Pi 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 minimal, extensible coding agent and toolkit for building AI agents, with a terminal interface.
Open source · MIT
A self-hosted control panel that runs AI coding agents on your machine, in Docker, or in the cloud.
Our verdict
Pi is a minimal, terminal-based coding agent and toolkit that developers customize with their own extensions, and it also serves as an SDK for building agent apps. OpenHands is a self-hosted control panel for running and coordinating coding agents, including third-party ones, from a web-style frontend with automations and integrations. Pick based on whether you want a customizable terminal tool and building blocks, or a managed control center for agents running across machines.
Pick Pi if you are a developer who wants a customizable terminal coding agent or a TypeScript SDK for building your own agent app.
Pick OpenHands if you want a self-hosted control panel that runs agents on a server or in Docker and connects them to Slack, GitHub, or Linear.
| Key difference | Pi | OpenHands |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Dev tool: agent harness and toolkit for the terminal | App: self-hosted control panel for running agents |
| Best at | Customizing your own terminal agent and building agent apps | Running agents on a server and automating team workflows |
| Security by default | No permission system; runs with your user access, so add sandboxing yourself | Quickstart without a sandbox gives full filesystem access; Docker options need careful setup |
| Setup | Needs Node.js 22.19+ and a provider login or API key; intermediate | Requires configuring backends, LLM keys, and integrations; intermediate |
| Price and licence | Free and open source under MIT | Free and open source under MIT |
Written with AI from both products' catalogue entries · updated 2026-10-29
Who each one is for
Choose Pi if you need…
- Developers who want a terminal coding agent they can customize with their own extensions or skills
- Teams building their own agent apps who want the TypeScript SDK and unified LLM API
- People who want to automate an agent through print or JSON mode or control it over RPC
- Users comfortable adding sub-agents or plan mode themselves, since the README says Pi skips these by default
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
| Pi | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Dev tool | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 119k | 92.5k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | See the README | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
Pi
Pi is an open-source agent harness: software that lets an AI model work on tasks, such as editing code in a project folder, from inside your terminal. The README describes it as minimal and extensible, with customization through extensions, skills, prompt templates, and themes, which can be shared as packages via npm or git. It also includes libraries for calling many LLM providers and for building terminal UIs and agent apps.
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
Pi
- Developers who want a terminal coding agent they can customize with their own extensions or skills
- Teams building their own agent apps who want the TypeScript SDK and unified LLM API
- People who want to automate an agent through print or JSON mode or control it over RPC
- Users comfortable adding sub-agents or plan mode themselves, since the README says Pi skips these by default
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
Pi
- Highly customizable through extensions, skills, prompt templates, and themes
- Supports several interfaces: interactive use, print/JSON automation, RPC, and a TypeScript SDK
- MIT licensed and has a large public following (118,667 stars at time of metadata)
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
Pi
- Users who need built-in permission controls, since the README states Pi has no permission system and runs with the launching user's access; containerize it instead
- Non-developers looking for a point-and-click app, since setup and use happen in a terminal
- Users who want sub-agents or plan mode out of the box, since the README says these are intentionally left out
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
Pi
- The README says it has no built-in permission system, so you must add sandboxing yourself for stronger isolation
- Requires Node.js 22.19 or newer, and first use needs a provider login or API key
- The README is truncated and covers many packages, so some details are unclear from this excerpt
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
Pi
Install the CLI (macOS/Linux)
curl -fsSL https://pi.dev/install.sh | shInstall the CLI (Windows PowerShell)
powershell -c "irm https://pi.dev/install.ps1 | iex"OpenHands
Install globally with npm (no sandbox)
npm install -g @openhands/agent-canvasStart the full local stack
agent-canvasFrequently asked questions
Should I use Pi or OpenHands?
Pi is a minimal, terminal-based coding agent and toolkit that developers customize with their own extensions, and it also serves as an SDK for building agent apps. OpenHands is a self-hosted control panel for running and coordinating coding agents, including third-party ones, from a web-style frontend with automations and integrations. Pick based on whether you want a customizable terminal tool and building blocks, or a managed control center for agents running across machines. Pick Pi if you are a developer who wants a customizable terminal coding agent or a TypeScript SDK for building your own agent app. Pick OpenHands if you want a self-hosted control panel that runs agents on a server or in Docker and connects them to Slack, GitHub, or Linear.
What is the difference between Pi and OpenHands?
Pi: A minimal, extensible coding agent and toolkit for building AI agents, with a terminal interface. OpenHands: A self-hosted control panel that runs AI coding agents on your machine, in Docker, or in the cloud. Pi suits developers who want a terminal coding agent they can customize with their own extensions or skills, while OpenHands suits developers who want coding agents running on a server while their laptop is off.
Are Pi and OpenHands free?
Pi: Free and open source. OpenHands: Free and open source.
Is Pi or OpenHands more popular?
Pi has more GitHub stars (119k) than OpenHands (92.5k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Pi and OpenHands?
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.