Agentuna Agentuna
العربية
Home Rankings Automation & AI agents

Best open-source AI agent to self-host and inspect

Short answer: Hermes Agent scores highest in our provisional ranking: MIT-licensed, free to run, with persistent memory, scheduled tasks and sub-agents; you bring your own model provider. OpenClaw (MIT, chat-app first) and Dify (open-source visual builder, free Community Edition) follow, with the open-source Codex CLI and n8n close behind. Note that n8n uses a fair-code licence rather than an OSI-approved one, and the OpenAI, Anthropic or Google models these agents call are not open. Scores are editorial estimates.

An agent I can self-host and inspect.

Last checked: 2026-10-18 Score: provisional Demand signal: No X count yet; added for the agent focus, 18 Oct 2026
Scores are editorial estimates from public information. Hands-on tests have not started yet. Methodology

Scores are provisional editorial estimates: price and free-tier scores are read from each tool's official pricing page on the date shown; quality, ease and trust come from the vendors' own docs and product pages. No hands-on tests were run for this page.

The ranking

  1. #1

    Hermes Agent

    MIT licence; memory, scheduled tasks and sub-agents; you pay only your model provider.

    Free tier Price from the official page · Not checked yet: Price, arabic support
    Score breakdown (provisional)
    Output quality (weight 30) 8/10 Arabic support (weight 5) 4/10 Price / value (weight 15) 10/10 Free tier (weight 10) 10/10 Ease of use (weight 20) 5/10 Reliability & trust (weight 20) 6/10
    Visit site Details
    73/100 · provisional
  2. #2

    OpenClaw

    MIT licence; runs on your machine and answers from WhatsApp or Telegram; no hosted tier.

    Free tier Price from the official page · Not checked yet: Price, arabic support
    Score breakdown (provisional)
    Output quality (weight 30) 7/10 Arabic support (weight 5) 4/10 Price / value (weight 15) 10/10 Free tier (weight 10) 10/10 Ease of use (weight 20) 6/10 Reliability & trust (weight 20) 6/10
    Visit site Details
    72/100 · provisional
  3. #3

    Dify

    Open-source visual builder; free Community Edition, cloud from $59/mo.

    Free tier From $59/mo Price from the official page · Not checked yet: Arabic support
    Score breakdown (provisional)
    Output quality (weight 30) 8/10 Arabic support (weight 5) 4/10 Price / value (weight 15) 8/10 Free tier (weight 10) 8/10 Ease of use (weight 20) 6/10 Reliability & trust (weight 20) 7/10
    Visit site Details
    72/100 · provisional
  4. #4

    OpenAI Codex

    OpenAI's coding agent for the CLI, IDE, web and desktop app; included in ChatGPT plans.

    Free tier From $8/mo Price from the official page · Not checked yet: Arabic support
    Score breakdown (provisional)
    Output quality (weight 30) 7/10 Arabic support (weight 5) 5/10 Price / value (weight 15) 8/10 Free tier (weight 10) 6/10 Ease of use (weight 20) 7/10 Reliability & trust (weight 20) 8/10
    Visit site Details
    72/100 · provisional
  5. #5

    n8n

    Open-source workflow automation and AI agents; self-host or cloud.

    Free tier From $24/mo Price from the official page · Not checked yet: Arabic support
    Score breakdown (provisional)
    Output quality (weight 30) 7/10 Arabic support (weight 5) 4/10 Price / value (weight 15) 9/10 Free tier (weight 10) 8/10 Ease of use (weight 20) 5/10 Reliability & trust (weight 20) 8/10
    Visit site Details
    71/100 · provisional
  6. #6

    Kortix

    Open-source AI operating system: agents with their own cloud computer, skills and company memory in one git repo.

    Free tier From $50/mo Price from the official page · Not checked yet: Arabic support
    Score breakdown (provisional)
    Output quality (weight 30) 7/10 Arabic support (weight 5) 4/10 Price / value (weight 15) 7/10 Free tier (weight 10) 7/10 Ease of use (weight 20) 5/10 Reliability & trust (weight 20) 5/10
    Visit site Details
    61/100 · provisional

Related pages

Best tools for your first AI agent or automation

Best AI coding agent for a real task in your repo

Best no-code agent builder for your team

FAQ

Is open source free to run?

The agent software is free, but it calls a model. Hermes Agent, OpenClaw and Kortix let you bring your own API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or a local model), so you pay the provider per use. Dify and n8n also sell hosted plans if you would rather not run a server. Budget for model usage before you commit.

Why is Jules not on this list?

Jules, Devin, Manus and the other hosted agents publish no source code, so you cannot self-host or audit them. The Codex CLI is on the list because its command-line client is open source on GitHub, even though the models behind it are not. For hosted coding agents see our coding agent ranking.

Does anyone pay for these positions?

Rankings are built to avoid bias: no payment, commission or sponsorship changes a score or a position. Some links may become affiliate links (marked “Affiliate link”, rel="sponsored"). No affiliate links are active yet.