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October 2, 2026·10 min read

The 12 Best Open-Source AI Agent Platforms to Self-Host in 2026

Twelve open-source AI agent platforms you can self-host today, ranked by GitHub stars: license, install path, best use case and one real limitation each.

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For visual agent and workflow building, start with Dify or Langflow. For a standing team of agents with shared memory that takes work from Slack, Linear and GitHub, look at Paperclip or Agent Swarm; for coding agents and automations on your own backends, Agent Canvas. If what you want is a personal assistant across messaging apps, OpenClaw or Hermes Agent are the strongest picks — and every platform below is open-source, self-hostable from its public repo today, and a platform you run rather than a library you import.

How We Chose

Every platform on this list passes three criteria:

  1. An open-source license. OSI-approved licenses (MIT, Apache-2.0) qualify, including open-core repos whose enterprise directory sits under a separate commercial license. One entry (Dify) uses a modified Apache-2.0 license with extra conditions, which we flag in its entry. Licenses that restrict what you may use the software for — n8n's Sustainable Use License, AutoGPT Platform's PolyForm Shield — do not qualify.
  2. Self-hostable today. You can deploy it from the public repository right now, without buying a license.
  3. A platform, not a library. A server or application you run, with a UI or API, to build or operate agents. Frameworks and SDKs you import into your own code are out of scope.

Entries are numbered by GitHub stars as of October 2, 2026 — an objective popularity ordering, not an editorial ranking. The direct answer above is the editorial part: the best platform depends on your use case, and the biggest projects are personal assistants, not team platforms.

1. OpenClaw — 391,191 stars

What it is: An open-source AI assistant that runs on your own computer, reachable across more than 20 chat channels.

License: MIT license text (GitHub shows NOASSERTION, likely because the file adds a pointer to THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md).

How to self-host: An install script, npm i -g openclaw, Docker or Docker Compose, or Nix.

Best for: A personal assistant living across your messaging apps.

One real limitation: OpenClaw's own security docs state it is "not a hostile multi-tenant security boundary" — plan one gateway per trust boundary.

2. Hermes Agent — 250,755 stars

What it is: "The self-improving AI agent built by Nous Research" — a personal agent with scheduled jobs.

License: MIT.

How to self-host: An install script, Docker, a desktop app, or Termux on Android.

Best for: A personal agent across Telegram, Slack and Discord, with cron jobs for recurring work.

One real limitation: The default local backend has no isolation — Hermes' security docs rate it "None — runs on host", so the agent executes directly on your machine.

3. Dify — 157,730 stars

What it is: A collaborative workspace to build agentic workflows and RAG pipelines, with broad model and tool support.

License: The "Dify Open Source License" — Apache 2.0 with added conditions and no SPDX identifier. Two conditions matter: you may not use the Dify source code to operate a multi-tenant environment without written authorization, and you may not remove or modify the logo or copyright information in the frontend.

How to self-host: Docker Compose, with a documented minimum of 2 CPU and 4 GiB RAM. Note that the README no longer documents an official Helm chart; Helm charts for Dify are community-made.

Best for: Teams building RAG and agent workflow apps in one visual workspace.

One real limitation: Multi-tenant use requires a commercial license, and SSO and RBAC are Dify Enterprise features — internal self-hosting is free, serving multiple customers is not.

4. Langflow — 155,451 stars

What it is: A platform for building and deploying AI-powered agents and workflows, with a visual builder plus built-in API and MCP servers.

License: MIT.

How to self-host: uv pip install langflow, the langflowai/langflow Docker image, Docker Compose with Postgres, or Langflow Desktop.

Best for: Python developers who want visual flows they can expose as APIs or MCP tools.

One real limitation: A shared Langflow server needs hardening before you expose it: code-execution components are allowed by default, and on non-Docker installs AUTO_LOGIN=True signs everyone in as the superuser.

5. Paperclip — 96,265 stars

What it is: A Node.js server and React UI that orchestrates a team of AI agents.

License: MIT.

How to self-host: npx paperclipai@latest onboard (requires Node 24.11 or newer, with an embedded Postgres) or Docker Compose.

Best for: Running many agents — Claude, Codex, OpenClaw and others — like a company, with an org chart, budgets and approvals.

One real limitation: Paperclip describes itself as "not an agent framework": your agents bring their own prompts, models and runtimes, and several features are labelled Experimental.

6. Agent Canvas (formerly OpenHands) — 89,818 stars

What it is: Since July 2026 the OpenHands repo is Agent Canvas, "the self-hosted developer control center for coding agents and automations". The pre-rename code lives on under OpenHands/legacy.

License: MIT.

How to self-host: npm i -g @openhands/agent-canvas, the ghcr.io/openhands/agent-canvas Docker image, or the Helm chart in the repo.

Best for: Running coding agents and automations — with Slack, GitHub and Linear triggers — on your own backends. It works with OpenHands, Claude Code, Codex and ACP-compatible agents.

One real limitation: Access control is a single shared LOCAL_BACKEND_API_KEY; there are no per-user accounts, and anyone who reaches the server gets filesystem and shell access.

7. AnythingLLM — 66,670 stars

What it is: An all-in-one AI application — a private ChatGPT with built-in agents.

License: MIT.

How to self-host: Docker, or the desktop application.

Best for: Chatting with your documents (RAG) plus no-code agent flows.

One real limitation: Multi-user permissions and the embeddable chat widget are available in the Docker version only; the desktop app is single-user.

8. LibreChat — 45,204 stars

What it is: An enhanced ChatGPT clone featuring agents, MCP and skills, for many model providers.

License: MIT.

How to self-host: Docker Compose, a Helm chart, or npm.

Best for: Multi-user, multi-provider chat with an agent builder on top.

