OpenHands vs Trae Agent
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 control panel that runs AI coding agents on your machine, in Docker, or in the cloud.
Open source · MIT
An open-source command-line AI agent that carries out software engineering tasks using LLMs.
The short answer
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
Choose Trae Agent if you need…
- Developers who want a scriptable terminal agent that works on a local project directory
- Researchers studying or modifying LLM agent architectures, as the README positions it
- People who want to switch between model providers, including local models through Ollama
- Users comfortable editing YAML config and managing their own API keys
Side-by-side
| OpenHands | Trae Agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | App | CLI |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 92.5k | 12.2k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Clone and build from source |
| Main language | TypeScript | Python |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 9 months ago |
What each one is
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.
Trae Agent
Trae Agent is a command-line tool from ByteDance that takes plain-language instructions, such as fixing a bug or adding tests, and works through them using an LLM and a set of tools for editing files and running bash commands. It supports several model providers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, Ollama and Doubao. The project describes itself as a transparent, modular design aimed at researchers and developers who want to study or extend agent architectures.
Best for
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
Trae Agent
- Developers who want a scriptable terminal agent that works on a local project directory
- Researchers studying or modifying LLM agent architectures, as the README positions it
- People who want to switch between model providers, including local models through Ollama
- Users comfortable editing YAML config and managing their own API keys
Strengths
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)
Trae Agent
- Multiple LLM providers are supported, including a local option via Ollama
- Configuration is explicit in YAML, and trajectory recording helps with debugging
- Released under the MIT license with a technical report on arXiv
Not ideal for
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
Trae Agent
- Users who want a polished, ready-made IDE experience, since the README describes only a CLI and an interactive terminal mode
- Teams that need a stable release, because the README says the project is still being actively developed and no release is listed
- People without an API key or local model, since the tool requires one to run
Trade-offs
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
Trae Agent
- The README states the project is still under active development, so behavior may change
- Setup requires managing API keys and provider configuration yourself
- No release tag is listed, so you install from source rather than a versioned package
Getting started
OpenHands
Install globally with npm (no sandbox)
npm install -g @openhands/agent-canvasStart the full local stack
agent-canvasTrae Agent
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bytedance/trae-agent.gitEnter the project folder
cd trae-agentFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between OpenHands and Trae Agent?
OpenHands: A self-hosted control panel that runs AI coding agents on your machine, in Docker, or in the cloud. Trae Agent: An open-source command-line AI agent that carries out software engineering tasks using LLMs. OpenHands suits developers who want coding agents running on a server while their laptop is off, while Trae Agent suits developers who want a scriptable terminal agent that works on a local project directory.
Are OpenHands and Trae Agent free?
OpenHands: Free and open source. Trae Agent: Free and open source.
Is OpenHands or Trae Agent more popular?
OpenHands has more GitHub stars (92.5k) than Trae Agent (12.2k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to OpenHands and Trae Agent?
Other options people compare them with include One API, LlamaGPT, codex-chatgpt-web, wechat-bot, GitDiagram.
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.