Is OpenBuddy really free and open source?

Yes. OpenBuddy is MIT-licensed, with no premium tier, no telemetry, and no phone-home. The full source code is auditable on GitHub and every release is PGP-signed.

How does OpenBuddy compare to WorkBuddy?

OpenBuddy is a pixel-close, 100% open source rewrite of WorkBuddy on Electron + Pi. Same design tokens, same UI; the difference is the open core, the BYOK model, and the data path. See the full comparison at /docs/comparison.

Which LLM providers does OpenBuddy support?

Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Bedrock, OpenRouter, Ollama, NewAPI, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Bring your own key or use a service token against a Casdoor / NewAPI gateway.

Where does my data live?

All conversations, prompts, skills, and the audit ledger live on your machine in ~/.openbuddy/. No telemetry by default; opt-in spans only.

Pricing

Free, by design.

The desktop app, the Cordis capability mesh, the renderer, the build tooling — all MIT. You only pay for the model and, optionally, premium support.

All prices in USD. Cancel anytime. Refunds within 30 days, no questions asked.

Community

$0/ forever

The full app, MIT-licensed, on Windows / macOS / Linux.

All 63 capability packages
BYOK providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, MiniMax, NewAPI…)
GitHub Discussions + Discord support
Local persistence & restart safety
Bilingual UI (en + zh-CN)

Download→

Popular

Pro

$9/ per month

Power-user conveniences and the latest release channel.

Everything in Community
Beta + early-access releases
Cloud sync of session history (Casdoor OIDC)
Premium skill catalog (1,200+ community skills)
Priority issue triage (<24h)
Office Hours invite

Start free trial→

Enterprise

Custom/ per year

Self-hosted, air-gapped, and SLAs for your perimeter.

Everything in Pro
Self-hosted Casdoor + NewAPI bundle
SCIM v2 / SAML 2.0 / audit ledger
Dedicated support channel
Quarterly roadmap review
Security review + signed builds

Contact sales→

Compare

Compare plans

No hidden tiers, no seat math. The free app is genuinely useful — Pro is a convenience.

Feature	Community	Pro	Enterprise
Capability packages	All 63	All 63	All 63
Provider choice	BYOK	BYOK + NewAPI Service Token	BYOK + on-prem gateway
Release channel	Stable	Stable + Beta	Stable + Beta + LTS
Session history sync	Local only	Casdoor cloud sync	Self-hosted sync
Skill catalog	Open catalog	Open + Premium (1.2k skills)	Custom + Private
Support	GitHub Discussions	Priority triage <24h	Dedicated channel
Casdoor OIDC	Self-hosted	Hosted (us-east-1)	Self-hosted + SSO
SCIM v2 / SAML 2.0	—	—
Audit ledger	—	—
Source code	MIT	MIT	MIT + commercial use indemnification

FAQ

Pricing questions

01Is the Community plan really forever free?+

Yes. OpenBuddy is MIT-licensed, so you can use it for any purpose — personal, commercial, anything. The "Community" tier just describes the no-cost support path: GitHub Discussions, public roadmap, and the open catalog.

02What does Pro actually pay for?+

Casdoor OIDC cloud sync (us-east-1), premium skill catalog curation, beta release engineering, and the time it takes to triage issues within 24h. Pro does not unlock features that are missing from the free build.

03Can I use Pro features in a company without buying Pro?+

Yes — the source is MIT. You can self-host Casdoor, ship your own skill catalog, and use the Beta channel by switching to the canary release. Pro just saves you the operational work.

04What if I need a signed build for compliance?+

Enterprise includes code signing + notarization on macOS/Windows and a security review. Reach out via enterprise@openbuddy.dev with your team size and the platforms you ship to.

05Do you offer academic / non-profit discounts?+

Yes — both Pro and Enterprise are free for accredited academic institutions and registered non-profits. Email us with a .edu address or a 501(c)(3) letterhead.

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