OpenHands vs SWE-agent
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
OpenHands
Autonomous AI software engineering agent
VS
SWE-agent
Language-model agent that resolves GitHub issues
| Feature | OpenHands | SWE-agent |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 89,007 | ★ 20,391 |
| First released | 2024 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Devin, GitHub Copilot Workspace | Devin |
What are OpenHands and SWE-agent?
OpenHands
OpenHands, formerly OpenDevin, is a platform for AI agents that can write code, run commands, and browse the web to complete software development tasks. It can be self-hosted and connected to local or remote models.
- Autonomous coding agent
- Sandboxed command execution
- Web browsing capability
- Pluggable model backends
SWE-agent
SWE-agent lets a language model autonomously navigate a repository, edit files, and run tests to fix bugs or implement features. It is widely used as a research baseline for automated software engineering benchmarks.
- Autonomous repository navigation
- Custom agent-computer interface
- Reproducible benchmark runs
- Configurable LLM backends
OpenHands vs SWE-agent: key differences
OpenHands is written in TypeScript, while SWE-agent is built with Python. SWE-agent is the lighter option, starting around 2,048 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for OpenHands. OpenHands has the considerably larger community, at 89,007 GitHub stars versus 20,391.
Why pick each one
Choose OpenHands if…
- Autonomous task execution
- Works with many models
- Sandboxed Docker runtime
Watch out for
- Token costs add up
- Results can vary
Choose SWE-agent if…
- Strong benchmark results
- Automated issue fixing
- Configurable agent scaffolding
Watch out for
- API costs add up
- Research focus over polish
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenHands or SWE-agent better?
Neither is universally better. OpenHands has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OpenHands and SWE-agent free and open-source?
Yes. OpenHands is licensed under MIT and SWE-agent under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenHands and SWE-agent with Docker?
OpenHands: yes. SWE-agent: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, OpenHands or SWE-agent?
SWE-agent has the smaller minimum footprint at 2,048 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for OpenHands. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.