That is the wrong lens. What matters in production is whether compression keeps the answer to this question, whether coding agents can install without forcing provider API-key mode, and whether quality is measured with held-out answer containment.
SuperCompress selects evidence: a query-aware compiler scores context blocks against the question and drops noise. Headroom leans on content-type / structure compressors and its own proxy workflows. If your job is “keep the answer while cutting tokens” for RAG, agents, and APIs, query-aware selection wins. If you already depend on Headroom’s AST/content-type stack, stay there.
When to choose each
Choose SuperCompress when you need:
- Query-aware keep/drop for RAG, chat, tickets, and agent dumps
- MCP for Cursor / Claude Code / Codex without API-key mode
- Hosted API + open-source Python library
- Published held-out answer containment gates
- Serverless-friendly default path
Choose Headroom when you need:
- Their specific content-type / AST compression stack
- A workflow already built around their proxy product
- Features unique to their roadmap that you already depend on
FAQ
Is SuperCompress a Headroom alternative?
Yes. Same job — compress context before LLM spend — with a query-aware architecture, MCP coding-agent install, and public held-out answer metrics.
Should I compare parameter counts?
No. Compare query-awareness, MCP coding-agent install, hosted API, and held-out answer keep — not model-size marketing.
Will I lose answers if I cut ~65% of tokens?
On our primary held-out suites, gold answers stay at 99.4% pooled. Always eval on your own traffic; that’s why we publish gates instead of only savings.
Can I migrate from Headroom in an afternoon?
For agents: run npx supercompress setup. For apps: pip install supercompress or call the hosted /compress API with context + query.