Amp vs OpenHands (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Amp and OpenHands share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and Amp starts cheaper, at $20 a month against $500 a month.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Amp grades higher on ease of use. OpenHands grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Amp
Coding agent that runs in cloud machines it calls orbs
OpenHands
Open-source platform for AI coding agents and automations
Which one is for you
Pick Amp if
- Fits if you want a coding agent on your own machine with your own model key
- Works for a team that wants shared threads and billing
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Individual: orb minutes are capped at 45,000 a month
- Not for you if your Mac is older: the app needs Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later
- Watch out: the Gigawatt tier appears on the pricing page without a readable price
- Skip it if you need SCIM, audit logs or IP allowlisting without Enterprise, whose price is not published
Pick OpenHands if
- Fits if you can self-host and want coding agents on your own machine
- Makes sense if you already pay an LLM provider and want to use that key
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a hosted service, as the pricing page lists no vendor-hosted plan
- Tight if you grow, since Teams is capped at 10 users and 5,000 sessions a month
- Watch out: every plan needs your own LLM key and that cost is paid separately
- Watch out: SSO and roles are not in the free version
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAmpFair | 2.4GPAOpenHandsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CIndividual is $20 a month, just over the $19 where the cheaper quarter of AI agent tools ends; the free tier needs your own model keys. | BAgent Canvas is free (MIT) on your own machine, but the LLM bill is yours. Teams is $500 a month for 10 users, $50 a seat past that. |
| Free plan and trial | BHobby has no monthly fee: self-hosted orbs are free, but you bring your own model subscription or key, and Amp-hosted orbs are pay as you go. | BA free open-source program you can run on a laptop, with no caps, but with your own LLM key and one shared identity. |
| Features | CCloud and self-hosted orbs, your own models, automations and team workspaces, but SCIM, audit logs and IP allowlisting are Enterprise. | CBring-your-own-agent canvas, event-driven automations and team controls. The listing's gaps: no roles or SSO on the free version and no vendor-hosted plan. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It is a coding agent with orbs, models and automations to set up. | DNo store rating, and the route is to self-host it on a laptop or shared VM. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps, with four integrations named; no API is on record. | BWeb, with GitHub, Slack, Jira, Linear and Notion listed, plus an SDK. |
| Best for | a coding agent with cloud and self-hosted orbs | running coding agents on your own machine for free |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Amp and OpenHands. How we grade
Price against what you get
Amp starts at $20 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. OpenHands starts at $500 a month and scores 2.0.
Amp scores higher and starts $480 a month lower. Of the other AI agents on the chart, 13 score higher than Amp for less, and 57 score higher than OpenHands for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- OpenHands is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Amp | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $20 per month (Megawatt tier) | $500 per month for up to 10 users |
| Free plan | Hobby: no monthly fee, pay as you go for Amp-hosted orbs, unlimited self-hosted orbs, and your own model subscription or key. | Agent Canvas is free and open source (MIT) to self-host on a laptop or shared VM, with your own LLM key and a single shared identity. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Amp Frontier Corporation | OpenHands |
| Price read from | ampcode.com | openhands.dev |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Amp
- Orb minutes on the Individual tier are capped at 45,000 a month; when they run out you upgrade or buy more credits.
- The Gigawatt tier appears on the pricing page but its price is not shown in the page text, so it is not listed here.
- The Mac app requires Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later, per the download page.
- Enterprise pricing is not published, and SCIM, audit logs and IP allowlisting are Enterprise-only.
OpenHands
- You pay your LLM provider separately: every plan is bring-your-own-key.
- Teams is capped at 10 users (+$50 a month per seat) and 5,000 sessions a month.
- The free Agent Canvas has a single shared identity, with no user roles or SSO.
- Teams and Enterprise are self-hosted; the pricing page lists no vendor-hosted plan.
Key features
Amp
- Cloud orbs
- An orb is a cloud computer where an agent works remotely. Minutes are counted only while it runs and stop when it pauses while idle.
- Self-hosted orbs
- Orbs can run on your own infrastructure for free on Hobby, Individual and Teams, and they do not use orb minutes.
- Bring your own models
- You can use ChatGPT, Claude and other subscriptions or your own API keys with no Amp token fees; your provider's own limits and charges apply.
- Automations that wake threads
- In the vendor's demo video, a thread uses automations to wake itself on a schedule and check production logs.
- Team workspaces
- Workspaces share threads, portals, plugins and skills, with multiplayer, permissions and SAML/OIDC SSO.
- Apps on desktop and phone
- The download page lists apps for Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android for following agents away from your desk.
OpenHands
- Agent Canvas
- A workspace for chatting with coding agents, customizing them and setting automations, run locally with your own LLM key.
- Bring your own agent
- Use third-party agents such as Claude and Codex alongside OpenHands, with MCP servers and secrets on every plan.
- Event-driven automations
- Start work from GitHub, Slack, Jira, Linear, schedules or other integrations, such as PR review or CI-failure fixes.
- Team controls
- Teams adds user identity and RBAC, SSO/SAML, budgeting and usage controls, and built-in OAuth integrations.
- SDK and control plane
- The product menu lists an SDK and an Agent Control Plane for building and governing agents across an organization.
Plans
Amp
Hobby$0
No monthly fee; Amp-hosted orbs are pay-as-you-go, self-hosted orbs are free, with no Amp token fees on your own keys.
Individual (Megawatt)$20
per month
45,000 minutes of orb time on Amp-hosted orbs, plus Amp credits for inference. A Gigawatt tier also exists; its price was not readable.
Teams$0
no extra charge for a workspace
Shared threads, portals and billing with SSO; each member stays on Hobby or a paid tier, and SSO needs one paid member.
EnterpriseCustom
Pooled credits with no paid seats, SCIM, audit logs, IP allowlisting, spend limits and custom orb pricing.
OpenHands
Agent Canvas$0
Open source (MIT), self-hosted on your laptop or a shared VM; bring your own LLM key and agent.
Teams$500
per month for up to 10 users
Self-hosted, multi-user RBAC, SSO/SAML, budgeting, built-in integrations; +$50 a month per extra seat.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited seats and organizations, enterprise agreement, SLA-based support and a customer success manager.
Ways to pay less
Amp
- Education
Megawatt for $10 a month for students and teachers
Students and teachers can get the Megawatt tier at $10 per month through the Education Discount.
OpenHands
- Other savings
30-day trial of Teams
The Teams plan is listed with a 30-day trial that can be started from the pricing page.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Amp or OpenHands?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Amp is cheaper to start with: $20 a month, against $500 a month for OpenHands. Amp starts at $20 per month (Megawatt tier), and OpenHands starts at $500 per month for up to 10 users.
Which has a free plan, Amp or OpenHands?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Amp and OpenHands have a free plan.
Which platforms do Amp and OpenHands run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Amp lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.