OpenHands
OpenHands is an open-source, MIT-licensed system whose front end, Agent Canvas, is a self-hosted control centre for coding agents. It runs the OpenHands agent out of the box and can run Claude Code, Codex, Gemini or any agent that speaks the Agent Client Protocol, on your laptop, in Docker containers, on VMs or in your own infrastructure. Automations run on a schedule or from webhooks with Slack, GitHub and Linear. Any model can be used.
What does OpenHands do?
OpenHands' README now describes "the self-hosted developer control center for coding agents and automations", branded Agent Canvas, which "turns your coding agents into a self-hosted, always-on engineering team." It runs the open-source OpenHands agent by default and "can use any third-party agent like Claude Code and Codex", or any agent compatible with the Agent Client Protocol. It runs locally by default and can connect to multiple agent backends: Docker containers, VMs, or your company's infrastructure.
Automations integrate with Slack, GitHub, Linear and more, running on a schedule or in response to webhook events; the README's examples are generating reports that publish to Slack and decomposing GitHub issues into tasks. It is "bring your own model", usable with any language model. The system spans four repositories: this front end, a Python software-agent SDK with the Agent Server, a TypeScript client, and an automation service. The Agent Server is a REST API for running multiple agents on one machine, and the canvas can connect to several servers. The project status badge reads beta.
Key facts
- Licence: MIT, copyright OpenHands contributors, with no added conditions in this repository; the system spans four repositories and only this one's licence was read.
- Runs the OpenHands agent, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, or any ACP-compatible agent.
- Backends: local by default, Docker containers, VMs, or company infrastructure; the Agent Server is a REST API for multiple agents on one host.
- Automations with Slack, GitHub and Linear, triggered by schedules or webhooks.
- Bring your own model: any language model; how keys are supplied is not stated in the README.
- Three install routes: npm install -g @openhands/agent-canvas with Node.js 22.12 or later and uv; a Docker image, ghcr.io/openhands/agent-canvas, on port 8000 with mounted volumes; or from source with npm.
- The npm and source routes run with no sandbox, and the README warns the agent has full access to your filesystem; the Docker route mounts a projects directory.
- Hosted: OpenHands Cloud, the commercial offering, and OpenHands Enterprise. The repository moved from All-Hands-AI/OpenHands to OpenHands/OpenHands. Latest tagged release when read: v1.20.0 on 2026-09-17; 88,338 stars on 2026-09-18.
What does it replace, and where does it fall short?
OpenHands replaces Devin as the always-on engineering agent you run yourself: give it a repository and a task, run it in a container, trigger it from a GitHub issue or a schedule, and read the result in Slack. It also hosts Claude Code and Codex inside the same canvas, which is why it appears on both the open-source alternatives to Devin and the Claude Code pages.
Where it falls short: the README marks the project beta, warns that two of its three install routes give the agent full access to your filesystem, and defers security hardening for cloud self-hosting to a separate document. The product has been renamed and moved repositories, and the README does not spell out file editing, command execution or MCP in so many words. For a simpler desktop agent, goose.
How does OpenHands run?
Three routes in the README. One: npm install -g @openhands/agent-canvas, then agent-canvas, with Node.js 22.12 or later and uv, no sandbox. Two: docker run of ghcr.io/openhands/agent-canvas with port 8000 published and two volumes mounted, on Docker Desktop or Docker Engine; the agent can reach any project under the mounted directory. Three: clone and npm run dev. The UI is a web page on port 8000. Windows has its own guide. OpenHands Cloud is the commercial hosted version and OpenHands Enterprise the on-premises paid one.
Who is OpenHands for?
A team that wants a Devin-shaped autonomous agent on its own infrastructure, with automations from issues and schedules, and is prepared to run it in containers and read the hardening guide. An individual who wants one agent in one terminal should look at OpenCode, Crush or goose.
What limits does the README state?
From the README: the npm and source routes run the agent server directly on your machine with full filesystem access, "be careful"; the project is in beta; security hardening for cloud self-hosting is covered in a separate document.
Questions people ask
Is OpenHands open source?
Yes. The OpenHands repository is MIT with no added conditions. The system is made of four repositories, the Agent Canvas front end, the Python software-agent SDK and Agent Server, a TypeScript client, and an automation service; this page read the front end's licence. OpenHands Cloud and Enterprise are the commercial hosted and on-premises offerings.
Can OpenHands run other agents like Claude Code?
Yes. The README says Agent Canvas runs the open-source OpenHands agent out of the box and can use any third-party agent such as Claude Code and Codex, or any agent that speaks the Agent Client Protocol, across local, remote and cloud backends.
Is OpenHands safe to run on my laptop?
Only with care, by its own README. The npm and from-source routes run the agent server directly on your machine with full filesystem access, and the README says "be careful". The Docker route confines the agent to a mounted projects directory. Cloud self-hosting has a separate hardening document.
How does OpenHands compare with Devin?
Both are autonomous software engineering agents that take a task and work through it. OpenHands runs on your own infrastructure under MIT with any model and hosts other agents; Devin is Cognition's hosted product. The open-source alternatives to Devin page compares OpenHands with goose, Cline, Kilo Code and gptme.
Where did the OpenHands repository move?
From All-Hands-AI/OpenHands to OpenHands/OpenHands; the old address redirects. The front end is now called Agent Canvas, and the README describes the wider system as four repositories. The stats on this page are read from the current location.
Sources
- OpenHands README and MIT LICENSE: github.com/OpenHands/OpenHands, read 2026-09-17.
Compared with the others
On the open-source alternatives to Devin page, OpenHands is the pick for an always-on agent on your own infrastructure. MIT control centre that runs the OpenHands agent, Claude Code, Codex or any ACP agent in Docker, on VMs or in company infrastructure, with automations from Slack, GitHub and Linear on schedules and webhooks.
Also on that page: goose for a general agent with a desktop app and an api, Cline for headless runs in ci and scheduled agents, Kilo Code for a task run from the web.
On the open-source alternatives to Claude Code page, OpenHands is the pick for hosting claude code itself on your servers. MIT control centre that runs the OpenHands agent or Claude Code, Codex and any ACP agent in Docker and on your infrastructure, with automations from Slack, GitHub and Linear.
Also on that page: OpenCode for a terminal agent with a planning mode, Qwen Code for switching between hosted and local models at runtime, Crush for the widest provider list with local models.
More coding assistants and agents
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Google's Apache-2.0 terminal agent for Gemini models with a free tier of 1,000 requests a day on a personal Google account, built-in search grounding, file and shell tools, MCP support, checkpointing and a GitHub Action.
A high-performance code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, GPL-3.0-or-later with Apache-2.0 components, with an agent panel, external agents over ACP, edit prediction, MCP tools, sandboxing, and local models through Ollama or llama.cpp.
An Apache-2.0 coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, the terminal and a desktop app that edits files as reviewable diffs, runs commands with your approval, works with any model provider including Ollama, and connects tools through MCP.
An Apache-2.0 general-purpose AI agent from the Agentic AI Foundation at the Linux Foundation, written in Rust, with a desktop app, a CLI and an API, 15+ model providers including Ollama, and 70+ extensions over MCP.
Added September 17, 2026. Every claim above comes from the project's README, LICENSE or model card, read on September 17, 2026, or from the GitHub API on the date shown in the panel. Found an error? Write to reveneau@licheo.com and it is fixed in the next weekly pass. Repository: github.com/OpenHands/OpenHands.
Running one of these inside your own environment, with your own data and your own security rules, is the kind of work Reveneau does. Read how a forward deployed engagement works.