dify vs OpenHands

Common questions

What is the difference between dify and OpenHands?

dify: Build Agentic workflows and RAG pipelines with rich AI model and tool support on one collaborative workspace.. OpenHands: AI-Driven Development. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories.

When should I choose dify over OpenHands?

Choose dify over OpenHands when License: dify is Other, OpenHands is MIT; OpenHands provides a self-hosted control center for coding agents, making it an alternative to Dify in terms of agentic development and automation; Tags unique to dify: agentic-ai, agentic-framework, agentic-workflow, ai; Also covers Data & Retrieval; When you need a collaborative workspace that supports rich AI model and tool integration for agentic workflows and RAG pipelines.

When should I choose OpenHands over dify?

Choose OpenHands over dify when License: OpenHands is MIT, dify is Other; Pricing: OpenHands is available under the MIT license, which means it is free to use, but users might encounter additional costs if they integrate with paid AI models.; Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Docker is required to run OpenHands, and users need to set up a host directory for PROJECTS_PATH containing the project folders they want the agent to access.; OpenHands provides a self-hosted control center for coding agents, making it an alternative to Dify in terms of agentic development and automation; Tags unique to OpenHands: artificial-intelligence, chatgpt, claude-ai, cli; Use OpenHands when you need to interact with your projects using AI agents and require support for integrating with multiple AI models.

When should I avoid dify?

If your project does not require agentic workflows or RAG pipelines, and you are looking for a more general-purpose AI development tool. When you need a platform that does not require Docker and Docker Compose for setup, as Dify's quick start guide assumes these prerequisites. If your team prefers a platform with a different licensing model, as Dify uses a modified Apache 2.0 license with additional conditions.

When should I avoid OpenHands?

Avoid using OpenHands if you are looking for a tool that only supports a specific AI model, as it integrates with various models which might complicate your workflow. Do not use OpenHands if you do not require a CLI for project management and prefer a graphical user interface.

Is dify or OpenHands more popular on GitHub?

dify has more GitHub stars (156,243 vs 88,376). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.

Are dify and OpenHands open source?

Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (dify: Other, OpenHands: MIT).

Where can I find alternatives to dify or OpenHands?

GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at dify alternatives and OpenHands alternatives (dify markdown twin, OpenHands markdown twin), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes.

Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison?

Yes. The markdown twin at this comparison mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.

Which is better maintained, dify or OpenHands?

dify: Very active. OpenHands: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance.

Where are the full trust reports for dify and OpenHands?

GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: dify trust report; OpenHands trust report.