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
CrewAI · CrewAI Inc.
★ 55,117 · highMIT-licensed Python framework (~55k stars) for role-based multi-agent 'Crews' plus event-driven 'Flows', with unified memory, hierarchical delegation, and a commercial AMP cloud platform (free tier, Pro from ~$25/mo, enterprise) that CrewAI says powered ~2B agentic executions in the year to January 2026.
Runtimes & SDKsopen-sourcefreemium✓ mcp✓ local models⛨ optional
Letta · Letta (formerly MemGPT, UC Berkeley spinout)
★ 23,701 · highApache-2.0 platform for stateful agents descended from MemGPT, distinguished by tiered self-editing memory persisted in a database (core memory in-context, archival out-of-context) plus 2026 research on git-based 'Context Repositories' and memory-native RL; in 2026 the company is consolidating around Letta Code, an open, model-agnostic memory-first coding agent harness (LettaBot archived May 2026 and folded in as Channels).
Runtimes & SDKsopen-sourcefreemium✓ mcp✓ local models⛨ optional
YC-backed autonomous software engineer that picks up tickets from GitHub/Jira/Linear and opens tested PRs end-to-end across CLI, desktop, VS Code and cloud, distinguished by its own in-house Lumen model family (including on-device Scout and air-gapped sovereign variants for regulated industries like HSBC/NatWest/BAE) and the April 2026 'Swarm' feature for parallel long-horizon agents; credit-based seats at $20 (Hobby) and $200 (Professional).
Cloud / backgroundproprietarysubscription✓ local models⛨ optional