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It's a split decision.
Choose OpenCode for an individual or team that wants a coding agent on a desktop or in a terminal, with access to 200+ model providers and free models. Choose OpenHands when the main need is repeatable engineering workflows, team identity and role-based access control, or deployment in a VPC. OpenHands has a free self-hosted option and a $500-per-month Teams plan; OpenCode’s paid Go plans start at $10 per month.
01Side by side
| OpenCode | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free models; Go $10/month; Go Plus $40/month | Free Agent Canvas; Teams $500/month; Enterprise custom |
| Free tier | Free models available without an account | Free MIT Agent Canvas; bring your LLM key |
| Open source and license | Open source; license not named | Open source under MIT |
| Self-hosting | Runs on your machine; self-hostable | Self-host on a laptop, VM, or VPC |
| API and SDKs | SDK drives scripts, CI jobs, and tools | SDK listed for agent development |
| CLI and docs | Terminal UI; npm, curl, and Homebrew installs | Web product; documentation available |
| Integrations | 200+ model providers, MCP, and named services | GitHub, Slack, Jira, Linear, and MCP |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux, terminal, and iPhone | Web |
OpenCode Choose OpenCode if
- Choose OpenCode if you want a local coding agent across desktop and terminal.
- Choose OpenCode if you need to select from 200+ model providers.
- Choose OpenCode if a $10 monthly paid plan suits your usage.
OpenHands Choose OpenHands if
- Choose OpenHands if you want scheduled or event-triggered engineering workflows.
- Choose OpenHands if your deployment needs to run in a VPC.
- Choose OpenHands if teams need shared workflows, identity, and RBAC.
02Pricing at real usage
OpenCode offers free models without an account. For paid access, the pricing page lists Go at $10 per month and Go Plus at $40 per month. Go includes estimated allowances of 110 Kimi K3 requests or 1,050 DeepSeek V4 Pro requests per five hours; Go Plus lists 440 and 4,200, respectively. These are estimates, not a general per-token price. Extra Usage credit top-ups are available, but their price is not published. Go Teams starts with Extra Usage on.
OpenHands’ Agent Canvas is free and self-hosted, with users bringing their own LLM key. Teams costs $500 per month for up to 10 users and 5,000 sessions per month; each additional seat is $50 per month. The Teams plan includes a 30-day trial. Enterprise pricing is custom. OpenHands lists no annual Teams price, so teams should confirm billing terms before budgeting.
03API, SDKs and integration
OpenCode provides an SDK for driving the agent from scripts, CI jobs, and tools. Its terminal UI works in a shell, editor, or remote server; install options include npm install -g @opencode/cli and a curl-based installer. The product has documentation, but the vendor does not name SDK language bindings in its product pages. OpenCode connects to 200+ model providers, including local models, and supports MCP servers. Listed integrations include GitHub, Linear, Figma, Sentry, Notion, Slack, Supabase, and Stripe.
OpenHands lists an SDK and supports agent workflows using OpenHands, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or a custom stack. Its homepage describes automations triggered by events, schedules, and connected tools, with integrations including GitHub, Slack, Jira, Linear, and MCP. It can use closed models or open weights such as Kimi, DeepSeek, and Qwen. The product pages do not identify SDK languages or a specific API protocol. OpenHands presents a web product; no CLI is identified on its homepage.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
Both products are open source and self-hostable, but OpenHands names its license: MIT. OpenCode’s product pages call it open source without naming a license, so check the repository license before incorporating it into a distribution or compliance workflow.
OpenCode runs on your machine and is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, as well as terminal use. Its support for 200+ providers and local models gives teams options when changing model vendors. OpenHands can run locally, in the cloud, or in a VPC; Agent Canvas can be self-hosted on a laptop or shared VM. Its agent and model choices allow teams to vary the underlying stack. Neither vendor publishes a data export format on its product pages. If you need portable workflow or session data, ask about export and migration before deployment.
Questions people ask
Is OpenCode or OpenHands cheaper?
For paid plans, OpenCode starts at $10 per month for Go and lists Go Plus at $40 per month. OpenHands’ Agent Canvas is free, while Teams is $500 per month for up to 10 users and 5,000 sessions. The plans cover different needs, so compare model usage and team workflow requirements, not just the headline price.
Can I use OpenCode or OpenHands for free?
OpenCode offers free models without an account. OpenHands’ Agent Canvas is free and open source under MIT, but users bring their own LLM key. OpenHands also lists a 30-day trial for Teams. A free option does not mean model usage or infrastructure has no cost.
Which product is better for local development?
OpenCode is the more direct fit for a coding agent used on a developer’s machine: it has desktop apps, a terminal UI, and support for local models. OpenHands also supports local use, but its product centers on agent workflows and automations that can run locally, in the cloud, or in a VPC.
Can OpenHands run in a private environment?
Yes. OpenHands supports local, cloud, and VPC deployment, and its Agent Canvas plan can be self-hosted on a laptop or shared VM. OpenCode also runs on your machine and is self-hostable. Confirm each product’s deployment and data-handling details against your organization’s security requirements.