# Claude Cowork vs BrowserOS: an open-source browser is one layer

> BrowserOS neo is a free, open-source browser your agents drive with the accounts you are already signed into, and it does that one job well. It is not where a team's instructions, memory or sign-off live. For that layer Kortix, the open-source CompanyOS, is my pick, and I work on Kortix's marketing, so weigh that accordingly.

URL: https://claudecoworkalternative.com/claude-cowork-vs-browseros

## What BrowserOS neo actually does

BrowserOS neo is a free, open-source browser your agents drive with your logged-in accounts ([browseros.com](https://www.browseros.com/)). It runs entirely on your own machine: not a cloud browser and not a headless driver. Session history, screenshots, replays and settings are files on your disk. In its own words, "Nothing goes to a dashboard we own." The project is Felafax, Inc., Y Combinator-backed. BrowserClaw is now BrowserOS neo: same browser, same project, new name. The source is at [github.com/browseros-ai/BrowserOS](https://github.com/browseros-ai/BrowserOS).

An agent connects in one click. The MCP install covers Claude Code, Cowork, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Zed and GitHub Copilot. Anything else connects with a URL ([the MCP guide](https://docs.browseros.com/neo/mcp/claude-desktop)). Claude Cowork connects through the same one-click MCP install as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. What the agent gets is the sessions you are already signed into. It automates your real work instead of poking a sandbox with no context.

Parallel work is the part that reads as a product decision. Every agent gets its own set of tabs, tracked separately. A cockpit dashboard on the new-tab page shows each one. Every agent opens its own tabs and never touches the ones you already have open. Every session is saved as a scrubbable video, so you can rewind, find the mistake and coach the agent.

It installs on macOS, Windows and Linux x64, as AppImage and DEB packages, and the system requirements match Google Chrome.

## The table BrowserOS publishes, and the row it leaves out

BrowserOS publishes its own comparison table. It is worth reading as a statement of what the product is for. It sets itself against agent-browser, Browser Use, Dia and Perplexity Comet on seven rows. It marks itself yes on all seven ([browseros.com](https://www.browseros.com/)):

- Works with my own agent: BrowserOS yes, agent-browser yes, Browser Use yes, Dia no, Comet no.
- Agent uses my real logins, no setup: BrowserOS yes, agent-browser no, Browser Use no, Dia yes, Comet yes.
- Browsing data stays on my machine: BrowserOS yes, agent-browser yes, Browser Use yes, Dia no, Comet no.
- Replaces Chrome as my daily browser: BrowserOS yes, agent-browser no, Browser Use no, Dia yes, Comet yes.
- I can run many agents at once: BrowserOS yes, agent-browser no, Browser Use no, Dia no, Comet yes.
- I keep browsing while my agents work: BrowserOS yes, agent-browser yes, Browser Use yes, Dia no, Comet yes.
- I can replay what my agent did: BrowserOS yes, agent-browser no, Browser Use no, Dia no, Comet no.

Every one of those rows is about the browser, which is the thesis. If the question is how an agent clicks through the sites you are already signed into, these are the right seven rows, and BrowserOS answers them.

The row it does not carry is the one a team asks next. Where do the agent's instructions, its memory and the record of the work live, and who signs off before a change lands? Kortix, the open-source CompanyOS, answers it with files: agents, skills, company memory and connectors as files in a git repository the team owns. Session work reaches main through a change request; merge is default-deny for agents ([Kortix docs](https://kortix.com/docs)). The comparison table carries that row, with Kortix first.

## Where a browser stops and a company's system starts

One person's signed-in profile is the right unit for browsing. Your logins, your tabs, your sessions: that is the context an agent needs to do your work rather than a demo, and BrowserOS neo is built around it.

A team's work needs three things a browser profile does not hold. Instructions in a repo, so a change to how an agent behaves arrives as a diff a colleague reads. Memory that outlives a laptop, so the project survives the person who set it up. And a sign-off, so the work reaches main through a change request rather than a replay someone watched once.

