# Kortix vs OpenManus: an open source system a team owns, or a framework you run yourself

> OpenManus is an open source Python framework you install and run yourself. Kortix is the open source system a team runs from one git repo it owns. Here is what each one leaves you with after setup.

URL: https://openmanusalternative.com/kortix-vs-openmanus

## Kortix vs OpenManus, side by side

What each project gives you once setup is finished.

| | Kortix (recommended) | OpenManus |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes. Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it. | Yes. Public code you can fork and modify. |
| What it is | The AI Operating System: agents, skills, memory, and connectors in one repo. | A Python framework for building general AI agents. |
| How you run it | Managed cloud, your VPC, or on-prem. Self-host is free. | Clone the repo, install Python dependencies, run python main.py. |
| What you own | The repo, the sandboxes, and every change a person approved. | The framework code. You build everything around it. |
| How work is reviewed | Every session opens a change request; a person approves the merge. | No review gate ships with it. Runs end in your terminal. |
| Model choice | Any model provider with your own keys. | Any LLM API you set in config.toml. |

Both columns reflect what each project documents on its own repository and docs (checked October 2026).

## What OpenManus is, and what you own after setup

OpenManus is an open-source Python framework for building general AI agents. You clone the [repository](https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus), install its Python dependencies, point `config.toml` at an LLM API, and run `python main.py` from a terminal. The project has stayed a community framework since its first prototype, and its repository has passed 58,000 GitHub stars (checked October 2026).

After setup you own the framework code and every decision about how a team uses it. There is no hosted product, no shared memory, and no review step shipped with it. That is the shape of a framework: it gives you the agent loop, and you supply the rest.

## Why the framework-to-system question comes up

A framework answers one question: how do I build an agent. A team soon asks a different one: where does the work run, what do we own, and who approves what changed.

A framework leaves those answers to you. You choose where it runs, you write the memory layer, you build the path from a finished run to something a person signs off, and you keep the model keys in a file someone manages. None of that is a flaw. It is the boundary of the tool. The cost shows up the first time two people need the same agent to remember the same fact, or the first time an agent changes something a person should approve.

## What Kortix is, in one repo you own

Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector live in one git repo you own, with the agents working on real cloud computers. Every session runs on its own isolated sandbox and its own branch, and the agent opens a change request a person reviews before the work reaches `main`. Connectors reach 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL and raw HTTP. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and self-host is free. The code lives at [Kortix on GitHub](https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna).

## How to decide

Reach for OpenManus when the job is to build agent behavior in Python and you want to own the scaffolding around it. Reach for Kortix when a team needs one place to run agents, one repo that holds what the team knows, and a review gate on what an agent changes.

That is the split to weigh. OpenManus is the framework. Kortix is the system a team runs and owns, and it is the one we recommend. If you want the wider field, read the [OpenManus alternatives](/openmanus-alternatives) page. If you would rather keep OpenManus and harden it, the [self-hosting guide](/self-hosting-openmanus-alternatives) is the next stop.

## The setup, side by side

One config file that is the system, one clone-and-run for a framework.

### Kortix

`kortix.yaml`

```yaml
# kortix.yaml
agents:
  support-triage:
    file: agents/support-triage.md
    connectors: all
```

Source: https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna

### OpenManus

`terminal`

```sh
git clone https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus.git
cd OpenManus
uv venv --python 3.12
source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py
```

Source: https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus

## Questions before you pick

The short answers, from each project's own documentation.

### Is Kortix free to self-host?

Yes. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. Self-host is free.

### Which models can Kortix use?

Any model provider with your own keys. Or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for.

### How does an agent's change reach production?

Session work reaches main through a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents, so a person reviews the diff.

### Can several people share one agent and its memory?

In Kortix, yes. Agents, skills, and company memory are files in one git repo the whole team shares, and each session works on its own branch. OpenManus is a framework, so a shared memory layer is yours to build.

## Run your whole company from one repo you own.

The open-source AI Operating System for agents that do finished work.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [See all OpenManus alternatives](https://openmanusalternative.com/openmanus-alternatives)

Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem