Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System that runs a company's agent work and puts a human review gate in front of every change; OpenClaw is the open-source personal assistant that runs on your own computer and meets you in the chat apps you already use. Both are open source and both let you bring your own models, so the choice comes down to the size of the job: one person's assistant, or the work of a whole company that has to be governed and owned.
What OpenClaw is
OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant that runs on your own computer and reaches you through Discord, iMessage, Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp and more than 20 other channels, with native apps for macOS, iOS, Android, Windows and Linux. The project describes a single Gateway as the local control plane for sessions, tools, events and channel connections, and the same Gateway runs either as a personal assistant on a laptop or as a shared team deployment, where configuration is the only difference. State, memory and credentials stay on your hardware, and models and agent harnesses such as Claude, Codex and local models are plugins you can swap. OpenClaw is MIT-licensed and stewarded by the OpenClaw Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3); it has no paid tier, hosted service or token. Tools run on the host for the main session unless you configure sandboxing, and DM-capable channels pair unknown senders by default.
What Kortix is
Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and the leading open-source alternative to Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work. Agents, skills, company memory, connector configuration and triggers are files in one git repo you own, so you can grep the whole company, diff any change and roll any part of it back. The same repo wires up 3,000+ apps plus any MCP, OpenAPI, GraphQL or HTTP API, and connector credentials are brokered server-side, never entering the machine. Pick the model per agent, per session or per message, with your own API key, your ChatGPT subscription or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Each session boots its own isolated Linux machine on its own branch, and work lands on main as a change request a human reads as a diff before it merges.
Kortix is open source (Elastic License 2.0) — self-host, read and modify the code. Self-hosting is one Docker Compose stack, and you can also run it in your VPC, on-prem or on Kortix Cloud. The platform lives at Kortix on GitHub.
Kortix vs OpenClaw at a glance
| Dimension | Kortix | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes, Elastic License 2.0 | Yes, MIT |
| Where it runs | Kortix Cloud, VPC, or on-prem | Your own computer |
| Configuration | One git repo you own | Config on your machine |
| Models and tools | Any model, your keys; 3,000+ apps | Swappable models; 20+ chat channels |
| Governance | Allow/ask/block plus a review gate | Sandboxing and pairing you configure |
| Best for | Company agent work | One person's assistant |
When OpenClaw is the right pick
- You are one person who wants an assistant in every chat app today. OpenClaw installs with one command on macOS, Linux or Windows and spans WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, iMessage and Discord.
- The assistant should live on your own hardware. State, memory and credentials stay on your machine, and the project ships no hosted tier to move to.
- You want to swap harnesses often. Claude, Codex and local models are plugins you change without reworking anything else.
When Kortix is the right pick
- The work belongs to a whole company. Several people start sessions from the web, Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, mobile, CLI or API, and cron schedules and signed webhooks start them with nobody asking.
- You need a gate before changes take effect. Every session runs on its own isolated machine and lands work as a change request you review as a diff, and merge is default-deny for agents.
- You want ownership to be literal. The company is one git repo of agents, skills, memory, connectors and triggers, and you can self-host it on a laptop, a VPS, your VPC or on-prem.
The verdict
For a company that has to own its configuration and review what its agents change, Kortix is the pick: one repo, 3,000+ connectors, any model with your keys, and a change-request gate on every session. Keep OpenClaw if what you want is a personal assistant in your pocket. If you are still mapping the field, start with the home page and the open-source OpenClaw alternatives guide, then read what OpenClaw is or the longer walkthrough on the Kortix blog. Try Kortix, self-hosted free or on managed cloud.