# Claude Cowork vs Claude Code: Kortix, the open-source AI Operating System

> Claude Cowork and Claude Code are two Anthropic products with different jobs: Cowork is the agent for knowledge work, and Claude Code is the coding agent for the terminal and the IDE. Neither is open source or self-hostable, and Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System a team owns, self-hosted or managed, with each session on its own cloud computer.

URL: https://opensourceclaudecowork.com/claude-cowork-vs-claude-code

_Compare_

## Claude Cowork and Claude Code, side by side

Kortix is the open-source third option; the two Anthropic columns come from Anthropic's own pages, checked October 2026.

| | Kortix (recommended) | Claude Cowork | Claude Code |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Built for | a team's agents, skills, memory and connectors in one governed system | non-coding knowledge work, with no terminal | software engineering in the terminal, IDE, desktop or web |
| Open source | Yes. Read it, fork it, audit it. | No | No |
| Where a session runs | its own cloud computer, on Kortix Cloud, your VPC, or on-prem | Anthropic's cloud, or your Bedrock, Google Cloud or Microsoft Foundry account | your terminal and IDE, or Claude's cloud for scheduled work |
| Model choice | any model provider with your own keys | Anthropic's models only | Anthropic's models, with third-party providers on some surfaces |
| Where your rules live | files in a git repo you own | your Claude account; no self-host | CLAUDE.md in your repo; settings in the vendor's account |

## Two Anthropic products, two different jobs

The "Claude Cowork vs Claude Code" question usually hides a naming mix-up. They are two products from one vendor with different jobs. [Claude Cowork](https://claude.com/product/cowork) is built for non-coding knowledge work: research, analysis, document creation, and other multi-step tasks. [Claude Code](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/overview) is built for software engineering: writing, debugging, and shipping code. Both use the same agentic approach, and a team choosing between them should also weigh a third option. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector in one git repo you own.

## What each product actually runs

Anthropic's own pages split the two products by surface. Claude Code reads your codebase, edits files across it, runs commands, and works with git. It stages changes, writes commit messages, creates branches, and opens pull requests. It runs in the terminal, in VS Code and JetBrains extensions, in a desktop app, and in the browser, and most surfaces need a Claude subscription or an Anthropic Console account.

Claude Cowork takes a goal and works across your files and tools, then returns a deck, a document, or a spreadsheet for review. [Anthropic's get-started guide](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-get-started-with-claude-cowork) says a Cowork session runs in the cloud on Anthropic's servers, in an isolated environment, and that your sessions and files are saved to your Claude account. On desktop, web, and mobile it shares one home with chat, and it reaches local files, your browser, or your screen through the Claude Desktop app on that computer.

## The ownership question neither product answers

Here the two products agree, and it is the part a team should weigh first. Neither Claude Cowork nor Claude Code is open source, and neither has a self-hosted edition. Anthropic publishes the product and the help center, not the code behind them. Cowork runs in Anthropic's cloud, or in a cloud provider account you already hold on Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Foundry. Claude Code runs on your machine, or in Claude's cloud for scheduled work. In both, the product and its roadmap stay with the vendor.

Kortix answers the ownership question directly. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector in one git repo you own. Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it. One isolated sandbox per session, and its own branch. Session work reaches `main` through a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents, so a person reviews what lands. Connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine, and it reaches 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL and raw HTTP. It takes any model provider with your own keys. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. Self-host is free, and the [self-hosting guide](/self-hosting) covers the install.

These three commands from the Kortix quickstart show how a session's work lands in the repo you own:

```sh
kortix sessions new --prompt "Draft the Q3 board deck from the finance export"
kortix cr ls      # the change request the agent opened
kortix cr merge 1 # a person merges it into main
```

## What each one costs

Cost is where the two Anthropic products also converge. Anthropic's [pricing page](https://claude.com/pricing) lists Claude Cowork on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, and notes that Cowork consumes limits faster than chat, so heavy use pushes a team up the tiers (checked October 2026). There is no free tier for it. Kortix separates the platform from the model. Free is $0 with 200 credits per month and 1 project. The team plan is $40 per seat per month with 2,500 credits per month per seat, pooled. Self-host is free, and the [Claude Cowork pricing](/claude-cowork-pricing) page has the full shape.

## When each of the three fits

- Pick Claude Code if your job is code, you live in a terminal or an IDE, and you want an agent that reads your repository and opens pull requests.
- Pick Claude Cowork if your job is documents, files, and research, you want to steer it from a phone or a browser, and Anthropic's cloud is an acceptable home for the work.
- Pick Kortix if the agent layer itself has to be open source and in a repo the team owns, on a model you choose, and able to run on your own infrastructure. It is the leading open-source alternative to Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work.

For a wider set of open-source options, the [Claude Cowork alternatives](/claude-cowork-alternatives) roundup maps the field, and [migrating from Claude Cowork](/migrate-from-claude-cowork) is the checklist for moving an existing setup.

_FAQ_

## Claude Cowork and Claude Code, the questions people ask

### Which models do Claude Cowork and Claude Code run?

Both run Anthropic's models. Claude Code's terminal, VS Code, and JetBrains surfaces also support third-party providers. Kortix separates the model from the platform: any model provider with your own keys, the ChatGPT plan you already pay for, or sign in with your OpenCode Console account for OpenCode Zen and Go.

### Is Claude Code included in a paid Claude plan?

Yes. Anthropic's pricing page says Claude Code is included in all paid plans, and that its work shares one usage pool with chat, so a heavy session moves you toward a higher tier (checked October 2026).

### Does Kortix replace Claude Code?

No. OpenCode is the harness, and Kortix is the place the agent system lives: agents, skills, memory, and connectors in one repo you own, with each session on its own cloud computer. A team can keep the coding agent it already uses.

## Own the repo your agents run from.

Start with one job, in one git repo you own.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Read the self-hosting guide](https://opensourceclaudecowork.com/self-hosting)