Shaliach / Alternatives
Your own agent team, or one agent in their cloud
Since August, three of the biggest AI companies have shipped always-on agents: xAI's Grok Bot, Meta Muse and OpenAI dots. They are good, and they all live on the vendor's computers. Shaliach is the other choice: a team of Claude Code agents on a machine you own.
Atlas, the short answer: If you want zero setup, pick one of the cloud agents. If you want the agents, their logins and your files on your own hardware, a team rather than one helper, and code you can read, that is what Shaliach is for.
Why your own team on your own box
Your data stays home
Threads, files, agent workspaces and the browsers your agents log in with live on your machine. A closed cloud agent keeps them on the vendor's.
A team, not one helper
Atlas hires the agents a job needs and each gets its own computer. Five people's worth of tabs, not one assistant juggling them.
Watch, take over, approve
Watch any agent's screen live and take the wheel. Publishing, paying and logging in wait for your tap on the phone.
Code you can read
Before you hand anything your keys, read every line on GitHub. With a closed product you take the vendor's word for it.
The honest trade-off
The cloud agents win on setup: nothing to install, nothing to look after, and some are free to start. Shaliach asks you to run one install command and keep a Mac or a small server running. In return the agents work for you on your machine, on the Claude plan you already pay for, and you can see exactly what they run.
It is not a sandbox: the agents can do anything their Unix user can, so give them a machine that does nothing else. The full security model is on GitHub.
At a glance
| Runs on | Agents | Code | Cost model | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaliach | Your Mac or server | A team, with a chief of staff | Source-available | Your Claude plan; free noncommercial |
| OpenAI dots | OpenAI's cloud | One dot; teams planned | Closed | Included with ChatGPT Pro / Business Premium |
| Grok Bot | xAI's cloud | Several bots | Closed | Bundled with SuperGrok Heavy / Cursor plans |
| Meta Muse | Meta's Secure VM | One personal agent | Closed | Free, with subscriptions |
| Devin | Devin Cloud or your VPC | Coding agent sessions | Closed | Plans from free to enterprise |
| OpenClaw | Your devices | A personal assistant | Open (MIT) | Free; you pay for the model |
| OpenDots | Your own deployment | Specialist Dots (a template to build on) | MIT | Free; you pay for the model |
Each row links to a full comparison with sources.
Compare one by one
vs OpenAI dots
An always-on agent in OpenAI's cloud, part of ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium.
vs Grok Bot (xAI)
Bots on a cloud computer xAI runs, bundled with SuperGrok Heavy and Cursor plans.
vs Meta Muse
A personal agent in a VM that Meta runs, free for most use.
vs Devin
A hosted AI software engineer from Cognition, with team and enterprise plans.
vs OpenClaw
An MIT-licensed personal assistant you self-host and reach from 20+ chat apps.
Questions
What is the best self-hosted alternative to OpenAI dots, Grok Bot or Meta Muse?
If you want Claude Code agents, Shaliach: a team of agents on your own Mac or server, run from your phone, with approvals before risky steps. If you want one assistant in your chat apps with any model, look at OpenClaw.
Can I run Claude Code agents always-on, from my phone?
Yes. Install Shaliach on a server and the agents keep working around the clock (for heavy, always-on or team use, use your own Anthropic API key); you chat with Atlas, approve steps and watch screens from the iPhone app or the web board.
Is Shaliach open source?
No. It is source-available under the PolyForm Noncommercial License: free to read, run and change for noncommercial use, with a business licence for companies (with your own Anthropic API key).
Try it on your own box
curl -fsSL https://shaliach.me/install | sh
Sources
Facts about other products come only from the public pages below, as read on 2 October 2026. Products change fast: if something here is out of date, open an issue and it gets fixed.