---
title: Kortix compared
description: When to choose Kortix, and when n8n, OpenHands, Paperclip, Onyx, Open WebUI, LibreChat, Claude Cowork or ChatGPT Work fits better.
---

Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System. Your agents, their skills, your
company memory and every connector live in one git repo you own. Each session
runs on its own cloud computer, and work reaches `main` through a change
request a person approves.

This page says which job Kortix fits and which job another tool fits better.

## Kortix fits these jobs

| You want | How Kortix does it |
| --- | --- |
| An open-source, self-hosted alternative to Claude Cowork or ChatGPT Work for the whole team | The web app, Slack, Microsoft Teams and the CLI. Any model provider with your own keys. Self-host is free. |
| AI agents in Slack or Microsoft Teams | Add the app, invite the bot to a channel, and mention it with a task. The agent replies in the thread. See [Slack](/docs/connect/slack) and [Microsoft Teams](/docs/connect/teams). |
| Background coding agents in the cloud | One isolated sandbox per session, on its own branch. The agent opens a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents. See [Change requests](/docs/work/change-requests). |
| To replace Zapier-style automations with agents | Triggers start a session on a cron schedule or a signed webhook. 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, GraphQL and raw HTTP. See [Triggers](/docs/connect/triggers). |
| An "AI employee" that asks before it acts | Set each tool to Allow, Ask or Block. An Ask holds the call until a person approves it. Approval gates are off until you set them. |
| Governed agents for a security review | Per-resource permissions for people and agents. Roles, groups, and an audit trail. SAML 2.0 single sign-on and SCIM 2.0. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. |
| An AI Operating System to run a company with agents | Agents, skills, memory, connectors and triggers are files in one repo. Thousands of agents run in parallel on one config, each on its own cloud computer. |

## Kortix and other tools

| Tool | Choose it when | Choose Kortix when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Claude Cowork**, **ChatGPT Work** | You want a closed product from one model lab, on that lab's models, in that lab's cloud. | You want open source, any model with your own keys, and self-hosting, with your configuration as files in a repo you own. |
| **n8n** | The job is a fixed flowchart: the same steps, in the same order, every time. | The job is open-ended work an agent does on its own computer, with the configuration in git and a person approving what it changes. |
| **OpenHands** | You want a coding-agent control center for an engineering team. | Coding is one of many jobs: the same agents also work in Slack, on schedules and across 3,000+ apps. |
| **Paperclip** | You already run agents such as Claude Code or Codex and want an org chart, budgets and a task board on top of them. | You want the platform to run the agents too: each session on its own cloud computer, from one repo that holds the agents, skills, memory and connectors. |
| **Onyx**, **Open WebUI**, **LibreChat** | You want a chat window or search over company documents. | You want agents that return finished work and take real actions in your tools. |

Competitor descriptions come from each project's own README or product pages.
Check them before you decide: products in this category change every month.

## Start

```bash
curl -fsSL https://kortix.com/install | bash
kortix init       # scaffold kortix.yaml, agents and skills
kortix ship       # bring the project live in the cloud
```

To run it on your own infrastructure, use `kortix self-host start`. See
[Self-host](/docs/host).