OpenClaw · OpenClaw community (created by Peter Steinberger)
★ 382,000 · highMIT-licensed self-hosted personal AI assistant ('the lobster way') that exploded to ~382k GitHub stars in months: any model, 20+ messaging channels (WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack/iMessage...), SKILL.md skills via ClawHub, Docker-sandboxed sessions, cron jobs, voice, and a live Canvas.
General / computer-useopen-sourcebyok✓ mcp✓ skills✓ local models⛨ optional
Nous Research's MIT-licensed 'self-improving' server-resident agent (Feb 2026, ~211k stars): model-agnostic with persistent cross-session memory, autonomous skill creation compatible with the agentskills.io standard, DSPy/GEPA evolutionary self-optimization, and execution backends from local/Docker to Modal and Daytona.
General / computer-useopen-sourcebyok✓ mcp✓ skills✓ local models⛨ optional
browser-use · Browser Use Inc. (YC-backed, SF)
★ 103,000 · highMIT-licensed Python library (103k stars) that lets any LLM drive a real Chrome browser via DOM+vision instead of brittle selectors, now flanked by a desktop app and a usage-based cloud with stealth browsers, proxies, and a 24/7 'Browser Use Box' agent.
General / computer-useopen-sourcebyok✓ mcp✓ local models⛨ optional
GPT Researcher · Assaf Elovic / open-source community (gptr.dev)
★ 28,100 · highThe original open deep-research harness (Apache-2.0, 28k stars): a planner/executor multi-agent pipeline that fans out parallel web and local-document searches into cited reports, with recursive tree-like 'Deep Research', MCP data-source integration, and any-LLM support.
General / computer-useopen-sourcebyok✓ mcp✓ local models