OpenDevin, Joute's review

The essentials

• Open source autonomous software agent for complex development tasks
• Free (open source, LLM API costs apply)
• Code execution in a sandbox, web browsing, file writing, autonomous debugging
• Built for agentic engineers and researchers who want to experiment with open source coding agents

What is OpenDevin?

OpenDevin (renamed OpenHands) is an open source project that aims to create an autonomous software agent capable of performing complex development tasks: reading and writing code, running commands in a terminal, browsing the web, searching for information, and iterating until the problem is solved. The project is built in Python and supports different LLMs (Claude, GPT-4, local models). Coding agent benchmarks (SWE-bench) show OpenHands as one of the best open source implementations. The tool runs locally via Docker.

Strengths

Open source and extensible

The code is accessible and the community is active. Contributing, adapting and extending the agent's capabilities is possible for developers.

Multi-LLM

Choosing your LLM (Claude Sonnet, GPT-4o, local Llama) based on your cost, performance and privacy criteria is a rare flexibility in coding agents.

Strong SWE-bench performance

OpenHands is regularly cited among top performers on SWE-bench, the reference benchmark for coding agents on real GitHub issues.

Limits

Technical setup for non-developers

Installing Docker, configuring LLM API keys and running OpenHands locally is a technical process. It's not plug-and-play.

LLM costs to account for

The agent makes many LLM calls for complex tasks. OpenAI or Anthropic costs can add up fast on long sessions.

Pricing

The project is free and open source. Costs are the LLM API calls based on usage. Check github.com/All-Hands-AI/OpenHands.

Alternatives

For managed coding agents: Devin or GitHub Copilot Workspace. For general agent frameworks: CrewAI or AutoGen. For in-IDE coding agents: Cline.

Verdict

OpenDevin/OpenHands is the reference for anyone wanting to experiment with open source coding agents. The project is active, benchmarks are solid and LLM flexibility is an advantage. For production use without technical setup, Devin or managed alternatives are more accessible.

FAQ

Is OpenDevin the same project as OpenHands?

Yes, OpenDevin was renamed OpenHands in 2024. The project is available at github.com/All-Hands-AI/OpenHands.

Can OpenHands actually resolve GitHub issues?

Yes, that's the primary goal. OpenHands is evaluated on SWE-bench which tests exactly this capability. Results vary depending on issue complexity.

Can you use Ollama with OpenHands to avoid LLM costs?

Yes, OpenHands supports local models via Ollama. Performance is lower than frontier models but costs are zero.

Does OpenHands work on Windows?

OpenHands requires Docker. On Windows, WSL2 + Docker Desktop is the recommended configuration.

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