Claude Code vs OpenHands: How They Actually Differ
Claude Code suits solo developers who live in the terminal and want first-class Anthropic model access with native MCP. OpenHands suits small teams that want an MIT-licensed, self-hostable agent they can wire to any major LLM.
Compiled 2026-08-29 from our catalogue entries for Claude Code and OpenHands.
The short answer
- Pick Claude Code if
- You are comfortable in the terminal, want first-class Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku access, and want skills, hooks, slash commands, and native MCP as both client and server.
- Pick OpenHands if
- You want an MIT-licensed agent you can self-host in Docker, bring your own key for any major LLM provider, and run a sandboxed runtime that exposes a browser, file editor, and terminal to the agent.
- Cheapest way in
- Claude Code starts at the Free plan for $0; Pro is $17 per month with annual subscription discount or $20 billed monthly, and Max (5x or 20x) starts at $100 per month. OpenHands is listed as freemium but the starting price is not recorded and no verified plans are on file.
- What we could not compare
- OpenHands plan prices and Claude Code's public repo and docs are not on file. Claude Code's public repo and docs are listed as none, and OpenHands' docs are also none listed.
Both Claude Code and OpenHands sit in the AI Coding Agents category, and both can edit files, run commands, and act in a terminal. The difference is what they trade off: Claude Code is Anthropic's official CLI agent with deep, native support for Claude models, while OpenHands is an open-source platform from All Hands AI (formerly OpenDevin) built around self-hosting and model choice.
For a solo founder or small team choosing this week, the practical split is terminal-first managed service versus open-source self-hosting. Claude Code offers a recorded pricing ladder and IDE/editor extensions; OpenHands offers an MIT license, a Docker-based self-host path, and a public repo at github.com/All-Hands-AI/OpenHands, but its plan prices are not on file.
Side by side
Every cell is a field on our catalogue entry for that tool, copied as recorded. Rows where the two differ come first; blank fields say so rather than being filled in.
| Claude Code | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Paid | Freemium |
| Starts at | Free — $0 | Not recorded |
| Runs on | web, mac, win, linux, cli, vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin | web, mac, win, linux, cli |
| Public source code | No public repo listed | Yes — public repo |
| Category | AI Coding Agents | AI Coding Agents |
| Public docs | Not listed | Not listed |
- Public source code: From the repository link on each catalogue entry, not a licence audit.
Where Claude Code is the better fit
- First-class support for Anthropic Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku, with MCP server protocol natively supported as both client and server.
- Skills, hooks, and slash commands let teams encode their own workflow primitives.
- Three recorded pricing tiers — Free at $0, Pro at $17 monthly with annual discount or $20 monthly, and Max (5x or 20x) from $100 per month.
- Available across web, mac, win, linux, cli, vscode-ext, and jetbrains-plugin.
Where OpenHands is the better fit
- MIT-licensed and fully self-hostable in Docker, with a public repo at github.com/All-Hands-AI/OpenHands.
- Bring-your-own-key for any major LLM provider, so the agent is not locked to one vendor.
- Sandboxed runtime that exposes a browser, file editor, and terminal directly to the agent.
- Cross-platform support: web, mac, win, linux, and cli.
Which one should you pick?
First-class Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku support, native MCP, and a Free tier at $0 give a low-friction start; the terminal-first trade-off is something this profile already accepts.
MIT license, self-hostable in Docker, and bring-your-own-key for any major LLM provider mean no model lock-in and full control of the runtime.
It lists vscode-ext and jetbrains-plugin among its supported platforms; OpenHands lists web, mac, win, linux, and cli but no editor extensions on file.
Its sandboxed runtime exposes a browser, file editor, and terminal directly to the agent, which is the explicit selling point on file.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Claude Code use non-Anthropic models?
- No. The fact sheet says it is locked to Anthropic models, with no GPT or Gemini support out of the box.
- Is OpenHands free?
