OpenCode vs OpenHands
Updated Jul 30, 2026 · pricing verified for both tools
OpenCode and OpenHands are both MIT-licensed and start at $0, but OpenCode's $10/month Go plan is the only flat-rate option — OpenHands cloud is pay-as-you-go. OpenCode is terminal-first across 75+ model providers and publishes usage caps in dollars ($12 per 5 hours on Go). OpenHands runs autonomously in a hosted sandbox, opens and reviews pull requests, and integrates with Jira and Slack, but its free cloud tier caps at roughly 10 conversations a day for 1 user. Pick OpenCode for predictable spend in a TUI; pick OpenHands for an agent that keeps working after you close the laptop.
- OpenCode starts at
- $0
- OpenHands starts at
- $0
- OpenCode free tier
- Yes
- OpenHands free tier
- Yes
Prices verified against the official pricing pages: OpenCode on Jul 18, 2026, OpenHands on Jun 24, 2026.
Side by side
| Dimension | OpenCode | OpenHands |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | CLI $0; Go $10/mo ($5 first month); Zen usage-based per 1M tokens; Enterprise custom | Self-host $0; Individual cloud free with model usage at provider cost and no markup; Enterprise custom |
| Free tier | ✓ MIT CLI free forever with your own provider keys and no vendor-imposed usage cap | Free self-hosting, plus a free cloud tier capped at roughly 10 conversations/day for 1 user |
| Cost predictability | ✓ Go caps usage in dollars — $12 per 5 hours, $30 weekly, $60 monthly | Pay-as-you-go at provider cost with no published per-session or per-day spend cap |
| Model choice | ✓ 75+ providers via Models.dev including local models, and log in with an existing Copilot or ChatGPT Plus/Pro account | Model-agnostic — bring your own key or use OpenHands providers at cost |
| Interface | Terminal UI first; desktop app still in beta, plus an IDE extension and web interface | ✓ Web GUI, terminal UI, and CLI, with cloud sandboxes that keep agents running while your machine is offline |
| Code review workflow | No built-in pull-request review; sessions are local with optional share links | ✓ Opens and reviews pull requests with quality and security checks, plus vulnerability scanning with reviewable fixes |
| Integrations | 75+ providers and central config enforcement; no first-party issue-tracker integrations | ✓ Native Jira and Slack integrations plus MCP support |
| Platforms | ✓ CLI, desktop (beta), browser extension, web, and API | Web, CLI, and API |
Pricing, verified
OpenCode
OPEN-SOURCE| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| OpenCode CLI | $0 |
| Go | $10/mo |
| Zen | Usage-based |
| Enterprise | Custom |
OpenHands
OPEN-SOURCE| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Open Source (self-host) | Free |
| Individual (Cloud) | Free |
| Enterprise | Custom |
When to pick OpenCode
- You want a fixed monthly bill rather than an open-ended token meter. Go is $10/month ($5 for the first month) with limits published in dollars — $12 per 5 hours, $30 weekly, $60 monthly — so a long session cannot quietly become a large invoice.
- You already pay for models elsewhere. OpenCode reaches 75+ providers through Models.dev, runs local models, and accepts an existing GitHub Copilot or ChatGPT Plus/Pro login, so the agent costs nothing extra.
- You live in the terminal and want breadth of surfaces around it: a TUI with build and plan agents switchable by keystroke, automatic LSP diagnostics fed to the model, multi-session parallelism, a browser extension, and a beta desktop app with tabs.
When to pick OpenHands
- The work should continue without you. Cloud sandboxes keep agents running when your local machine is offline, which no local-first CLI can replicate.
- Your workflow is issue-to-pull-request. OpenHands opens and reviews PRs with quality and security checks, runs vulnerability scanning with reviewable fixes, and wires into Jira and Slack — OpenCode has no built-in PR review at all.
- You want a real GUI. The web interface sits alongside a terminal UI and CLI, so non-terminal teammates can drive the same agent.
Bottom line
Both are MIT-licensed, model-agnostic, and free to run on your own keys, so the split is about where the agent lives. OpenCode is the better fit for an individual developer who works in a terminal and wants spend certainty: the $10 Go plan is genuinely flat, the project is extremely active with over 187,000 GitHub stars, and nothing about your code is stored by the vendor. OpenHands is the better fit for a team treating the agent as infrastructure — hosted sandboxes, PR review, security scanning, and issue-tracker integrations, with model usage passed through at provider cost and no markup. Watch the ceilings on both: OpenHands’ free cloud tier stops at about 10 conversations a day for one user and team features jump straight to a custom Enterprise quote, while OpenCode’s bring-your-own-key billing is unbounded outside the Go plan — a long session on Claude Opus 4.8 at $5.00 input and $25.00 output per 1M tokens escalates quickly. Neither publishes a per-seat enterprise rate.
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenCode better than OpenHands?
OpenCode and OpenHands are both MIT-licensed and start at $0, but OpenCode's $10/month Go plan is the only flat-rate option — OpenHands cloud is pay-as-you-go. OpenCode is terminal-first across 75+ model providers and publishes usage caps in dollars ($12 per 5 hours on Go). OpenHands runs autonomously in a hosted sandbox, opens and reviews pull requests, and integrates with Jira and Slack, but its free cloud tier caps at roughly 10 conversations a day for 1 user. Pick OpenCode for predictable spend in a TUI; pick OpenHands for an agent that keeps working after you close the laptop. Updated Jul 30, 2026.
Is OpenCode cheaper than OpenHands?
They start at the same price: $0 for OpenCode and $0 for OpenHands. Prices verified against the official pricing pages: OpenCode on Jul 18, 2026, OpenHands on Jun 24, 2026.
Do OpenCode and OpenHands have free tiers?
Yes — both do. OpenCode has a free tier. OpenHands has a free tier (the Open Source (self-host) plan).
Can I use OpenCode and OpenHands on mobile or via an API?
OpenCode runs on the command line, desktop, a browser extension, the web and offers an API. OpenHands runs on the web, the command line and offers an API.