Gray vs OpenHands: which should you use?

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Short answer

Choose OpenHands if you want a self-hosted platform that runs autonomous development tasks in Docker-sandboxed runtimes with a web UI. Choose Gray if you want one MIT binary on your machine for terminal work plus always-on jobs.

GrayOpenHands
What it isMinimal, always-on AI harness: one Rust binary, open source (MIT)Open-source (MIT) software-development agent platform by All-Hands AI
Runs inYour machine; optionally a container you point it atA Docker-sandboxed runtime per task, with a web UI, CLI and SDK
ScopeGeneral-purpose agent: shell work, code, scheduled jobs, app connectionsAutonomous engineering tasks: issue to PR, code repair, repo workflows
ModelsAny OpenAI-compatible provider with your own API key; local models through Ollama; Claude Pro/Max and ChatGPT plans through official pluginsProvider-agnostic through LiteLLM, including local models
Security modelRuns the model's shell commands with your user's privileges; no sandbox or approval prompt by default. The official permissions plugin adds approvalsTasks run inside a Docker runtime sandbox by design
PriceFree (MIT); you pay your model provider. Hosted Voyager plan $77/month, not yet openFree (MIT) self-hosted; paid hosted cloud option

Is OpenHands heavier than Gray?

Yes — OpenHands is a platform: agent server, Docker runtimes and a web UI. Gray is a single static binary with a terminal interface and a gateway daemon. Different tools for different jobs.

Which is better for running unsupervised tasks?

OpenHands is built for handing off issue-to-PR tasks into sandboxes. Gray's model is lighter: cron jobs and the gateway run it on your machine — safe for routine work, but isolate it for untrusted repos since Gray has no sandbox by default; see Safety.

When should you choose OpenHands instead?

Choose OpenHands when you want a whole platform for parallel autonomous dev tasks with per-task Docker isolation and a web dashboard.

Sources

Competitor details are taken from the sources above as of the date at the top of this page. Products change quickly — if something here is out of date, open an issue on GitHub.