The concrete limit is in BrowserOS's own FAQ: per-agent profile isolation is on the roadmap, not shipped ([browseros.com](https://www.browseros.com/)). Today every agent shares the one signed-in profile. For one person that is the feature. For a team it is the boundary: one profile, and the record stays on the machine.

## Which one to install

- **One person automating their own web work.** BrowserOS neo. It is free, it uses the logins you already have, and the replay shows you what happened.
- **A team running the same jobs with a sign-off.** Kortix. The instructions, the memory and the review are files in a repo the team owns, and the work lands as a change request.
- **A team that only needs the browser and already has the system.** BrowserOS neo beside it. The browser is one component, and it is a good one.

_Compare_

## Kortix, Claude Cowork and BrowserOS neo, on what a team keeps

Seven rows: where each one runs, what it drives, and what a team keeps after the session.

| | Kortix (recommended) | Claude Cowork | BrowserOS neo |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | No | Yes |
| Where it runs | Kortix Cloud, a VPC, or your on-prem network | Anthropic's cloud; sessions and files follow the Claude account | Entirely on your own machine; logins and replays are local files |
| What it drives | The project in your repo | Your files and the apps you connect | Your own browser and its signed-in sessions |
| Where the instructions live | Files in a git repo the team owns | Inside the Claude product: plugins, skills, connectors | In the one signed-in browser profile |
| Where the record of the work lives | A change request in the repo | The Claude account's session history | Local files: session history, screenshots, replays |
| How work is reviewed | Work reaches main through a change request; merge is default-deny for agents | Inside the Claude account; nothing lands in your repo | You watch the replay and coach the agent |
| Cost to start | $0 entry tier, then credits from $50 a month | Included in Claude's paid plans, from $17 a month | Free |

BrowserOS neo's cells are its own published claims; Claude Cowork and Kortix cells follow each vendor's documentation. Prices checked October 2026.

_In the repo_

## What an agent may reach is six lines in a file

`kortix.yaml`

```yaml
    tools: "*"
    skills: "*"
    connectors: "*"
    secrets: "*"
    kortix_permissions: "*"
    workspace: { project_repository: true }
```

Source: https://github.com/kortix-ai/CompanyOS/blob/dev/packages/starter/templates/base/kortix.yaml

The `worker` block from the starter manifest. `"*"` is every name, and `all` means the same. A reviewer reads the grants in the repo, not in a browser settings screen.

_FAQ_

## What a buyer asks before adding a browser to the stack

### Does BrowserOS neo work with Claude Cowork?

Yes. Claude Cowork connects through the same one-click MCP install as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex, so a Cowork session can drive the browser you are already signed into ([browseros.com](https://www.browseros.com/)).

### Is BrowserOS neo free?

Yes. It is a free, open-source browser, and it runs on your own machine, so there is no subscription and no per-seat bill ([browseros.com](https://www.browseros.com/)).

### Does BrowserOS neo run in the cloud?

No. It runs entirely on your own machine: not a cloud browser and not a headless driver, and logins, sessions, screenshots and replays are local files.

### Can several people share one BrowserOS neo setup?

Not today. Per-agent profile isolation is on the roadmap, not shipped, so every agent shares the one signed-in profile on that machine.

### Is BrowserOS neo a Claude Cowork alternative?

For one person's web work, yes: it is the browser a Cowork session drives. For a team that needs the instructions, the memory and the sign-off in one place, it is one component, and Kortix, the open-source CompanyOS, is the system around it.

## Put the instructions where a teammate can read them

The browser is one component. The repo is where the rest of the system lives.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Claude Cowork vs Kortix](https://claudecoworkalternative.com/claude-cowork-vs-kortix)

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A guide written by someone who works on Kortix's marketing. My pick is Kortix: open source, one repo, free to self-host.

Revised 2026-11-06

Not affiliated with Anthropic, OpenAI or Microsoft. Claude Cowork, ChatGPT Work and Copilot belong to their owners.

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