Multi-agent · AI agent
Autonomous Company: review, pricing, security and alternatives
Autonomous Company is an open-source AI agent published by MaxMiksa, in the multi-agent family. Coordinates AI agents in an autonomous company system designed to run locally on Windows, Linux and macOS computers. Its repository has 3,156 stars and its last commit is from October 21, 2026.
| Adoption (stars) | 18/40 | |
|---|---|---|
| Activity (commits, releases) | 28/30 | |
| Framework (licence, control, models) | 15/30 |
What Autonomous Company does
Autonomous Company belongs to the multi-agent family: systems that split a task between several specialised agents passing work to one another. On our grid it ranks #34 of the 43 projects of this family listed in the directory.
You use it from: web app. Usable models: Claude (Anthropic) and GPT (OpenAI). It can run on your own machine or server.
Who is Autonomous Company for?
It interests technical teams that want to split a complex task between several specialised agents that check each other. Typical tasks people give it:
- pair a writer agent with a reviewer agent
- split a project into subtasks given to roles
- simulate a team (analysis, plan, execution)
It is a good candidate if you prefer doing everything in a browser, with no install and your data must stay on your machines.
Access and human control
Its documentation does not detail the access granted to the agent: check the settings before connecting it to your accounts.
We could not establish whether it asks for human approval before sensitive actions: test it first on an unimportant account or folder.
Autonomous Company pricing
The code is free, under the MIT licence.
Getting started with Autonomous Company
- Install it: the project ships as a Python package (install with
piporuv). The exact command is in the repository README. - Create an API key with the model provider and put it in an environment variable, never in a shared or versioned file.
- Give it a first playground with nothing at stake: a test folder, a secondary account or a throwaway project. Only open your real accounts once you have seen how it behaves.
- Give it a short, checkable task, review the result and its action log, then raise the difficulty step by step.
Security: risk level
More agents mean higher bills and chained errors: set a budget and a maximum number of steps.
Three habits: least privilege (minimal rights, dedicated keys), human approval for irreversible actions, a sandbox for code execution. The AI agent security check reviews your setup in a few minutes.
Project activity and releases
Created on February 12, 2026, the MaxMiksa/Autonomous-Company repository has 3,156 stars, 500 forks and 0 open issues, with 626 commits in total. It received changes this month.
Over the last 52 weeks: 351 commits, an average of 6.8 per week.
15 releases in total; 15 in the last twelve months. Latest release: v3.0.0, on October 13, 2026.
Autonomous Company vs other multi-agent
GitHub stars of the best-rated open-source projects in the multi-agent family. Stars measure attention, not quality: a heavily promoted project collects them fast, a specialised tool will have few.
Autonomous Company and other multi-agent at a glance
The 7 best-ranked agents in the same family, 7 of them open source. The score out of 100 only applies to open-source projects; for proprietary services we show the published entry price. A dash marks information the documentation does not state.
| Agent | Model | Score | Stars or entry price | Self-hostable | Human approval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autonomous Company | open source | 61 | 3.2K ★ | yes | – |
| Orca | open source | 91 | 104.7K ★ | yes | – |
| CrewAI | open source | 88 | 60.1K ★ | yes | – |
| Agno | open source | 87 | 42.9K ★ | yes | – |
| Paperclip | open source | 86 | 106.8K ★ | yes | – |
| AgentScope | open source | 85 | 33.8K ★ | yes | – |
| OpenAI Agents SDK | open source | 85 | 30.3K ★ | yes | – |
| Eigent | open source | 81 | 15.7K ★ | yes | – |
How we rated it
Score: 61/100, computed only from public, verifiable data, with no subjective testing or partnership:
- Adoption 18/40: 3,156 stars on a log scale (40 points from about 200,000).
- Activity 28/30: last commit less than a month ago, 13 releases in six months, 351 commits in a year.
- Framework 15/30: licence, default human approval, self-hosting, model choice and documentation site.
The score does not say whether the agent will succeed at your tasks: it measures how solid the project is. The full grid is on the method page.
Verdict
Autonomous Company is a serious option; check the limitations below before granting it access.
Strengths
- Very active development
- Frequent releases (15 in a year)
- Can run on your side: data under control
- Permissive licence (MIT)
Alternatives
- Orca104.7K ★
- CrewAI60.1K ★
- Agno42.9K ★
- Paperclip106.8K ★
- AgentScope33.8K ★
- OpenAI Agents SDK30.3K ★
Learn more
Frequently asked questions
Is Autonomous Company free?
The software is free (MIT licence). You still pay for the model calls, unless you use a local model.
Is Autonomous Company safe?
Our risk level: low. Give it minimum rights and approve irreversible actions.
Which models does Autonomous Company use?
According to its documentation: Claude (Anthropic) and GPT (OpenAI).
Can Autonomous Company be installed on your own server?
Yes, from the MaxMiksa/Autonomous-Company repository. Data then stays with you, but security and updates are your job.
What are the alternatives to Autonomous Company?
In the same family: Orca, CrewAI, Agno, and Paperclip.
Autonomous Company or Orca: what is the difference?
Both belong to the multi-agent family. Autonomous Company has 3.2K stars against 104.7K for Orca. The right choice mostly depends on the access you are willing to give it.
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- AI agent memory: how agents remember (and forget)October 11, 2026
Neutrality. No affiliate links. No vendor pays to be reviewed, rated or ranked. Reviews are directed by François Chollet, neutral and factual, and every data point is dated and sourced. How we score