How to run OpenMausBot as a free open source Grok Bot alternative on your own subscription

Video: OpenMausBot: Free Open Source Grok Bot With 10,000 Stars

Nov 2, 2026 · based on the channel Prism Labs

OpenMausBot is a free, Apache 2.0 licensed open source alternative to Grok Bot that turns a chat app into a workspace of autonomous AI agents. You install it locally, connect the Claude, Codex, or Grok subscription you already pay for, and each bot you create gets its own model, its own isolated virtual machine, and access to 500+ connected apps. The project lives at mausbot.com, where you can download the app, join the waitlist for the MausBox device, and follow release notes.

The core idea is simple: instead of one chatbot in one window, you get a sidebar of agents that behave like contacts. Each one has a personality, persistent memory, and a computer it can actually operate. That combination is why the repository crossed 10,000 GitHub stars in under three months.

What OpenMausBot actually is and who built it

OpenMausBot is an Electron desktop application that hosts multiple AI agents, each running inside its own virtual machine, and it was built by two indie developers rather than a funded startup. The code is public on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license, which means you can audit it, fork it, and self-host it without paying a license fee.

The architecture differs from a typical chat wrapper in three ways:

1. Per-bot model selection. Every bot has its own model picker, so you can run one agent on Claude, another on Codex, and a third on Grok inside the same workspace. Grok Bot does not give you that choice.
2. Per-bot virtual machines. Each agent gets an isolated computer with a live screen preview, so you can watch it click, type, and browse in real time instead of trusting a text log.
3. Approval gates. Before any shell command runs, the bot asks for confirmation. That is the safety layer that makes computer-use agents practical for everyday work rather than a demo.

Because the agents run on subscriptions you already hold, the marginal cost of adding a bot is close to zero. You are not buying tokens from a reseller; you are pointing the app at your existing Claude, Codex, or Grok plan.

How to install OpenMausBot step by step

Installing OpenMausBot takes one command or one download, and the whole flow is designed to finish in minutes. The maintainers publish builds through GitHub Releases, so you do not need to compile anything from source unless you want to.

1. Go to the releases page at https://github.com/milind-soni/OpenMausBot/releases and pick the build for your operating system.
2. Alternatively, use the one-line install command documented in the repository README at https://github.com/milind-soni/OpenMausBot.
3. Launch the app and sign in with the Claude, Codex, or Grok account whose subscription you want the bots to use.
4. Create your first bot, give it a name and a short personality prompt, and pick its model from the model picker.
5. Connect the apps you want it to reach through Composio, which is the integration layer behind the 500+ connectors.
6. Run a small task first, such as summarizing an inbox or opening a page in the bot's virtual machine, and approve the shell commands it requests so you can see the gate in action.

What each bot can do inside its virtual machine

Every bot in OpenMausBot operates a real computer, not a simulated one, which is what separates it from chat-only assistants. The virtual machine is isolated per bot, so a mistake in one agent does not touch your host system or another agent's files.

The live screen preview is the practical part: you watch the agent move a cursor, open a browser, fill a form, or read a document, and you can intervene before it goes wrong. Combined with the approval gate on shell commands, this gives you a computer-use agent you can leave running on repetitive work.

The Composio integration layer extends that reach to more than 500 apps, covering the usual categories of email, calendars, project trackers, CRMs, and messaging. In practice, a single bot can read a message, look something up, update a record, and report back, all within one conversation thread that keeps its memory between sessions.

Memory plus isolation plus app access is what the project means by an AI workforce: the bots are not one-off prompts, they are persistent workers with their own tools and their own history.

OpenMausBot versus Grok Bot: the differences that matter

The main difference between OpenMausBot and Grok Bot is control: OpenMausBot lets you choose the model per bot, run the whole stack locally, and inspect the source code. Grok Bot locks you into a single vendor's model and a hosted environment you cannot audit.

| Dimension | OpenMausBot | Grok Bot |
|---|---|---|
| License | Apache 2.0, open source | Proprietary |
| Model choice | Per-bot picker: Claude, Codex, Grok | Single vendor |
| Compute | Isolated VM per bot, live preview | Hosted, opaque |
| Cost | Free app, your existing subscription | Vendor pricing |
| Data location | Local first, self-hostable | Vendor cloud |
| Extensibility | 500+ Composio apps, forkable code | Vendor-controlled |

The trade-off is that self-hosting means you own the maintenance. You update the app yourself, you manage your own API credentials, and you decide which integrations to enable. For teams that already treat AI tooling as infrastructure, that is a feature rather than a burden.

Release cadence, pricing, and the MausBox device

OpenMausBot ships releases at a near-daily pace, which is unusual for a two-person project and explains much of its momentum. The repository reached 10,000 stars in under three months, and the release history on GitHub shows a steady stream of builds rather than occasional milestones.

The business model is free app, paid cloud. The desktop application and the source code cost nothing; the company charges for a hosted cloud tier that handles the infrastructure for people who do not want to run everything locally. That is a familiar open-core arrangement, and it keeps the local-first promise intact for anyone who prefers it.

A second paid product is the MausBox, a 128GB home device currently on the waitlist. The pitch is a small box that keeps your agents running around the clock without leaving a laptop awake, which fits the always-on workforce framing of the product.

Common questions from people trying it for the first time

The questions that come up most often concern cost, hardware, and trust, and each has a concrete answer. The summary-style feedback the project attracts usually centers on the same three points.

• Do I need to pay for API tokens? No separate token bill is required if you already hold a Claude, Codex, or Grok subscription; the bots use that plan.
• Can I run it on my own machine? Yes. It is a desktop app, and the project is local first and self-hostable.
• Is it safe to let an agent use a computer? Each bot runs in an isolated VM, and shell commands require your approval before execution.
• What if I do not want to manage updates? That is what the paid cloud tier is for; the MausBox serves the same need for always-on local operation.
• Is the code trustworthy? It is Apache 2.0 on GitHub, so you can read every line before you run it.

All the links from the breakdown

• Product site and downloads: https://mausbot.com/
• Source code: https://github.com/milind-soni/OpenMausBot
• Release builds: https://github.com/milind-soni/OpenMausBot/releases

Final take on OpenMausBot

OpenMausBot is worth trying if you already pay for a Claude, Codex, or Grok subscription and want agents that can actually operate a computer instead of only talking about it. The combination of a per-bot model picker, isolated virtual machines with live screen preview, approval gates on shell commands, and 500+ Composio integrations covers most of what a small team needs from an agent platform. The Apache 2.0 license and local-first design mean you are not renting access to your own workflows, and the near-daily release cadence suggests the project is being actively maintained rather than parked. Start at mausbot.com to download the free app, then check the GitHub releases for the latest build. For more breakdowns of agent platforms and AI developer tools, follow Prism Labs, the channel behind this video overview.

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