Factory vs OpenHands
Compare Factory and OpenHands by workflow, pricing, privacy, model support, and best use cases.
Factory
Factory is a strong choice for teams that want AI agents embedded across their actual engineering workflow rather than confined to one editor. It is less suitable for users who want a free open-source local agent, simple autocomplete, or a visual app builder.
OpenHands
OpenHands is a strong choice for developers and teams that want a transparent, configurable autonomous coding agent with local, cloud, and self-hosted deployment paths. It is less suitable for users who only need lightweight autocomplete or do not want agents executing code and commands in a sandbox.
Key Differences
Workflow
Factory is an agent-native software development platform for delegating coding, review, automation, and engineering workflow tasks to AI Droids across local, cloud, IDE, terminal, and team surfaces.
OpenHands is an open-source autonomous coding-agent platform for developers and teams that want model-agnostic agents capable of executing real software engineering tasks across local, cloud, and self-hosted environments.
compare.fields.editorBase
CLI
Standalone
Pricing
paid
freemium
compare.fields.localModels
No
Yes
compare.fields.openSource
No
Yes
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Factory | OpenHands |
|---|---|---|
| Primary workflow | Factory is an agent-native software development platform for delegating coding, review, automation, and engineering workflow tasks to AI Droids across local, cloud, IDE, terminal, and team surfaces. | OpenHands is an open-source autonomous coding-agent platform for developers and teams that want model-agnostic agents capable of executing real software engineering tasks across local, cloud, and self-hosted environments. |
| Type | code-assistant | code-assistant |
| Editor base | CLI | Standalone |
| Pricing model | paid | freemium |
| Starting price | $20 | $0 |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Local models | No | Yes |
| BYOK | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | macOS, Linux, Windows, CLI, Factory App, VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Zed, Vim, GitHub, GitHub Actions, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Linear, Notion, MCP, CI/CD | Browser, CLI, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Slack, Jira, Linear, Kubernetes, Private cloud, Self-hosted infrastructure |
| Models | Claude Opus, Claude Sonnet, Claude Haiku, GPT-5.5, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.3 Codex, GPT-5.2, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3 Flash, GLM, Nemotron, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiniMax, Droid Core, Custom models | OpenHands, Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral AI, Gemini, Google Vertex AI, AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, LiteLLM, Ollama, LM Studio |
| Enterprise features | Teams plan for up to 150 seats, Custom usage limits, Dedicated onboarding and support, SSO, SAML and SCIM provisioning, Zero Data Retention, Model selection controls, Autonomy-level controls, Model access controls, Organization-level deny lists, Droid Exec for headless automation, OTEL-native telemetry, Optional Factory cloud analytics, MCP integrations, Custom Droids and subagents, Plugins and hooks | Self-hosted deployment, Private VPC deployment, Kubernetes deployment, Enterprise SAML/SSO, Multi-user RBAC, Organization support, Centralized team billing, Cloud APIs, Jira integration, Slack integration, Large Codebase SDK, Unlimited concurrent conversations per user, Priority support, Ticket-based support, Named customer engineer, Shared Slack channel |
| Best for | Engineering teams that want to delegate implementation, review, testing, and automation tasks to agents, Developers who prefer terminal-first agent workflows without switching IDEs, Teams using Jira, Linear, Slack, GitHub, and CI/CD as the center of engineering work, Organizations that need model controls, autonomy controls, usage analytics, and governance, Large codebases where agentic search, repository memory, and coordinated multi-file changes matter | Developers who want an open-source autonomous coding agent they can run locally, Teams assigning GitHub issues, bugs, refactors, tests, and documentation tasks to agents, Organizations that need model flexibility through BYOK, LiteLLM, or local models, Platform teams building internal coding-agent workflows with SDKs and APIs, Enterprises that need self-hosted or private-cloud coding agents with governance and auditability |
| Not best for | Developers who only want lightweight inline autocomplete, Users looking for a free or open-source local coding agent, Teams without tests, repository conventions, or review processes for agent-generated changes, Builders who want a visual app builder or prompt-to-app tool, Organizations that cannot allow AI agents to execute tools, inspect repositories, or propose code changes | Developers who only want inline autocomplete inside an existing IDE, Teams that are not ready to review agent-generated code and pull requests carefully, Users who want a zero-configuration cloud IDE or visual app builder, Organizations that cannot allow agents to execute commands in sandboxed environments, Very small tasks where a lightweight chat assistant or IDE extension is faster |
Use Case Winners
Factory is built around a CLI editor workflow.
