Disclosure: this article is published by Kortix Blog, the publication run by Kortix, whose product is one of the options compared below. Kortix product descriptions are vendor copy unless they point at the LICENSE file or the self-hosting documentation, and the license classification is this publication's own reading of the repository LICENSE. Documentation reviewed: September 18, 2026. This is a documentation-based comparison of licenses and published product documentation — not a hands-on benchmark, a security certification, or a legal opinion.
The three words people mix up
If you are looking for an open source Claude Cowork alternative, the first thing to fix is vocabulary. "Open source", "source-available", and "self-hosted" answer three different questions, and a project can be two of them at once.
Open source is a statement about license rights. The Open Source Initiative's definition requires free redistribution, derived works, and no discrimination against fields of endeavor, among other criteria. Source-available means the code is public but the license imposes restrictions the Open Source Definition does not allow. Self-hosted says who operates the software — you — regardless of what the license permits.
Kortix is the case most often mislabeled. Its repository README calls itself "the open-source AI Management System", but the repository's LICENSE is Elastic License 2.0. That license forbids offering the software to third parties as a hosted or managed service and forbids circumventing license-key functionality. Because it restricts a field of endeavor, it conflicts with the Open Source Definition. So this comparison classifies Kortix as source-available and self-hostable, not OSI open source — even though the project's own copy says "open source". That is a license fact, not a criticism; it is just the label that survives contact with the OSD.
The short verdict. Kortix is a documented fit when a team wants to run the whole control plane itself, keep configuration in a git repository it owns, and require a human review gate before work lands. It is the wrong starting point for a zero-setup solo user, a team that wants a fully managed service, an air-gapped topology treated as self-serve, or anyone who treats an OSI-approved permissive license as non-negotiable. Those cases are spelled out below rather than buried.
License, self-hosting, and model choice
Every cell below comes from the linked repository, LICENSE, or vendor documentation as reviewed on September 18, 2026.
| Option | License classification | Self-host | Model choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Cowork (Anthropic) | Proprietary hosted product; no published source license | Not documented; sessions run in the cloud on Anthropic's servers (beta) | Claude models via a Claude account, or Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Foundry |
| Kortix | Elastic License 2.0 — source-available, not OSI open source | Yes — whole control plane on your infrastructure from one Docker Compose stack; a sandbox provider is still required and air-gapped topologies are scoped separately | Any provider with your own API keys through the in-stack gateway |
| Eigent | Apache License 2.0 — OSI open source | Yes — local deployment with a local backend and local model integration | Model agnostic: cloud APIs, enterprise gateways, or local inference (vLLM, Ollama, LM Studio) |
| OpenWork | MIT outside ee/; OpenWork EE License (source-available) inside ee/
|
Yes — desktop app; MIT core, with subscription terms for the Den control plane | Bring your own API keys |
| Open Cowork | MIT — OSI open source | Yes — local desktop app for Windows and macOS with VM-level sandbox | Claude, OpenAI-compatible APIs, and Chinese models with your own keys |
| Open Claude Cowork | MIT — OSI open source | Runs locally as a desktop app; requires your own Anthropic and Composio API keys | Claude Agent SDK or OpenCode |
| OpenClaw | MIT — OSI open source | Yes — local Gateway on your own hardware | Hosted and local providers; models are swappable plugins |
The pattern worth noticing: Kortix is the only option here that self-hosts a control plane rather than a desktop client, and it is the only one whose license is not OSI-approved. Those two facts are related to the same design — the vendor restricts hosted resale while letting you operate the stack yourself.
Who owns the configuration, and where is the review gate?
The "best fit" column is this publication's editorial assessment, not a vendor ranking or a benchmark result.
| Option | Configuration ownership | Review / approval gate |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Cowork | Inside the Claude product: folders, tools, permissions, organization settings | Plan preview and approval prompts; enterprise permission controls and OpenTelemetry activity streams |
| Kortix | Files in a git repository you own | Change requests for repository work; configurable action approval gates; merge deny-by-default for an agent |
| Eigent | Local application configuration | Task monitoring; repository lists SSO and access control among enterprise features |
| OpenWork | Local workspaces and skills; Den is the organization control plane | Not established in the reviewed repository README |
| Open Cowork | Local application configuration | Workspace confinement and VM isolation; a per-action review gate is not established in the reviewed README |
| Open Claude Cowork |
.env and SKILL.md files |
Not established in the reviewed repository README |
| OpenClaw | Local configuration and workspace files | Sender pairing approvals; sandboxing is optional and documented as a setup step, not a universal pre-action gate |
What Claude Cowork is, and why it is not self-hostable
Claude Cowork is Anthropic's hosted agentic product that brings Claude Code's agentic architecture to knowledge work without a terminal. Anthropic's product page describes handing off a task — Cowork works in folders and tools you choose, shows each step, runs the same session across web, desktop, and mobile, keeps working when you close your laptop, schedules recurring reports, and can split a large project into chunks that run together. A built-in browser opens sites and fills forms in a Cowork side panel rather than your own browser, and plugins bundle tools, knowledge, and workflows. Teams and Enterprise admins get access controls by team, spend limits, and tool permissions by department, with activity streams to a SIEM through OpenTelemetry.
None of that runs on your hardware. Anthropic's help center says Cowork runs on Anthropic's servers in an isolated environment (in beta), with sessions and files saved to the Claude account, and the product page lists a Claude account or Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Foundry as where data lives. Neither official page documents installing or operating Cowork on infrastructure you control, and Anthropic publishes no source license for it. Under the reviewed documentation, Claude Cowork is neither open source nor self-hostable.
Kortix, honestly
Kortix is an AI management system that keeps agents, shared skills, company memory, and connectors in one git repository, runs each session in an isolated sandbox on its own branch, and lands work through a change request a human approves. The repository positions Kortix as "the leading open-source alternative to Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work" and an "open-source AI Management System". Those are vendor positioning statements, not independent verification — and the LICENSE classification above, not the README headline, governs the open-source question.
Where Kortix's vendor documentation makes concrete claims, here is what it says. The self-hosting page describes one Docker Compose stack built from the same images the managed cloud runs, carrying the whole control plane — accounts, projects, repos, secrets, connectors, policies, audit — inside your network on storage you back up yourself. Sandbox compute is a provider choice (Daytona by default, or Platinum or E2B), and air-gapped topologies are scoped with Kortix rather than self-served. Model calls route through a gateway running on your own box; the page lists Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Groq, xAI, DeepSeek, Mistral, Bedrock, and OpenRouter, or a ChatGPT or Copilot subscription you already hold. It also states that SAML SSO, SCIM directory sync, custom roles, groups, and audit read require an enterprise key.
Two operational details matter more than the feature list. First, self-host start pulls images from Docker Hub, so this is a self-hosted install rather than a disconnected one. Second, isolation depends on the sandbox provider: the default provider runs containers, while the Platinum provider runs microVMs. If your threat model needs microVM isolation, that is a provider choice you have to make, not a default.
The rest of the shortlist, briefly
Each entry is limited to what the project's own repository and LICENSE state. Capability claims from third-party listicles were not treated as proof.
Eigent is a desktop application that runs a multi-agent workforce locally on the CAMEL-AI framework. Its repository states Apache License 2.0 and documents a standalone local deployment with a local backend and local model integration through vLLM, Ollama, or LM Studio. Best fit: teams that want a multi-agent desktop workspace with local execution and bring-your-own-model setup.
OpenWork is a desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux, built on OpenCode, exposing skills, MCP connections, and Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 capabilities through an MCP server. Its license is directory-split: everything outside ee/ is MIT, while ee/ (the Den control plane) uses the source-available OpenWork EE License. Best fit: teams that want a desktop app with shareable skills across existing agents and can accept the EE boundary for organization controls.
Open Cowork is a Windows and macOS desktop app that wraps Claude Code, OpenAI, Gemini, and DeepSeek models in a GUI with one-click installers, documenting VM-level sandbox isolation via WSL2 and Lima, a skills system for PPTX/DOCX/XLSX/PDF output, and MCP connectors. Its LICENSE is MIT. Best fit: individual users who want a one-click desktop cowork app with VM sandboxing and their own keys.
Open Claude Cowork is a desktop chat application on the Claude Agent SDK or OpenCode that connects to 500+ apps through Composio's tool router, documenting persistent sessions, streaming, tool visualization, browser automation, and scheduling. Setup needs your own Anthropic and Composio API keys, and its LICENSE is MIT. Best fit: teams already using Composio that want a local Claude Agent SDK desktop client.
OpenClaw runs a local Gateway on your own hardware and reaches you through Discord, iMessage, Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp, and other channels, with state, memory, and credentials on your machine and models as swappable plugins. Its LICENSE is MIT. It warns that tools run on the host for the main session unless sandboxing is configured. Best fit: users who want a chat-driven assistant with local state.
