The open source OpenManus alternative a team can own
If OpenManus got you a running agent and you now need a team to own it, Kortix is open source and puts the whole system in one git repo you own. Work lands through a change request a person approves.
Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem
The open-source AI Operating System
# kortix.yamltriggers: - slug: daily-digest type: cron cron: '0 0 9 * * 1-5' prompt: Summarize yesterday's support tickets and open a change request with the digest.Connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine.
Kortix, OpenManus, Manus and OpenHands: what you own after setup
Each rival is one kind of tool; the Kortix column is the platform that holds the whole system a team owns.
| Criteria | Our pickKortix | OpenManus | Manus | OpenHands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes | Yes, the code is yours to run and modify | No, a hosted product | Yes, the code is yours to run and modify |
| What it is | One git repo holding agents, skills, memory and connectors | A Python framework for building general AI agents | A hosted general-purpose AI agent you drive from a browser | A self-hosted control center for coding agents and automations |
| How you run it | Kortix Cloud, your VPC, or your on-prem network | You clone it, install the dependencies, and run it yourself | In Manus's cloud only. No self-host path | Locally, in Docker, on a VM, or in your cloud |
| Model choice | Any model provider with your own keys | You set the model and API key in config.toml | Manus chooses the model | Bring your own model, any LLM |
| How work is reviewed | Work reaches main through a change request a person approves | No review gate; the run returns output to you | Output stays in the app | Pull requests on code |
The layers Kortix puts in the repo
Each layer is a file or a command in the repo your team owns.
- One repo
Your whole system is a git repo you own
Your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector live in one git repo you own.
kortix.yaml # kortix.yamlagents: support-triage: file: agents/support-triage.md connectors: allSource: https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna - Sessions
A sandbox and a branch per session
One isolated sandbox per session, each with its own isolated machine and branch.
terminal $ kortix sessions new --prompt "Summarize this week's commits and open a change request"$ kortix cr lsSource: https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna - Review
Work lands through a change request
Session work reaches
mainthrough a change request.terminal $ kortix cr ls# review what the agents proposeSource: https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna
GitHub stars
Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it.
Questions a team asks before it switches
Short answers about OpenManus and what Kortix adds.
Yes. Its own project site calls it an open-source framework for building general AI agents, and you run it yourself. The recurring cost is the model API you point it at in config.toml.
OpenManus is a framework you assemble and run yourself. The platform around the work is yours to build: one repo that holds agents, skills, company memory and connector rules, a review gate before a change counts, and a hosted or self-hosted path. Kortix is that platform.
Yes. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. Self-host is free.
No. Session work reaches main through a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents. Approval gates you set. Off until you set them.
Any model provider with your own keys. Or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for. Or sign in with your OpenCode Console account for OpenCode Zen and Go.
OpenHands is a control center for coding agents. Kortix runs work from every team, not only code, from one repo that holds the agents, skills, memory and connectors.
Move from a framework to a system your team owns
Start with one job and grow from there.