OpenHands supports local model workflows.
OpenHands lists more team or enterprise controls.
Both Factory and OpenHands have comparable signals here.
Factory supports more model/provider options or BYOK-style workflows.
OpenHands is marked as open source.
Pricing Comparison
Factory
- Pro$20 / month
Individual plan with Factory App, Droid CLI, Droid SDK, cloud and local background agents, usage tracking, and agent-readiness dashboard.
- Plus$100 / month
Adds expanded rolling rate limits, about 5x Pro usage, and Droid Computers for Factory-managed remote cloud environments.
- Max$200 / month
Adds about 10x Pro usage and early access to new features.
- TeamsCustom
For growing teams with up to 150 seats, custom usage limits, SSO, SAML/SCIM, ZDR, onboarding, support, and admin controls.
- EnterpriseCustom
For larger organizations needing advanced governance, deployment, compliance, observability, and security requirements.
OpenHands
- Open Source$0 / month
MIT-licensed local OpenHands with web GUI, terminal UI, CLI, Git integrations, and model-agnostic LLM configuration.
- Individual$0 / month
Hosted OpenHands Cloud for one user with BYOK or OpenHands LLM provider access at cost; includes hosted access, API support, Jira, and Slack integrations.
- OpenHands LLM ProviderUsage-based
Optional pay-as-you-go LLM access at cost when not using your own model key.
- EnterpriseCustom
SaaS or self-hosted deployment with unlimited users, SAML/SSO, RBAC, large codebase SDK, priority support, and private VPC options.
Privacy & Security
Factory
Factory can operate across local, cloud, IDE, terminal, and enterprise workflows, and its model routing may involve third-party LLM providers unless configured otherwise. Team and enterprise plans advertise governance options such as SSO, SAML/SCIM, Zero Data Retention, model controls, org-level deny lists, and OTEL-based usage analytics. Teams should review Factory’s current security, deployment, telemetry, provider-retention, and BYOK settings before using it with sensitive code or regulated data.
OpenHands
OpenHands can run locally with a user-provided LLM key, through OpenHands Cloud, or as an enterprise self-hosted deployment. Local and enterprise deployments give teams more control over code, conversations, runtime, and model routing, while cloud usage depends on OpenHands Cloud configuration and connected providers. Teams should review model-provider policies, repository permissions, secrets, sandbox settings, logs, and audit requirements before using it with sensitive code.
Choose Factory if...
- Engineering teams that want to delegate implementation, review, testing, and automation tasks to agents
- Developers who prefer terminal-first agent workflows without switching IDEs
- Teams using Jira, Linear, Slack, GitHub, and CI/CD as the center of engineering work
- Organizations that need model controls, autonomy controls, usage analytics, and governance
- Large codebases where agentic search, repository memory, and coordinated multi-file changes matter
Choose OpenHands if...
- Developers who want an open-source autonomous coding agent they can run locally
- Teams assigning GitHub issues, bugs, refactors, tests, and documentation tasks to agents
- Organizations that need model flexibility through BYOK, LiteLLM, or local models
- Platform teams building internal coding-agent workflows with SDKs and APIs
- Enterprises that need self-hosted or private-cloud coding agents with governance and auditability
Avoid Factory if...
- Developers who only want lightweight inline autocomplete
- Users looking for a free or open-source local coding agent
- Teams without tests, repository conventions, or review processes for agent-generated changes
- Builders who want a visual app builder or prompt-to-app tool
- Organizations that cannot allow AI agents to execute tools, inspect repositories, or propose code changes
Avoid OpenHands if...
- Developers who only want inline autocomplete inside an existing IDE
- Teams that are not ready to review agent-generated code and pull requests carefully
- Users who want a zero-configuration cloud IDE or visual app builder
- Organizations that cannot allow agents to execute commands in sandboxed environments
- Very small tasks where a lightweight chat assistant or IDE extension is faster