Brigade vs OpenHands
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A self-hosted personal AI crew of agents that share memory and talk through chat apps.
Open source · MIT
A self-hosted control panel that runs AI coding agents on your machine, in Docker, or in the cloud.
The short answer
Choose Brigade if you need…
- Developers who want to run their own multi-agent setup on a laptop or server
- People who want an AI assistant that keeps data on hardware they control
- Users who already have a Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot subscription and want to avoid managing API keys
- Teams experimenting with agents that delegate tasks through an org chart
Choose OpenHands if you need…
- Developers who want coding agents running on a server while their laptop is off
- Teams that want a shared agent server for tasks like code review or dependency updates
- People who want to connect agents to Slack, GitHub, or Linear through automations
- Users who want to choose their own LLM provider
Side-by-side
| Brigade | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | AI model / agent | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 11.4k | 92.5k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
Brigade
Brigade is a self-hosted system for running a team of AI agents that share one long-term memory called Tideline. You can reach the crew from a terminal or messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and Discord. It can use many AI model providers, including local Ollama models, and keeps your keys and data on your own machine.
OpenHands
Agent Canvas is a self-hosted control center for AI coding agents. You start conversations with agents and set up automations, such as generating reports that publish to Slack or breaking GitHub issues into tasks. It runs on your own machine by default and can also connect to agents running in Docker, on virtual machines, or on OpenHands Cloud or Enterprise infrastructure. It can run the open source OpenHands agent or third-party agents such as Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI.
Best for
Brigade
- Developers who want to run their own multi-agent setup on a laptop or server
- People who want an AI assistant that keeps data on hardware they control
- Users who already have a Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot subscription and want to avoid managing API keys
- Teams experimenting with agents that delegate tasks through an org chart
OpenHands
- Developers who want coding agents running on a server while their laptop is off
- Teams that want a shared agent server for tasks like code review or dependency updates
- People who want to connect agents to Slack, GitHub, or Linear through automations
- Users who want to choose their own LLM provider
Strengths
Brigade
- Runs locally with keys stored on your machine, per the README
- Supports many model providers, including local Ollama, and lets you switch models mid-conversation
- Single data directory at ~/.brigade/ that is easy to inspect or delete
OpenHands
- Self-hosted, so you control where agents run and where your work is stored
- Supports several agents and backends from one frontend
- Released under the MIT license with a large public community (about 92,000 stars)
Not ideal for
Brigade
- People who want a polished consumer app with no setup, since the README describes it as an ecosystem you host yourself
- Anyone unwilling to run a command-line install and manage a local directory under ~/.brigade/
- Users who need guaranteed security review, since the README makes strong claims but this analysis did not verify them
OpenHands
- People who need strong isolation by default: the quickstart without a sandbox gives the agent full access to your filesystem
- Non-technical users who are not comfortable with Node.js, npm, Docker, or the command line
- Anyone who needs a fully hosted service with no setup, since the README centers on self-hosting
Trade-offs
Brigade
- The README is long and marketing-heavy, so some claims about enterprise scale are not independently verified here
- Requires Node 22.12+ or the provided install script, and a permissions issue (EACCES) is mentioned for global npm installs
- Many features (channels, connectors, Convex backend) add setup complexity beyond basic chat
OpenHands
- Running without a sandbox gives the agent full access to your filesystem, so the Docker options need careful setup
- Multiple features depend on configuring backends, LLM keys, and integrations, which takes effort
- The README is truncated and does not fully document security hardening or every integration; see the linked docs
Getting started
Brigade
Install via npm (if Node 22.12+ is already installed)
npm i -g @spinabot/brigademacOS / Linux install script
curl -fsSL https://brigade.spinabot.com/install.sh | shOpenHands
Install globally with npm (no sandbox)
npm install -g @openhands/agent-canvasStart the full local stack
agent-canvasFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Brigade and OpenHands?
Brigade: A self-hosted personal AI crew of agents that share memory and talk through chat apps. OpenHands: A self-hosted control panel that runs AI coding agents on your machine, in Docker, or in the cloud. Brigade suits developers who want to run their own multi-agent setup on a laptop or server, while OpenHands suits developers who want coding agents running on a server while their laptop is off.
Are Brigade and OpenHands free?
Brigade: Free and open source. OpenHands: Free and open source.
Is Brigade or OpenHands more popular?
OpenHands has more GitHub stars (92.5k) than Brigade (11.4k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Brigade and OpenHands?
Other options people compare them with include CrewAI, LangGraph, Hermes Agent, SuperAGI, Edict.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.