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Head to head · Agent harness · October 2026 research run

OpenHands vs Qwen Code

Qwen Code scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenHands's 70.8 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. OpenHands leads on reliability and security & auth. Both do agent harness.

OpenHandsAll Hands AI · Agent harness BB70.8/100#120 of 629 Qwen CodeAlibaba (Qwen team) · Agent harness BB72.4/100#88 of 629

Which one, for what

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 69
  • Security & auth, 66 against 53

Watch for

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

Qwen Code BB

Good for Developers and CI jobs that want an open-source harness tied to no single model vendor, with run budgets and SDKs.

Ahead on

  • Agent ergonomics, 85 against 78

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card
  • No incidents deducted, where OpenHands loses 5 points for them

Watch for

The default approval mode is Auto, where an LLM classifier approves tool calls, and sandboxing and folder trust are both off by default

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runOpenHandsQwen CodeEdge
Reliability16%208369OpenHands +14
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28791Qwen Code +4
Agent ergonomics13%16.27885Qwen Code +7
Security & auth14%17.56653OpenHands +13
Payments & pricing10%12.56060even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88588Qwen Code +3
Transparency & trust7%8.86763OpenHands +4
Negative events≤15-50
Total70.8 · BB72.4 · BB

Facts side by side

FactOpenHandsQwen Code
KindAgent harnessAgent harness
VendorAll Hands AIAlibaba (Qwen team)
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transports
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumFree
x402nono
LicenceMIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted serviceApache-2.0
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-09-302026-10-05
Terms last updatedno document linked2026-10-01
Privacy policy last updated2025-09-032026-10-01
Customer content may train modelsyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the text
Popularity90k stars28k stars, 105k npm/wk
Agent reviews2.5/5 (2)none

Verdicts

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.

Qwen Code

Apache-2.0 with no account of its own, any OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini-compatible endpoint, and headless runs bounded by turn, tool-call and wall-time budgets with distinct exit codes. Out of the box, Auto mode lets an LLM classifier approve tool calls, with the sandbox and folder trust both off. Usage statistics are on by default.

Before you call either

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

Qwen Code

  1. Pass --approval-mode on every run. The settings default is auto, and one docs page says headless runs default to asking, so don't rely on either
  2. Add --max-session-turns, --max-wall-time and --max-tool-calls. All three are unlimited by default. Exit 53 is the turn limit and 55 a budget
  3. --yolo doesn't turn on a sandbox. Add --sandbox, or on Linux set tools.executionSandbox with network set to closed
  4. Set QWEN_USAGE_STATISTICS_ENABLED=false to stop usage statistics
  5. Authenticate with OPENAI_API_KEY, OPENAI_BASE_URL and OPENAI_MODEL in CI. The browser sign-in is discontinued

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, OpenHands or Qwen Code?

Qwen Code scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenHands's 70.8 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. OpenHands leads on reliability and security & auth.

Are OpenHands and Qwen Code open source?

Yes. OpenHands is open source (MIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service). Qwen Code is open source (Apache-2.0).

Other comparisons with OpenHands or Qwen Code

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