Open-source AI research agents (2026)
Open-source deep-research agents that search many sources and write up a cited answer or report. Here are the top 25 of 29 from the AgentScout directory.
Updated
How we picked and ranked: tools are matched by category, the pricing each maker states and what each tool says it does. They are ranked by GitHub stars as recorded on each listing (link checks 2026-10-21); tools without a tracked repo follow, by listing maturity. No paid placements.
1. Agent-Reach
Lets an AI agent read and search sites like X, Reddit, YouTube and GitHub through one toolkit, without paid APIs.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature
2. Deer Flow
ByteDance's open-source long-horizon agent harness that researches, codes and creates using sandboxes, memory and sub-agents.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature
3. Vane
Open-source AI answering engine that searches the web and replies with sources, self-hostable.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature
4. STORM
Stanford system that writes Wikipedia-style articles from web research.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Research project; no recent updates (last commit Sep 2025)
5. GPT Researcher
Autonomous agent that researches the web and writes cited reports.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature
6. DB-GPT
Open-source agentic data assistant for querying and analyzing data with LLMs.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature
7. WrenAI
Generative BI for agents: governed text-to-SQL with a semantic context layer.
Pricing (as stated): Open source + cloud · Mature
8. SurfSense
Privacy-focused, open-source NotebookLM alternative with a research agent over your sources.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature
9. Feynman
Open-source research agent that searches, reads papers and writes cited reports.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Mature
10. EvoScientist
Self-evolving AI scientist system that autonomously explores research ideas, runs experiments and improves with growing skills and memory.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
11. DeepAnalyze
Agentic LLM from Renmin University that autonomously runs data science pipelines and produces analyst-grade research reports.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
12. Deep Research (u14)
Deep research app that works with any LLM and exposes an API and MCP server.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
13. OpenScience
Research agent workbench that reads the literature, writes and runs code and experiments and logs every step, with skills and connectors for databases like PubMed, UniProt and arXiv.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
14. Hyperresearch
Deep research harness that turns Claude Code or Codex into a research agent building a persistent, searchable wiki, with a hosted API and MCP.
Pricing (as stated): Open source + cloud · Active
15. PipesHub
Open-source context layer that indexes company knowledge for AI agents and search.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
16. Paper2Agent
Multi-agent system that turns a research paper and its code into a working MCP server and agent skills you can query and run.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
17. LLM for Zotero
Zotero plugin that adds a research agent to your library so you can ask questions about papers, compare sources and save notes without leaving the reader.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
18. MiroFlow
Research agent framework with web UI supporting MiroThinker and other models.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
19. Paper Search MCP
MCP server and CLI that searches and downloads academic papers from arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, Semantic Scholar and other sources for research agents.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
20. Claude Scientific Writer
K-Dense's general-purpose scientific writing agent for Claude that drafts research papers and documents.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
21. Bruin
Open-source, AI-powered data platform covering ingestion, pipelines and quality checks.
Pricing (as stated): Open source + cloud · Active
22. OpenOSINT
An open-source OSINT engine with about 20 passive investigation tools usable from a CLI, a web UI or an MCP server for AI assistants, with hosted monitoring and due-diligence plans.
Pricing (as stated): Open source + cloud · Active
23. ToolUniverse
Harvard's collection of scientific tools for AI scientist agents.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
24. AIDE ML
Tree-search agent that drafts, debugs and benchmarks machine-learning code until a target metric is optimized.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
25. MLE-Agent
Pairing agent for ML engineers and researchers that builds baselines, plans with arXiv and Papers with Code, and works through Kaggle tasks.
Pricing (as stated): Open source · Active
FAQ
What are the best open-source AI research agents?
Ranked by tracked GitHub stars, the top open-source AI research agents in our directory are Agent-Reach, Deer Flow, Vane, STORM, GPT Researcher. Stars measure popularity, not fit, so compare a few against your own task.
How many open-source AI research agents does AgentScout list?
29 tools match. This page shows the top 25. Pricing mix on this page: Open source (21), Open source + cloud (4).
How much do these tools cost?
Pricing is what each maker states on their site. Open-source tools are free to self-host but may need a paid model API key or offer paid cloud plans; freemium tools have a free plan with limits. Check each official site.
Where can I see every tool for research?
Our task page lists all 172 tools we match to research.
Related: All tools for research · research (29)
Similar searches: AI research assistants (ready to use) · Free AI research agents
By role: For researchers · For students
All popular searches · AI agents by role · Free tools
Best-of lists: Vane alternatives · All best lists
Related categories: Research
Facts come from our directory listings; pricing is as each maker states it and can change. Check official sites before you choose.