Where Kortix is not the right fit
- Zero-setup solo users. Self-hosting is a CLI-driven Docker Compose deployment, and images are pulled from Docker Hub. A hosted product or a one-click desktop app fits that reader better.
- Teams that want no operational ownership at all. Kortix does publish a managed cloud with a Free tier and a Team tier at $40 per seat per month, but if you will not operate a control plane, Claude Cowork fits that requirement more directly.
- Air-gapped requirements treated as self-serve. The self-hosting page says air-gapped and other fully isolated topologies are scoped with Kortix, and that choosing a sandbox provider is a required decision.
- Enterprise identity and audit without an enterprise key. SAML SSO, SCIM directory sync, custom roles, groups, and audit read require one.
- An OSI-approved permissive license as a hard requirement. Elastic License 2.0 restricts hosted or managed-service use, so an MIT or Apache-2.0 option such as Eigent, Open Cowork, or OpenClaw is the more honest starting point.
How to evaluate a self-hosted Cowork alternative
These are proposed checks, not testing this article performed.
- Define the task you are replacing. Write the job you would hand to Cowork, then decide which documented behaviors must survive the switch: direct file access, scheduled tasks, sub-agent coordination, and a review step before irreversible actions. An alternative that matches only the chat surface does not replace the task.
- Check the license against your deployment. Read the LICENSE, not the README headline. If you plan to expose the capability to other teams as a service, Elastic License 2.0's hosted-service restriction is the clause that matters. If unrestricted redistribution is a hard requirement, prefer MIT or Apache-2.0.
- Check where the work runs and what it can reach. Ask what runs on your infrastructure and what still calls out. Kortix requires a sandbox provider and scopes air-gapped topologies separately, and its images come from Docker Hub. Request the dependency map for inference, execution sandboxes, connectors, and updates.
- Check the review gate before irreversible actions. Find the exact gate for the sensitive action — a repository merge, a tool call, or an outbound message. Kortix documents change requests and configurable action approval gates; the desktop projects reviewed here do not document a universal pre-action gate.
FAQ
Is Claude Cowork open source? No. Anthropic publishes it as a hosted product on paid plans, and its help center says Cowork runs on Anthropic's servers in the cloud (in beta). Neither the product page nor the help center documents a self-hosted deployment or a published source license.
Is Kortix OSI-approved open source? No. The repository README says "open source", but the LICENSE is Elastic License 2.0, which prohibits providing the software as a hosted or managed service and prohibits circumventing license-key functionality. That conflicts with the Open Source Definition, so Kortix is source-available and self-hostable, not OSI open source.
Can you self-host a Claude Cowork alternative? Yes. Self-hosting describes who operates the software, and several options here run on your own machine or infrastructure — Kortix's control plane via one Docker Compose stack, Eigent's standalone local deployment, Open Cowork and Open Claude Cowork as local desktop apps, and OpenClaw's local Gateway. Check each license and dependency first.
Does Kortix work with Claude models? Kortix's self-hosting page says every model call routes through a gateway on your own box and lists Anthropic alongside OpenAI, Google, Groq, xAI, DeepSeek, Mistral, Bedrock, and OpenRouter, or a ChatGPT or Copilot subscription you already hold. That is Kortix's own vendor documentation, not an independently verified integration test.
What is the difference between open source, source-available, and self-hosted? Open source describes license rights that meet the Open Source Definition. Source-available describes public code whose license imposes restrictions outside that definition, such as Elastic License 2.0 or OpenWork's EE License. Self-hosted describes who operates the software, regardless of license.
Do I need an enterprise key to self-host Kortix? Not for core self-hosting, but several governance features require one. Kortix's self-hosting page states that SAML SSO, SCIM directory sync, custom roles, groups, and audit read require an enterprise key, while the base stack, model gateway, and per-session sandboxes are part of the self-hosted deployment.
Next step
Pick a workload first, then verify the license rights, deployment dependencies, and review gates of the candidate you will actually run. For Kortix, start with the current LICENSE and the official self-hosting documentation before choosing. The canonical version of this comparison, with all source links, lives at the Kortix Blog.
Sources (reviewed 2026-09-18): Canonical article · Kortix repository · Kortix LICENSE (Elastic 2.0) · Kortix self-hosting · Elastic License 2.0 text · Open Source Definition · Claude Cowork product page · Claude Cowork help center · Eigent repository · Eigent LICENSE · OpenWork repository · OpenWork LICENSE · Open Cowork repository · Open Cowork LICENSE · Open Claude Cowork repository · Open Claude Cowork LICENSE · OpenClaw repository · OpenClaw LICENSE
Top comments (0)