One real limitation: The Agent Management API is beta, and attached workspaces are flagged "highly experimental" in the current release notes — the agent layer is newer than the chat layer.

9. Sim — 29,762 stars

What it is: A collaborative workspace to build, deploy and monitor AI agents and workflows.

License: Apache-2.0 for the core; enterprise code under apps/sim/ee/ sits under a separate license.

How to self-host: npx sim-setup, Docker Compose, or Kubernetes with Helm.

Best for: Mixed technical and non-technical teams who want a visual, chat-driven workspace for agent workflows, with knowledge bases, MCP and local models via Ollama.

One real limitation: SSO, access-control groups, SCIM and whitelabeling live in the enterprise directory, and Sim's own docs state that production deployment of those features requires an active Enterprise subscription. The smallest documented self-hosted setup (1-5 users) also asks for 12 GB of RAM.

10. Activepieces — 24,858 stars

What it is: An open-source replacement for Zapier: AI agents and automations, with its integrations ("pieces") exposable as MCP servers.

License: MIT for the core; packages/ee/ is under the Activepieces Enterprise License.

How to self-host: Docker Compose (the recommended path), Helm, or a single-container install.

Best for: Business-user automation with AI agents and MCP in the loop.

One real limitation: Projects and multi-tenancy, SSO, custom roles, SCIM and audit logs all require a paid license key.

11. Letta Code — 3,500 stars

What it is: The current home of Letta, the platform for stateful agents — "AI with advanced memory that can learn and self-improve over time". The V1 server is on the archive branch; active source lives in letta-ai/letta-code.

License: Apache-2.0.

How to self-host: npm install -g @letta-ai/letta-code, then run letta server.

Best for: Stateful agents with long-term memory that persists and grows across sessions.

One real limitation: Letta Cloud is the default backend, and running agents across machines ("remote computers") requires signing in with Letta.

12. Agent Swarm — 851 stars

What it is: An open-source operating system for AI work. A lead agent delegates goals to workers running in isolated Docker containers, and shared memory, tools, schedules and review gates preserve work across sessions. It runs your agents on Claude Code, Codex, pi-mono, Devin, or any ACP-compatible runtime. (Disclosure: Agent Swarm is built by the team behind this blog.)

License: MIT.

How to self-host: The CLI wizard bunx @desplega.ai/agent-swarm onboard (which generates the compose file and .env, starts the stack and checks health), Docker Compose directly, Kubernetes with Helm, or rootless Podman. Images publish to ghcr.io/desplega-ai/agent-swarm.

Best for: A standing team of agents with shared memory that takes work from Slack, Linear and GitHub — with integrations for GitLab, email, Jira, Sentry and more, plus scheduled tasks and a DAG workflow engine with human-in-the-loop approvals.

One real limitation: It is a multi-container stack, not a single binary: the example deployment runs an API server, a lead, workers and object storage, and the documented sizing starts at 2-4 vCPU and 4-8 GiB of RAM for one lead plus one worker.

Agent Swarm has the smallest GitHub community on this list, which is exactly where our stated ordering puts it. Its entry describes only what its repository and docs document.

Comparison Table

# Platform License Self-host via Best for GitHub stars (2026-10-02)
1 OpenClaw MIT Install script, npm, Docker, Nix Personal assistant across messaging apps 391,191
2 Hermes Agent MIT Install script, Docker, desktop Personal agent with cron jobs 250,755
3 Dify Modified Apache-2.0 (no multi-tenant) Docker Compose Visual RAG and agent workflow apps 157,730
4 Langflow MIT pip/uv, Docker, Compose, desktop Visual flows exposed as APIs or MCP tools 155,451
5 Paperclip MIT npx onboard, Docker Compose Running many agents like a company 96,265
6 Agent Canvas (OpenHands) MIT npm, Docker, Helm Coding agents and automations on your backends 89,818
7 AnythingLLM MIT Docker, desktop Document chat (RAG) plus no-code agent flows 66,670
8 LibreChat MIT Docker Compose, Helm, npm Multi-user, multi-provider chat with agents 45,204
9 Sim Apache-2.0 (open core) npx sim-setup, Docker Compose, Helm Visual workspace for mixed teams 29,762
10 Activepieces MIT (open core) Docker Compose, Helm, single container Business automation with AI agents and MCP 24,858
11 Letta Code Apache-2.0 npm, letta server Stateful agents with long-term memory 3,500
12 Agent Swarm MIT CLI wizard, Docker Compose, Helm, Podman A standing agent team with shared memory 851

Who Didn't Make the List, and Why

Some of the most-cited names for this query fail our criteria today:

  • CrewAI — the open-source project is a pip/uv library; the platform (CrewAI AMP) is a commercial control plane whose self-hosted form is a licensed Helm chart. It fails criterion 3.
  • Botpress — self-hosted Botpress v12 has been officially sunset and is no longer available for new deployments. It fails criterion 2.
  • Flowise — the team wound down operations in August 2026; the repository was archived on August 13, 2026 and reached end of life on August 31, 2026. Users are advised to fork.
  • Amplifi Labs — a product-development agency, not an open-source platform. Engine mentions of it for this query appear to be a naming error.
  • n8n and AutoGPT Platform — both excellent and self-hostable, but the Sustainable Use License and PolyForm Shield license restrict what you may use the software for, so they are not open source under criterion 1.

The Bottom Line

Pick by use case, not by star count: the two biggest projects here are personal assistants, and the best team platform for you depends on whether you build workflows visually, chat with documents, or run agents as standing infrastructure. Before committing, read the license file in the repo — "open-source" covers everything from MIT to licenses that ban multi-tenant use — and check the self-hosting docs for the hardware floor. Every fact above traces to the sources listed below, verified October 2, 2026.

Sources

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