BOS
Block Buzz alternative: BOS vs Buzz
Updated 10 October 2026
Buzz is Block's open-source, self-hosted agent workspace for engineering teams. BOS is a free desktop group chat for founders and service businesses who want clients, team and bots in one room. They solve different problems.
Side by side
| Buzz | BOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Block (Square), open source (Apache 2.0) | aihlete |
| Built for | Engineering teams: branch-as-room, incident memory, release notes | Founders and service businesses: team, clients and bots in one room |
| Hosting | Self-hosted relay you deploy (one-click Railway) | Desktop app, bots run on your own computer |
| Agents | Members with their own keys and audit trail; goose, Codex, Claude Code | Named bots with their own job, memory and routines; Claude, ChatGPT / Codex, Grok, Gemini, Cursor, OpenCode |
| Desktop | Mac, Linux, Windows | Mac, Windows (preview) |
| Mobile | Being wired up | iPhone remote today, QR pairing |
| Cost | Free software; you host it | Free; you pay your own AI plan |
| Git hosting | Yes, patches as events | No |
Pick Buzz if
- You run an engineering team that wants open source, self-hosting, signed events and an audit trail for every agent action, plus git hosting in the same place.
- You are comfortable deploying and maintaining a relay.
Pick BOS if
- Free to download. Your bots run on the Claude, ChatGPT / Codex, Grok, Gemini, Cursor or OpenCode plan you already pay for, so there is no credit meter from BOS.
- Bots run on your own computer, with your files and signed-in apps.
- Rooms hold your team, your clients and everyone's bots. Anything outbound waits for your ok.
- Set up with you: new users land in a group chat with the BOS team, who help set up your team.
- iPhone remote to approve from your phone. Windows is a preview.
Buzz is a developer tool and a good one. BOS is aimed at people who run a business rather than a codebase, and who want to download an app and start.
Download BOS for Mac Windows and IntelFAQ
Is BOS an alternative to Block's Buzz?
For engineering teams that want open source and self-hosting, Buzz is built for that. BOS is the alternative if you are a founder or service business who wants a desktop app, clients in the room and a phone that pairs with one QR scan.
Is Buzz open source?
Yes. As of 10 October 2026 github.com/block/buzz is Apache 2.0 and self-hosted.
Is BOS open source?
BOS is built on the open-source OpenMausBot project (Apache 2.0).
Does Buzz have a mobile app?
As of 10 October 2026 its mobile app is listed as being wired up. BOS has an iPhone remote today.
Competitor facts are from kylon.io and github.com/block/buzz public pages, checked 10 October 2026. Plans and numbers change, so check their sites before you buy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at the support page and we will fix it.