Head to head · Multi-agent orchestration · October 2026 research run

OpenMausBot vs Sculptor

OpenMausBot scores 65.4 (B) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Sculptor leads on payments & pricing. Both do multi-agent orchestration.

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Which one, for what

OpenMausBot B

Best for A person or an outside agent who wants several CLI agents (Claude Code, Codex, Grok, ACP CLIs) organised as named bots with their own computers, routines and approvals, driven by MCP or a CLI.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 60 against 43
  • Schema & documentation, 90 against 45
  • Agent ergonomics, 77 against 50

Also in its favour

  • Runs on your own machine
  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

New bots start at Full access, which approves provider permission requests without a card

Sculptor D

Best for Developers who want parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces and are fine with a research preview.

Ahead on

  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 50

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it

Watch for

Labelled an experimental research preview that may change drastically

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Schema & documentation OpenMausBot +45

OpenMausBot 90

The MCP server's 20 tools each have a JSON Schema input with additionalProperties: false and required fields marked. No OpenAPI for the local HTTP API (25). Markdown docs in the repository, and the docs app's source serves llms.txt, llms-full.txt and Markdown routes. docs.openmausbot.com disallows every crawler, so the live llms.txt was not read (10). Descriptions state purpose and limits, such as that update_bot_profile cannot alter permissions, that send_bot_message may make the bot use external tools and that edit_bot_message is refused while a thread works, and the server instructions say to read before mutating. Few say when not to use a tool (15). Integer limits with minimum and maximum, an enum on scope, a pattern on send_id and oneOf shapes for responders (13). JSON configuration examples for each install path, the wait statuses and job states, CLI exit codes and a { ok, error, hint, exitCode } failure shape (12). MCP server version 1.1.0, release notes per version and a changelog page in the docs (15).

Sculptor 45

Harness reading. A README, specs and agent docs in the repository; no API reference (45).

Agent ergonomics OpenMausBot +27

OpenMausBot 77

20 tools, inside the 11 to 30 band, with annotations that separate reads from writes but no toolsets or read-only mode to load. Transcript reads are bounded and never return screenshot pixels (17). limit up to 200 messages, search capped at 100 hits, task_id and scope filters, and since_ms and after_version to keep watching a job (17). wait_for_conversation reports settled, needs-user, failed, stalled or timed-out with a redacted transcript tail, and the CLI's exit codes separate a pending approval from a timeout. We did not read every MCP error path (15). send_id makes a repeated send return the first receipt, wait is held by the server rather than polled, and every tool carries readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint and openWorldHint (20). Few required parameters and defaults for task, limit and timeout. The server answers only while the app or openmausbot serve runs, mutating tools need a paired token in packaged builds, and there is no client SDK beyond the CLI (8).

Sculptor 50

Harness reading. Workspaces as isolated copies, review and merge back, and built-in skills (50).

Reliability OpenMausBot +17

OpenMausBot 60

Read as local software. Official npm package openmausbot (Node.js 24 or newer) and signed, notarised macOS builds, a Windows installer and Ubuntu 24.04 packages, with supported platforms and a capability table in the README (20). 2,075 test files and a CI workflow on main. Of the last 23 finished CI runs on main on 30 October 2026, 10 passed, 3 failed and 10 were cancelled by newer pushes in a serialised queue (20). 365 open issues against about 3,940 issues and pull requests filed since 11 August, so most are closed, but the 25 newest open issues include several bug reports from 29 and 30 October with no reply yet (15). Release notes for every version in New, Easier and Fixed sections, but new capabilities ship in 0.1.x patch versions and no release marks breaking changes (5). Version 0.1.134, and the README calls the project early (0).

Sculptor 43

Local software. Desktop downloads for Mac (Apple Silicon), Linux and Linux ARM64 (20). checks.yml and a PR gate run on the repository; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). sculptor-v tags up to v0.49.0, no changelog file (8). 0.x and labelled a research preview (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 43.

Payments & pricing Sculptor +10

OpenMausBot 50

No payment protocol (0). MausBot Cloud, the hosted option, is priced by plan on a public page ($15, $49 and $99 a month, Team $169 and Business $599, or Business self-hosted $299 a month billed yearly, re-read on 2 November), with extra computer-hours at $0.05 each, so plan pricing (10). The app is free with no card or account (20). npx openmausbot installs and starts it with no signup (20).

Sculptor 60

Free self-hosted software with nothing to buy, so 0 for a protocol and 20 each for public pricing, a free tier and onboarding with no sign-up, 60.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runOpenMausBotSculptorEdge
Reliability16%206043OpenMausBot +17
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.29045OpenMausBot +45
Agent ergonomics13%16.27750OpenMausBot +27
Security & auth14%17.55957OpenMausBot +2
Payments & pricing10%12.55060Sculptor +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87475Sculptor +1
Transparency & trust7%8.85957OpenMausBot +2
Negative events≤15-20
TotalB 65.4/100D 53.1/100

Facts side by side

FactOpenMausBotSculptor
KindAgent harnessAgent harness
VendorSupamaus Software Private LimitedImbue, Inc.
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transportsstdio
AuthOAuth or keyNone
PricingFreemiumFree
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0MIT
Tools exposed20none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnono
Last release2026-11-012026-11-06
Terms last updated2026-10-10no document linked
Privacy policy last updated2026-10-18no document linked
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot read yet
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot read yet
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot read yet
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textnot read yet
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot read yet
Popularity8.2k stars, 3.5k npm/wknone

Verdicts

OpenMausBot

A bounded 20-tool MCP server with typed schemas, annotations and idempotent sends, and a headless CLI with JSON output and exit codes, let another agent hand work to a bot team and wait on it. New bots start at Full access, so provider permission requests pass without a card, and usage analytics stay on until switched off.

Sculptor

Imbue's open-source app for parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces, with telemetry off until you choose otherwise. It's an experimental research preview that warns of bugs and drastic changes, Mac and Linux only, with no changelog.

Before you call either

OpenMausBot

  1. Ask the owner for a pairing code from Settings > Phone, exchange it at POST /api/auth/pair, and set OPENMAUSBOT_TOKEN with an explicit OMB_PORT
  2. Pass a send_id with every send_bot_message and send_channel_message, so a retry returns the first receipt
  3. Use wait_for_conversation instead of polling, and on needs-user stop and tell the owner a card is waiting
  4. Check a bot's access level with the owner before sending work. New bots run at Full access unless defaults were changed
  5. Ask the owner to switch off Settings > General > Usage analytics if nothing beyond model calls should leave the machine

Sculptor

  1. Download from the README's links, connect a repository and create a workspace before prompting
  2. Review the diff before merging a workspace back to main

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, OpenMausBot or Sculptor?

OpenMausBot scores 65.4 (B) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Sculptor leads on payments & pricing.

Are OpenMausBot and Sculptor open source?

Yes. OpenMausBot is open source (Apache-2.0). Sculptor is open source (MIT).

Other comparisons with OpenMausBot or Sculptor

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