OpenHands Open source

What it is

OpenHands, formerly OpenDevin, is an open-source (MIT) platform for AI coding agents from All Hands AI, whose site now lives at openhands.dev. Agents write code, run commands and browse the web inside sandboxes. You can run it locally with a web GUI, terminal UI or CLI, connect to agent backends running in Docker, virtual machines or company infrastructure, use the hosted OpenHands Cloud, or build your own agents with the OpenHands SDK and Agent Server.

Key features

• Model-agnostic: use any provider with your own key, or the OpenHands LLM provider at cost
• Local, remote and cloud agents behind one interface
• A Python REST Agent Server and a TypeScript client for embedding agents in your own tools
• Integrations with Git providers, plus Jira and Slack on the hosted plans
• Enterprise options for self-hosting in a private VPC with SSO
• The current README installs the local app with npm install -g @openhands/agent-canvas, or runs it from a Docker image; check the README for the exact version tag

Skills, subagents and MCP

OpenHands supports the main open conventions. AGENTS.md at the repository root is loaded automatically for repository-wide rules. Agent Skills live in .agents/skills/ as SKILL.md folders; the agent sees each skill's name and description and loads the full instructions only when a task matches. The older .openhands/microagents/ and .openhands/skills/ folders remain supported. MCP support is listed on every plan, and repository skills can embed MCP server configuration. Plugins package skills for reuse.

Pricing

At the time of writing (September 2026), the open-source version is free to run locally with your own model key. The hosted Individual plan is free to start with a cap on daily conversations, with model usage billed through your own key or at cost through OpenHands. Enterprise, as SaaS or self-hosted, is custom priced. Check the pricing page for current limits.

Who it is for

Developers and platform teams who want an open, self-hostable agent they can inspect, extend and run on their own infrastructure, and builders who want an SDK for custom coding agents.

Verdict

OpenHands is one of the strongest open-source agent platforms, with good AGENTS.md, skills and MCP support and a genuine self-hosting path. Setting it up yourself takes more work than a hosted product, and the project's install methods change often, so follow the current README closely.