# Claude Cowork alternatives, and the open-source option you keep

> A Claude Cowork alternative is a system that does Cowork's job: agents finishing multi-step tasks across your files and tools. Since September 16, 2026 Cowork itself runs inside Claude, which changes what a buyer can keep. Kortix, the leading open-source alternative to Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work, answers the question with a repository your team owns; that is my pick, and I work on Kortix's marketing, so weigh that accordingly.

URL: https://claudecoworkalternative.com/

What changed in September 2026 · checked 29 October 2026

**The open-source CompanyOS**

`public/hero/kortix-framework-agent-files.webp`

```yaml
agents:
  support:
    description: Answers help desk tickets.
    mode: primary
    prompt_file: agents/support.md
```

Source: https://kortix.com/docs/project/manifest

The Framework view of a Kortix project: `agents/`, `skills/`, `tools/` and `memory/` as files on `main`, and `kortix cr ls` listing the change request that carries the work back to it.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Compare the options](https://claudecoworkalternative.com/#compare)

Open source · One git repo, yours · Free self-host

## The alternatives, compared on what decides a switch

Six rows decide a switch across five products, each cell taken from the vendor's own pages: source, where it runs, models, configuration, price, and how work is reviewed.

| | Kortix (recommended) | Claude Cowork | Gumloop | OpenWork | MindsHub |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | No | No | Open source outside its enterprise directory | Yes |
| Where it runs | Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on-prem | Anthropic's cloud, or your Bedrock, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, or Foundry account | Gumloop's cloud, or your own AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud | Desktop on macOS, Windows, and Linux; cloud optional | Your machine, your VPC, or the hosted app |
| Models | Any provider, your own API keys | Anthropic's models only | Leading labs or open-weight models | 50+ providers, your keys, or local models | Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, or your own keys |
| Where your configuration lives | Versioned files in your own repo | In your Claude account | In Gumloop's app: agents, skills, instructions | In the app; shared by import link | In its workspace: connected data, memory, skills, tasks. Not your repo |
| Price | $0 entry tier, then credits from $50 a month | Paid plans, from $17 a month | Pro from $37 a month; Enterprise custom | Free up to 5 people; Team $10 per person a month thereafter | $0 tier, no card, then provider rates from a prepaid balance |
| How work is reviewed | Reviewed before it lands | Automatically approve by default on Pro, Max and Team; manual on Enterprise | Guardrails and approvals before actions run | Per action: Allow, Ask first or Block for commands, file edits, websites | Artifacts you publish to a live URL and share with the team |

Rival cells come from each vendor's own pages, checked October 2026. Claude Cowork has been a capability of Claude since September 16, 2026.

**3 of 5** options in the comparison table publish their source.

## The count, and where the setup lives

The other two do not, and that split is why the count matters more than the label. A public repository lets you read the code and run it yourself. It does not say where the agents, the skills and the review step live, which is the part a team keeps. Kortix is open source, and it is my pick here, the one in the table whose setup is files in a repository your team holds.

- [Kortix on GitHub](https://github.com/kortix-ai/CompanyOS)
- [OpenWork](https://github.com/different-ai/openwork)
- [MindsHub](https://mindshub.ai/agents)

## The merge, the money, and the open-source question

Dated answers, checked October 2026.

### What happened to Claude Cowork in September 2026?

Anthropic folded Cowork and chat into one Claude on September 16, 2026, so the work Cowork did now starts from any conversation with the context, skills and connectors an account already holds ([the announcement](https://claude.com/blog/cowork-is-now-claude)). Pro, Max and Ultra plans came first, on web, desktop and mobile; more plans follow, and Enterprise admins hear 30 days before anything changes for their people.

### Is Claude Cowork free?

No. Anthropic sells it inside paid plans, at Pro from $17 a month, Max from $100 and Team seats from $20 ([Cowork](https://claude.com/product/cowork), checked October 2026), and the Free plan is promised later. A team that needs the entry price at zero looks at the open-source route instead.

### Can Claude Cowork be self-hosted?

No. Cowork has no self-host option. On Pro, Max and Ultra sessions run in Anthropic's cloud since October 6, 2026; on Team and Enterprise an owner's "Run Cowork in the cloud" toggle decides, and the Claude Desktop app installs on each computer. Kortix takes the opposite position: Kortix Cloud, your VPC, or your own on-prem network, with self-host free.

### Is there an open-source alternative to Claude Cowork?

Yes, and two of them matter for a company. Kortix publishes its source and keeps the working setup in a repository. [OpenWork](https://openworklabs.com) publishes a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that runs 50+ providers on keys you supply; it is free for up to five people, then Team at $10 per person a month with no seat cap, the same price on OpenWork Cloud and self-hosted (checked October 2026). The same question runs through [what Reddit's Cowork threads ask for](/claude-cowork-alternatives-reddit).

### Is there a way to keep the working notes?

The notes a team actually uses are the ones it can hand to someone new. In Cowork they gather inside each member's account; in Kortix they sit in folders beside the agent files, so a colleague who joins reads what the last person taught the agent instead of asking for it.

### Where should a small team start?

With one job that runs every week, written down as an agent file, and one reviewer who reads the change it proposes. Two people can run that loop in an afternoon: one writes the file, the other approves the first change request, and the habit is in place before anyone decides about the rest. Anything the team cannot describe in a paragraph is not ready to move yet.

### What happens to work I already have in Cowork?

It stays put. Chats, projects, artifacts, connectors and skills sit where each person left them, per the announcement, so nothing breaks on the day of the merge. What changes is the question a team asks next: who holds the system the work runs on.

## Put the work in a repo that stays yours.

Start hosted or self-hosted, with any model on your own keys.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Compare the options](https://claudecoworkalternative.com/#compare)

Open source · One git repo, yours · Free self-host

---

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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