Eigent vs OpenHands: what each one is
Eigent is an open-source desktop application that runs multi-agent work on your own machine. Its own README calls it "the open source Cowork desktop application", and it ships as a local-first app built on CAMEL's multi-agent framework.
OpenHands is a self-hosted control center for coding agents and engineering automations. Its README describes Agent Canvas, a browser client that starts agent sessions, switches between agent backends, and runs the OpenHands agent out of the box or drives another coding agent through the Agent-Client Protocol. It runs on your machine by default and can connect to a Docker host, a self-hosted server, or OpenHands Cloud.
Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System. Your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors live in one git repo you own, and each session runs on its own cloud computer. Kortix is the third option when the work should leave one machine and land in a repo a whole team shares. For a closer read on Eigent, see Kortix vs Eigent.
Where each set of agents runs
Eigent runs its agents on your machine. Its README lists a local deployment with a local backend, local model integration, and no cloud account as the recommended setup, and a managed cloud plan is offered for teams that prefer hosted infrastructure.
OpenHands also runs on your machine by default. Its README warns that the agent has full access to your filesystem when it runs there, and that the same agent can connect to a Docker host, a self-hosted server, or OpenHands Cloud. Each session can run on its own backend.
Kortix runs every session on its own cloud computer. One isolated sandbox per session. Each session has its own isolated machine and branch. Thousands of agents in parallel on one config, each on its own cloud computer.
Who owns the configuration
Kortix keeps the configuration in files inside a git repo you own. An agent is agents/<name>.md for behavior plus an agents.<name> block in kortix.yaml for governance, and kortix.yaml declares the machine image, connectors and triggers. You can read any of it and diff a change before it lands.
OpenHands keeps its setup inside Agent Canvas and its agent backends. You add backends from the Canvas interface and switch between them, and an automation service decides when work runs and dispatches it to an agent.
Eigent keeps the setup inside the desktop app. You package the agents, skills, and connectors your team relies on into a Space profile and reuse it, with secrets bound to your machine.
Who reviews the work
In Kortix, session work reaches main through a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents, so a person reads the diff and decides. You can list the review queue from the CLI with kortix cr ls.
In OpenHands, the agent works in your files as the session runs, and you follow it in Agent Canvas. It edits those files directly.
In Eigent, you follow an agent's progress, inspect sources and file changes, then approve the result or ask for revisions inside the app.
Which one fits which team
Choose OpenHands if your team wants a self-hosted control center for coding agents and everyday engineering automations. Choose Eigent if you want a multi-agent desktop app that runs locally on one machine. Choose Kortix if the work should run on cloud computers from one repo a whole team shares, with every change reviewed before it lands.
The wider field is covered in Kortix vs Eigent vs Kuse AI.