- It is listed as freemium, but the starting price is not recorded and no verified plans are on file. It is MIT-licensed and self-hostable in Docker, so the open-source path itself carries no license fee.
- Do I need Docker for Claude Code?
- The fact sheet says nothing about Docker for Claude Code. Docker is mentioned only as a requirement for self-hosting OpenHands.
- Where can I read each product's docs?
- Docs are listed as none for both Claude Code and OpenHands in the fact sheet. OpenHands does list a public repo at github.com/All-Hands-AI/OpenHands; Claude Code lists no public repo.
- What are the practical caveats the fact sheet flags?
- For Claude Code: locked to Anthropic models and a terminal-first UX with a learning curve. For OpenHands: self-hosting needs Docker familiarity and a powerful machine, and the hosted SaaS tier is still feature-limited compared to commercial agents like Devin.
What we compared
This page states nothing that is not in the two catalogue entries below. The exact text used to write it is reproduced here so you can check our reading, and both tools link through to their own pages and to the vendor.
- /tools/claude-code — checked 2026-05-25 · official site
- /tools/openhands — checked 2026-05-25 · official site
Show the source text
## Claude Code (/tools/claude-code) Tagline: Anthropic's official CLI agent for Claude — runs in the terminal, edits files, executes commands, and ships PRs. Category: AI Coding Agents Pricing model: paid Starts at: Free — $0 Platforms: web, mac, win, linux, cli, vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin Public repo: none listed Docs: none listed Verified plans (read 2026-08-24): Free $0 | Pro $17 / month with annual subscription discount, or $20 if billed monthly | Max (5x or 20x) From $100 / month Strengths on file: First-class support for Anthropic Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku.; MCP server protocol is natively supported as both client and server.; Skills, hooks, and slash commands let teams encode workflow primitives. Limits on file: Locked to Anthropic models — no GPT or Gemini support out of the box.; Terminal-first UX has a learning curve for developers expecting an IDE. Claude Code is Anthropic's official command-line agent for Claude — it runs in the terminal, edits files, executes commands, and ships pull requests. Its strength is depth on Claude and extensibility: first-class support for Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku, native MCP as both client and server, and skills, hooks, and slash commands that let teams encode their own workflow primitives. It's for developers comfortable in the terminal who want an agent that acts, not just autocompletes. Two trade-offs: it's locked to Anthropic models — no GPT or Gemini out of the box — and the terminal-first UX has a learning curve if you're expecting an IDE. In the stack it's the terminal-first agent next to IDE-native Cursor and the open, model-agnostic Aider. ## OpenHands (/tools/openhands) Tagline: Open-source autonomous coding agent platform, formerly OpenDevin, by All Hands AI. Category: AI Coding Agents Pricing model: freemium Starts at: Not recorded Platforms: web, mac, win, linux, cli Public repo: https://github.com/All-Hands-AI/OpenHands Docs: none listed Verified plans: none on file Strengths on file: MIT-licensed and fully self-hostable in Docker.; Bring-your-own-key for any major LLM provider.; Sandboxed runtime with browser, file editor, and terminal exposed to the agent. Limits on file: Self-hosting requires Docker familiarity and a powerful machine.; Hosted SaaS tier still feature-limited compared to commercial agents like Devin. OpenHands is an open-source autonomous coding-agent platform from All Hands AI — formerly OpenDevin. Its edge is an open, self-hostable take on the autonomous agent: MIT-licensed and self-hostable in Docker, bring-your-own-key for any major LLM, and a sandboxed runtime that exposes a browser, file editor, and terminal to the agent. It's for teams who want Devin-style autonomy without the lock-in and are willing to run it themselves. Caveats: self-hosting needs Docker familiarity and a capable machine, and the hosted SaaS tier is still feature-limited compared with commercial agents like Devin. It's the open, self-hostable counterpart to the managed, closed Devin.
Change log
- 2026-08-29 — First published, compiled from the catalogue entries for Claude Code and OpenHands.