opencode vs OpenHands
Both are alternatives to Cursor. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as OpenHands vs opencode — same comparison, one verdict.
opencode and OpenHands are closely matched on ownership (93 vs 91) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
opencode
The terminal-native agent with the largest open-source community in the category.
opencode (MIT) is a coding agent that runs in your terminal, with a desktop app in beta and IDE extensions alongside it. It is deliberately provider-agnostic — 75+ providers via the AI SDK and Models.dev, including Ollama, LM Studio and any OpenAI-compatible local endpoint — and it ships two built-in agents: a full-access `build` agent and a read-only `plan` agent for exploring a codebase before anything is allowed to change it. It is now the most-starred project in this space at roughly 191k GitHub stars, maintained by Anomaly after the repository moved from `sst/opencode` to `anomalyco/opencode`. The optional opencode Zen gateway sells curated, benchmarked models pay-as-you-go and includes some free ones; using your own provider keys stays free.
OpenHands
Self-hosted, sandboxed coding agents — the whole stack runs on infrastructure you control.
OpenHands (MIT, formerly OpenDevin) is the option for people whose actual requirement is "this has to run on infrastructure I control." It is a self-hosted control centre for coding agents: a browser-based Agent Canvas plus a backend server you start locally or on your own VM, with agents working inside a sandboxed environment that has its own shell, filesystem and browser. Agents can edit code, run commands, call APIs and browse the web — real engineering tasks rather than completions. The project sells a managed OpenHands Cloud and licenses a self-hosted enterprise edition, but the core is MIT and self-hosting costs nothing beyond your own model usage. At 82.5k stars it is the most established self-hosted agent platform available.
Side by side
6 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| opencode | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 93 | 91 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Pricing | Free and open source (MIT) — you pay your own provider. The optional opencode Zen gateway is pay-as-you-go, with some free models; your own API keys cost nothing extra. | Free and open source (MIT) to self-host — you pay only your model provider. Managed OpenHands Cloud and a licensed enterprise self-host are the paid tiers. |
opencode edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
opencode
Strengths
- +MIT and provider-agnostic by design — 75+ providers, plus Ollama, LM Studio or any OpenAI-compatible local endpoint
- +The read-only `plan` agent lets you scope work before the agent can touch a file
- +Terminal-first, so it works over SSH on a server or a modest machine
- +The largest community in the category and daily commits
Trade-offs
- −Terminal-first is a genuine adjustment coming from an editor-integrated agent; the desktop app is still beta
- −No inline autocomplete — a different tool for a different job than Cursor's Tab
- −Ownership moved from SST to Anomaly; the MIT licence means no practical risk, but it's worth knowing
- −Large configuration surface (providers, models, agents) — more to learn than picking from a dropdown
OpenHands
Strengths
- +Genuinely self-hosted: server, sandbox and workspace all sit on your own infrastructure
- +Sandboxed execution — the agent gets a container, not unrestricted access to your laptop
- +Browser UI suits longer autonomous runs and reviewing what an agent actually did
- +MIT-licensed, 82.5k stars, committed to daily
Trade-offs
- −The heaviest setup here — Docker and real RAM, not a two-minute install
- −Long autonomous runs consume a lot of tokens; set a budget before you let one loose
- −Multi-user, RBAC and the richer integrations live in the paid Cloud and enterprise tiers
- −Not an in-editor experience — you leave your IDE to drive it, and there's no inline completion
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose opencode
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and mIT and provider-agnostic by design — 75+ providers, plus Ollama, LM Studio or any OpenAI-compatible local endpoint.
Choose OpenHands
if genuinely self-hosted: server, sandbox and workspace all sit on your own infrastructure.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — terminal-first is a genuine adjustment coming from an editor-integrated agent; the desktop app is still beta, and the heaviest setup here — Docker and real RAM, not a two-minute install. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
opencode vs OpenHands — common questions
Is opencode a better fit than OpenHands for ai coding assistants?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: opencode scores 93 to OpenHands's 91 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. OpenHands earns its place on a different axis — genuinely self-hosted: server, sandbox and workspace all sit on your own infrastructure. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
opencode keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. OpenHands is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host opencode or OpenHands?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are opencode and OpenHands both alternatives to Cursor?
Yes — both appear in our Cursor comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Cursor and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-07-29. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.