Monsters vs Eigent
Eigent and Monsters both put a team of AI agents on your desktop. Eigent is built on CAMEL-AI, calls itself an open-source Cowork app and runs a workforce of specialised agents in parallel. It has reached version 1.0, has about 15,600 GitHub stars and also offers a hosted cloud version. Monsters is a smaller alpha that stays on your computer and adds a Markdown vault, spending caps and one kill switch for everything.
Side by side
| Topic | Monsters | Eigent |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A desktop app with an orchestrator (Titan) and a squad of named agents, each with its own chat, terminal, permissions and model chain. | An open-source “Cowork” desktop app: a workforce of specialised agents that work in parallel, or a single agent for focused tasks. |
| License | Apache-2.0. | Apache-2.0. |
| Maturity | Alpha (0.1.0-alpha.20, 21 October 2026). Public since 20 October 2026. A young project with a small community. | Version 1.0.6 (16 October 2026). Repository since July 2025. About 15,600 GitHub stars. |
| Platforms | Linux (AppImage, .deb), macOS (Apple silicon and Intel, signed and notarized), Windows (installer, not yet signed with a public certificate). | Builds for macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows and Linux (AppImage). |
| Built with | TypeScript: a Node.js 24 core and an Electron app. | Electron and React for the app, Python (FastAPI) for the back end, CAMEL for the agents. |
| Models and providers | OpenRouter (free models to start), Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Mistral and Groq with your own keys. A chain of models with fallback per agent. | Model agnostic: cloud providers, enterprise gateways or local inference, with your own keys. |
| Local models | Yes: Ollama and LM Studio. | Yes: vLLM, Ollama and LM Studio are listed for the local deployment. |
| Claude and ChatGPT subscriptions | Yes: Claude through Claude Code, ChatGPT and Codex through Sign in with ChatGPT. | Not documented in the pages we read. |
| Many agents | Yes. The orchestrator delegates to the agents, in parallel. Whole projects and automations arrive as drafts you confirm. | Yes, it is the main feature: a workforce of agents that split a task and work in parallel, plus a single-agent mode. |
| MCP | MCP client (stdio and HTTP) with a gallery of services. `monsters mcp` also serves your notes to Claude Desktop, Codex or Cursor. | MCP integration, skills, and built-in browser and terminal toolkits. |
| Notes and memory | An Obsidian-compatible Markdown vault under git: every agent edit is a commit you can undo. Keyword search (semantic when built from source). | Users, provider settings, tool settings and chat history are kept in a local database in local mode. No Markdown vault documented. |
| Permissions by default | Terminal and file access are off until you grant them, agent by agent. | Four permission profiles, picked in the chat box: Read only, Ask me first, Approve for me and Full access. A change applies to new tasks. Eigent’s security policy says this is not an operating-system sandbox. |
| Kill switch | Yes. One lever (the app, /stop on Telegram, `monsters kill`) aborts every run and kills the child processes. A program that detaches on purpose is not stopped. | Per-task controls: stop a session, and Stop task or Force stop from the remote-control page. No global switch documented. |
| Spending caps | Daily and monthly caps, per project too, for models with a known price. | Not documented in the pages we read. The hosted plans use credits. |
| History and audit | Every action goes into a local action log. It is not tamper-proof against a process that can write your files. | Chat history kept locally in local mode. |
| Remote use | Telegram bots (also one per agent, in groups), the terminal chat over SSH, and the desktop app as an SSH client of another computer. | A remote-control page for a running desktop session: send messages, answer the agent’s questions, stop the task. Sessions can be extended or revoked. |
| Scheduled work | Scheduled automations, proposed as drafts you confirm. | Yes: recurring workflows on a schedule. |
| Where data goes | Notes, logs and settings stay on your disk. Prompts go to the provider you choose (nowhere with Ollama or LM Studio). No cloud account, no usage analytics. | The recommended local deployment runs a back end on your machine and keeps data there. The quick start uses Eigent’s cloud and needs an account. Hosted Plus, Pro and Enterprise plans exist. |
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Where Eigent is ahead
- Maturity and community. Eigent is at version 1.0 with about 15,600 GitHub stars. Monsters is a young alpha with a small community.
- Parallel workforce. Splitting a task across specialised agents is Eigent’s core idea, built on CAMEL-AI’s research, with a single-agent mode for simple tasks.
- Built-in browser and terminal toolkits, aimed at everyday desktop work such as organising files or producing reports.
- A way up. Hosted plans for people who do not want to run anything, and an Enterprise offer with SSO and access control.
Where Monsters differs
- Lighter to run locally. Monsters is one desktop app with a local core. Eigent’s recommended local deployment needs Docker Desktop, Python 3.12 and Node.js for its back end and database, and its quick start goes through Eigent’s cloud.
- Notes you can read and undo: a Markdown vault under git, with every agent edit a commit you can revert. We did not find an equivalent in Eigent.
- Spending caps. Daily and monthly caps apply per project, for models with a known price. We did not find spending caps described for Eigent, whose hosted plans use credits.
- The subscriptions you already pay for (Claude through Claude Code, ChatGPT and Codex) and remote use from Telegram or over SSH.
Pick Eigent if
- You want a product that has reached 1.0 and a larger community.
- You want agents that browse and operate the desktop in parallel, with a ready toolkit.
- You may want a hosted version or an enterprise plan later.
Pick Monsters if
- You want everything on your computer without Docker, a database server or a Monsters account.
- You want Markdown notes you can open in Obsidian and undo.
- You want permissions off by default, one kill switch and spending caps from the start.
- You want to use your Claude or ChatGPT subscription, or to drive agents from Telegram or SSH.
- You accept an alpha with a very small community.
Questions
Is Monsters an open-source alternative to Eigent?
For some uses, yes. Both are Apache-2.0 desktop apps with a team of AI agents and MCP support. Eigent is more mature and aims at parallel desktop work with a hosted option; Monsters is an alpha that stays on your computer and focuses on a notes vault, spending caps and one kill switch for everything.
Does Eigent run fully offline?
Eigent documents a local deployment that keeps users, provider settings and chat history on your machine, and says a fully offline setup is possible with only local models and local MCP servers. Its quick start connects to Eigent’s cloud and needs an account. Monsters runs locally from the first launch, without a Monsters account. It needs a model to start (Claude, ChatGPT or an OpenRouter key); after setup you can switch to Ollama or LM Studio and work fully offline.
Sources
Read on 22 October 2026. Numbers such as stars and versions are the ones shown then. We found no mention of the features marked “not documented” in the pages listed here.