COMPARISON
Hyperlane vs OpenHands
Hyperlane is for teams that want the delegated task-to-pull-request loop as a managed service, with sandboxes, traces and billing already running. OpenHands is for teams that want to host the agent runtime themselves, MIT-licensed and model-agnostic, and accept operating the infrastructure and upgrades.
OpenHands is an open-source agent framework you host yourself. Hyperlane is the same autonomous pattern delivered as a managed service.
Hyperlane vs OpenHands, side by side
| Hyperlane | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Managed service | Open-source framework you host |
| Ops burden | None - auth, sandboxes, traces included | You own infra, models, secrets |
| Interfaces | Web, API, SDK, CLI, MCP | Self-hosted web UI |
| Cost shape | Dollar credits (1:1) | Model and compute spend |
| Licensing | Proprietary hosted service | MIT open source |
| Model choice | Multi-provider routing; your pick is the quality floor | Model-agnostic; you supply the keys |
Framework vs service
OpenHands gives you the agent runtime to run on your own infrastructure - maximum control, maximum responsibility for provisioning, scaling, secrets, and upkeep. Hyperlane delivers the agent as a hosted service: auth, sandboxes, traces, billing, and orchestration are already running. OpenHands wins on control: MIT-licensed, self-hostable, model-agnostic, and yours to fork.
Time to first PR
With OpenHands you deploy, configure models, provision sandboxes, and wire credentials before the first task runs. With Hyperlane you sign in and send a task - the same delegation pattern, minus the operations budget.
Observability built in
Hyperlane ships a durable event journal, live traces, run replay, and usage metering out of the box. On a self-hosted framework those surfaces are your responsibility to stand up.
What Hyperlane ships
- Autonomous agent loop that plans, edits, runs, and verifies work end-to-end
- Every run executes inside an isolated, resource-capped sandbox
- Live execution traces - diffs, terminal output, and reasoning as it happens
- GitHub-native workflow: pushes branches and opens pull requests itself
- Web app, REST API, TypeScript SDK, CLI, and MCP server interfaces
- Dollar-for-dollar credits - pay $20, get $20 of agent work
Frequently asked
When should I pick OpenHands over Hyperlane?
If you need full control of the agent runtime - custom forks, on-prem isolation, or research into the agent loop itself - OpenHands is the right substrate. If you want delegation without an ops team, Hyperlane.
Is Hyperlane open source?
No. Hyperlane is a proprietary hosted platform. OpenHands is MIT-licensed, so you can read, fork, and run the whole agent runtime yourself. If licence terms or the ability to fork the loop are hard requirements, OpenHands is the closer fit; Hyperlane competes on running the service for you.
Can Hyperlane be self-hosted?
Yes, for enterprise deployments. Hyperlane offers VPC, on-premises, and air-gapped installations alongside SSO and SAML, so the platform can run inside your network. OpenHands is self-hosted by default and free as software, but you own provisioning, upgrades, secrets, and observability for the runtime.
What does running OpenHands actually cost?
The software is free under MIT, so your bill is model calls plus the compute and storage you provision for the agent runtime. Hyperlane prices runs as credits that map one-to-one to dollars, with a Free plan that includes 10 minutes of agent computer time each month. Compare total cost, not licence cost.
Last verified 11 Nov 2026.
Sources: OpenHands repository Hyperlane pricing
Keep exploring
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