Compare / Amp vs OpenHands
Head-to-head
Amp vs OpenHands.
Side-by-side on ratings, pricing, pros, cons, and the honest take on which to pick. Both are in our coding agent category — direct competitors.
| Amp | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.0 / 5 | 4.0 / 5 |
| Category | Coding Agent | Coding Agent |
| Tech level | developer | developer |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Pricing | Free tier with usage limits. Paid tiers via Sourcegraph subscription. Bundled with Sourcegraph Code Search for teams already on the platform. | Open-source and self-hostable (free). Cloud version available with a free tier. Paid cloud plans for teams and enterprises. |
| Best for | Engineering teams already paying for Sourcegraph Code Search who want to add an AI agent that reuses the existing codebase index. Free tier is generous enough for individual evaluation. | Platform and DevOps teams automating engineering workflows at scale: fixing CVEs, reviewing PRs, migrating legacy code, triaging incidents. Built for discrete autonomous tasks, not inline IDE assistance. |
| Not for | Teams not on Sourcegraph — the standalone story is less differentiated than Claude Code or Augment. Builders who want a simpler CLI experience. | Developers who want an IDE pair programmer for day-to-day coding. OpenHands is designed for autonomous task completion, not inline suggestions while you type. |
Our verdict on Amp
Sourcegraph's agentic coding tool built on years of code-search investment. Strong for teams already on Sourcegraph; less compelling as a standalone.
Full Amp review →Our verdict on OpenHands
65k GitHub stars. Autonomous coding agent that completes full engineering tasks — PR reviews, vulnerability fixes, legacy migrations. Cloud or self-hosted.
Full OpenHands review →Amp
What works
- Built on Sourcegraph's mature code-search and indexing infrastructure
- Free tier with meaningful usage allowance
- Strong codebase-context story without separate indexing setup
- Native integration with Sourcegraph Code Search
- Sourcegraph's enterprise compliance story (SOC 2, on-prem options) carries over
What doesn't
- Standalone value less compelling than Claude Code or Augment for non-Sourcegraph teams
- Newer to agentic coding than competitors with longer track records
- Smaller community vs Cursor or Copilot
- Locked into Sourcegraph as the indexing/context layer
- Best fit narrows to teams already paying for Sourcegraph
OpenHands
What works
- 65k GitHub stars — one of the most-starred AI coding projects on GitHub
- Task-complete architecture — hands you a finished PR, not a suggestion
- Parallel task execution — runs multiple agents on different tasks simultaneously
- Runs in isolated Docker/Kubernetes environments with full auditability
- Model-agnostic and deployable air-gapped for strict compliance environments
- Native GitHub, GitLab, and CI/CD integrations
What doesn't
- Not an IDE tool — no inline autocomplete, no real-time pair programming
- Autonomous execution means mistakes require review before merging — trust-but-verify is essential
- Higher setup complexity than Cursor or Cline for simple use cases
- Better suited to well-scoped discrete tasks than open-ended exploratory development
Which to pick
These two are closely matched. Don't pick on overall rating — pick on use case. Amp for engineering teams already paying for sourcegraph code search who want to add an ai agent that reuses the existing codebase index. free tier is generous enough for individual evaluation. OpenHands for platform and devops teams automating engineering workflows at scale: fixing cves, reviewing prs, migrating legacy code, triaging incidents. built for discrete autonomous tasks, not inline ide assistance.
Honest middle: most serious operators end up using more than one tool. If you're early in your AI agent journey, our five-question picker recommends a starting platform from your specific situation.
Common questions
Amp vs OpenHands — which should I pick?
Amp and OpenHands are closely matched (we rate them 4.0/5 and 4.0/5). Pick by use case rather than overall score: Amp for engineering teams already paying for sourcegraph code search who want to add an ai agent that reuses the existing codebase index. free tier is generous enough for individual evaluation.; OpenHands for platform and devops teams automating engineering workflows at scale: fixing cves, reviewing prs, migrating legacy code, triaging incidents. built for discrete autonomous tasks, not inline ide assistance..
Is Amp or OpenHands cheaper?
Amp's pricing: Free tier with usage limits. Paid tiers via Sourcegraph subscription. Bundled with Sourcegraph Code Search for teams already on the platform. OpenHands's pricing: Open-source and self-hostable (free). Cloud version available with a free tier. Paid cloud plans for teams and enterprises. The right "cheaper" pick depends on usage volume and what's included — see the pricing row in the table above.
What's Amp best for?
Engineering teams already paying for Sourcegraph Code Search who want to add an AI agent that reuses the existing codebase index. Free tier is generous enough for individual evaluation.
What's OpenHands best for?
Platform and DevOps teams automating engineering workflows at scale: fixing CVEs, reviewing PRs, migrating legacy code, triaging incidents. Built for discrete autonomous tasks, not inline IDE assistance.
Are Amp and OpenHands direct competitors?
Yes — both are coding agent options. They target similar builders, which is why the head-to-head matters.
Compare Amp against other options