# OpenRig — AI Coding Tool Review & Pricing

> OpenRig is an open-source tool that organizes multiple AI coding agents into a persistent, structured topology defined in YAML. It manages the lifecycle and communication of agent teams by utilizing tmux to keep sessions alive across reboots and providing a unified command interface for agent collaboration.

Source: https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/openrig · Updated Nov 1, 2026 · Category: Developer Productivity & Workflow · Published by dosa.dev

## At a glance

- **Tool**: OpenRig
- **Company**: Esoteric Labs
- **Category**: [Developer Productivity & Workflow](https://ai.dosa.dev/category/productivity)
- **Pricing model**: Open Source
- **Official website**: https://openrig.dev

## Key features

- Manage topologies of multiple coding agents including Claude Code, Codex, Pi, and Oh My Pi
- Persistent sessions that survive machine reboots via tmux integration
- Programmable agent coordination using a YAML-based specification and CLI
- Internal messaging, screen capturing, and chatrooms between agents
- Built-in MCP tools for programmatic rig and agent management

## Pricing

**Model**: Open Source

OpenRig is open source under the Apache 2.0 license. There is no cloud service, no paid tier, and no per-token billing; it runs entirely on the user's local machine using existing subscriptions for coding agents.

## Who it is for

- **Best for**: Developers who want to orchestrate multi-agent workflows, such as full product teams, adversarial review systems, or continuous refactoring clusters, that require persistent state and agent collaboration.
- **Not ideal for**: Users looking for a managed, cloud-based platform or those who prefer disposable, short-lived coding agent sessions without the overhead of topology management.

## Verdict

OpenRig is a powerful, locally-hosted orchestration layer for power users who want to move beyond isolated terminal coding agents to building persistent, specialized AI development teams.

## Recent updates

As of version 0.7.6 (October 2026), OpenRig added slice following for Linux Herdr 0.9.5, improved database management, introduced provider switching to move agents between account homes, and added support for managing git over SSH via the daemon's SSH agent.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is OpenRig free?

Yes - OpenRig is Open Source. OpenRig is open source under the Apache 2.0 license. There is no cloud service, no paid tier, and no per-token billing; it runs entirely on the user's local machine using existing subscriptions for coding agents.

### Is OpenRig open source?

Yes - OpenRig is open source. OpenRig is open source under the Apache 2.0 license. There is no cloud service, no paid tier, and no per-token billing; it runs entirely on the user's local machine using existing subscriptions for coding agents.

### Who is OpenRig best for?

Developers who want to orchestrate multi-agent workflows, such as full product teams, adversarial review systems, or continuous refactoring clusters, that require persistent state and agent collaboration.

### Who is OpenRig not ideal for?

Users looking for a managed, cloud-based platform or those who prefer disposable, short-lived coding agent sessions without the overhead of topology management.

### What are the best OpenRig alternatives?

The closest OpenRig alternatives on ai.dosa.dev are Pieces for Developers, agenttrace, Vibe Kanban - all listed under Developer Productivity & Workflow.

### Who makes OpenRig?

OpenRig is developed by Esoteric Labs. It is listed in the Developer Productivity & Workflow category on ai.dosa.dev.

## Top alternatives

- [Pieces for Developers](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/pieces-for-developers) (Paid) — Developers who work across multiple tools, IDEs, and environments and need to maintain a persistent, searchable history of code snippets, research, and workflow context.
- [agenttrace](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/agenttrace) (Open Source) — Developers and teams needing to monitor and debug the efficiency, cost, and health of AI coding agents across multiple workflows.
- [Vibe Kanban](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/vibe-kanban) (Open Source) — Software engineers who use multiple AI coding agents and need a structured environment to manage, plan, and review their output in parallel.
- [ai-memory](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/ai-memory) (Open Source) — Developers or teams using multiple AI coding agents who need consistent context and project history persistence across different tools, machines, and sessions.
- [smolvm](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/smolvm) (Open Source) — Running isolated coding agent sandboxes, untrusted code, and persistent local development environments that require a real Linux kernel boundary.
- [coop](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/coop) (Open Source) — Running autonomous AI coding agents that require broad system access while maintaining a strong security boundary for the host machine.
- Full alternatives guide: https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/openrig/alternatives