--- title: The Open Source Claude Cowork Alternative I've Been... description: A sponsored walkthrough introduces MindHub Cowork, an open-source alternative to Claude Cowork that lets developers switch between cloud models (Claude, GPT,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-open-source-claude-cowork-alternative-i-ve-been-waiting-for-kliy6nhk0 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The Open Source Claude Cowork Alternative I've Been Waiting For | daily.dev og:description: A sponsored walkthrough introduces MindHub Cowork, an open-source alternative to Claude Cowork that lets developers switch between cloud models (Claude, GPT,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-open-source-claude-cowork-alternative-i-ve-been-waiting-for-kliy6nhk0 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/kLiy6NhK0.png og:image:alt: The Open Source Claude Cowork Alternative I've Been Waiting For og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The Open Source Claude Cowork Alternative I've Been Waiting For **[Tech With Tim](https://daily.dev/sources/TechWithTim)** · 14 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A sponsored walkthrough introduces MindHub Cowork, an open-source alternative to Claude Cowork that lets developers switch between cloud models (Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, GLM, Grok, Kimi) or run local models via LM Studio/Ollama with no vendor lock-in. The video demonstrates installing the desktop app, using the Anton and Hermes agent harnesses, building dashboards and presentations from prompts, creating custom skills, connecting apps like Asana through a credentials vault, and sharing memory across harnesses. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is MindHub Cowork and how is it different from Claude Cowork? MindHub Cowork is an open-source AI agent coworker application that can be self-hosted, run as a desktop app, or used in the cloud. Unlike Claude Cowork, which locks users into Anthropic's models and pricing, MindHub Cowork includes a model router supporting Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, GLM, Grok, and local models via any OpenAI-compatible API such as LM Studio or Ollama. _Developers weighing agent harness options can compare tradeoffs like these on daily.dev before committing to one vendor._ ### How do you connect a local model like LM Studio to MindHub Cowork? Add a new provider in settings, select OpenAI compatible, name it, then supply the local API endpoint from LM Studio appended with /v1 and leave the API key blank. After loading a model in LM Studio and saving, that provider can be assigned as the planning, routing, or coding model, letting the agent run entirely on local hardware with no cloud cost. _Anyone piecing together a local-first AI coding setup can track configuration details like these on daily.dev._ ### What is the difference between the Anton and Hermes agent harnesses in MindHub Cowork? Anton is the default harness optimized for producing finished, referenceable artifacts like dashboards and presentations, while Hermes is better suited for running automations on a schedule. Both harnesses share the same memory store, so switching between them does not lose context, and users can pick either one from the agent settings. _Developers choosing between agent automation modes can follow comparisons like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I ditched Claude Cowork for a free open-source alternative, and I'm getting more done](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-claude-cowork-for-a-free-open-source-alternative-and-i-m-getting-more-done-tnldt8oxm) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [These open-source tools do what Claude charges for, and some do it better](https://daily.dev/posts/these-open-source-tools-do-what-claude-charges-for-and-some-do-it-better-nqphnogii) · XDA Developers · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#llm](https://daily.dev/tags/llm), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#claude-code](https://daily.dev/tags/claude-code) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-open-source-claude-cowork-alternative-i-ve-been-waiting-for-kliy6nhk0) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The Open Source Claude Cowork Alternative I've Been Waiting For","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-open-source-claude-cowork-alternative-i-ve-been-waiting-for-kliy6nhk0","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-open-source-claude-cowork-alternative-i-ve-been-waiting-for-kliy6nhk0"},"datePublished":"2026-08-12T13:14:49.062Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T19:56:41.324Z","description":"A sponsored walkthrough introduces MindHub Cowork, an open-source alternative to Claude Cowork that lets developers switch between cloud models (Claude, GPT,...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QID-QHVLYYc/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QID-QHVLYYc/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Tech With Tim","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Tech With Tim","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--6vVIDfU0--/f_auto/v1711726146/logos/TechWithTim","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/TechWithTim"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-open-source-claude-cowork-alternative-i-ve-been-waiting-for-kliy6nhk0","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"open-source,llm,ai-agents,claude-code","timeRequired":"PT14M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Open Source Claude Cowork Alternative I've Been Waiting For","description":"A sponsored walkthrough introduces MindHub Cowork, an open-source alternative to Claude Cowork that lets developers switch between cloud models (Claude, GPT,...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QID-QHVLYYc/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-12T13:14:49.062Z","duration":"PT14M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/kLiy6NhK0","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/QID-QHVLYYc"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tech With Tim","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/TechWithTim"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Open Source Claude Cowork Alternative I've Been Waiting For"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-open-source-claude-cowork-alternative-i-ve-been-waiting-for-kliy6nhk0#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is MindHub Cowork and how is it different from Claude Cowork?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"MindHub Cowork is an open-source AI agent coworker application that can be self-hosted, run as a desktop app, or used in the cloud. 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