# Pi vs OpenHands

> OpenHands scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Pi's 68.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-openhands
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-openhands.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-openhands.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-openhands.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

OpenHands scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Pi's 68.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harness.

- Pi: grade B, 68.4/100, rank #170 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/earendil-pi.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/earendil-pi.json
- OpenHands: grade BB, 70.8/100, rank #120 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openhands.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openhands.json

## Which one, for what

### Pi (B)

Good for: Developers and pipelines that want a small, scriptable coding agent they can extend in TypeScript and drive over JSONL or RPC, inside their own container.

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: No permission system or sandbox. Tool calls run with the user's rights and without an approval prompt

### OpenHands (BB)

Good for: Teams that want to self-host a coding agent with a web UI, per-conversation Docker sandboxes and scheduled or webhook automations, or embed the agent through a Python SDK and REST API.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 83 against 75
- Security & auth, 66 against 61

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Confirmation mode is off by default in Agent Canvas, and the npm install gives the agent the host's whole filesystem


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Pi | OpenHands | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 83 | OpenHands +8 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 87 | OpenHands +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 78 | OpenHands +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 61 | 66 | OpenHands +5 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 85 | Pi +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 67 | OpenHands +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **68.4 · B** | **70.8 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Pi | OpenHands |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Earendil | All Hands AI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-09-30 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2025-09-03 |
| Customer content may train models |  | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 113k stars, 5.2M npm/wk | 90k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Pi.** Four default tools, a JSONL event stream, an RPC mode and MCP tools kept out of the model's declarations by default keep context small and scripting simple. Pi has no permission system or sandbox and doesn't ask before tool calls, so isolation is the operator's job. Version 1.0.0 is dated 1 October 2026.

**OpenHands.** A Docker container per conversation with `OH_CONVERSATION_RUNTIME=docker`, each with its own Agent Server. Confirmation mode is off by default in Agent Canvas, and the npm install gives the agent the host's whole filesystem.

## Before you call either

### Pi

1. Run Pi inside a container or VM for unattended work. It has no sandbox and doesn't ask before running shell commands
2. Use `pi --mode json` and wait for `agent_settled`. A failed response doesn't set a nonzero exit code in JSON mode
3. Split the JSONL stream on LF only. Node's `readline` also splits on U+2028 and U+2029, which are valid inside JSON strings
4. Pass `--no-approve` or `--approve` in scripts to make the project trust decision explicit
5. Set `PI_TELEMETRY=0` and `PI_SKIP_VERSION_CHECK=1`, or `PI_OFFLINE=1`, to stop the default requests to pi.dev

### OpenHands

1. Set `AGENT_CANVAS_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1` and `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before the first start
2. Start Canvas with `OH_CONVERSATION_RUNTIME=docker` or use the Docker image. The npm install runs the agent on the host
3. Turn on confirmation mode with a risk threshold. Canvas starts with it off
4. Use the SDK or the Agent Server API for headless runs. The `openhands --headless` CLI is no longer maintained
5. Set `filter_tools_regex` on the agent to keep unneeded MCP tool definitions out of the context

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Pi or OpenHands?

OpenHands scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Pi's 68.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Pi and OpenHands open source?

Yes. Pi is open source (MIT). OpenHands is open source (MIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-openhands.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-openhands.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "earendil-pi", "b": "openhands"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare earendil-pi openhands`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/earendil-pi.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openhands.json

## Other comparisons with Pi or OpenHands

- [Aider vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Aider vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-openhands.md)
- [Amp vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Amp vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-openhands.md)
- [Claude Code vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Claude Code vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-openhands.md)
- [Cline vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Cline vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openhands.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [Devin vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Devin vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-openhands.md)
- [Pi vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-gemini-cli.md)
- [Pi vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)
- [Pi vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-goose.md)
- [Pi vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Pi vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-openai-codex.md)
- [Pi vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-opencode.md)
- [Pi vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [Pi vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [goose vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-openhands.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [OpenAI Codex vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-openhands.md)
- [OpenCode vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-openhands.md)
- [OpenHands vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [OpenHands vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [OpenHands vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-paperclip.md)