Self-hosting a Claude Cowork alternative.

The reason to self-host is control: your files, your keys, your audit trail. Two shapes are common — a desktop app on your own machine, and a server-side platform in your infra.

Desktop: OpenWork / Open Cowork

These install like normal desktop apps and run the agent locally against a folder you choose. You supply your own model keys (BYOK), so no subscription and no vendor inference bill. Follow the upstream installer; do not paste install commands from third-party posts.

Server-side: OpenHands / Kortix-Suna

For team or org use, run it where the data lives:

# OpenHands - container runtime per task (see repo for current image)
docker run -it --rm -p 3000:3000 -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock docker.all-hands.dev/all-hands-ai/openhands:latest

# Kortix/Suna - self-host from Docker images, then point the CLI at your host
# see https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna for the current quickstart
#   kortix self-host start
#   kortix hosts use selfhost

Add your model keys, then scope access

• Put provider keys in a secret store, not in the repo. Ideally the platform brokers credentials so the raw key never reaches the agent's sandbox.
• Grant the agent the narrowest folder/tool access that does the job.
• Prefer platforms with per-session isolation and a human review step before changes land — that is the difference between a demo and something you can run in a company.