The open-source alternative to Beam AI

Looking for something like Beam AI, but open source and free to start? Alfera is the AI coworker your whole team shares: a company brain that syncs your apps, connections shared per person or per team, permissions on every action, and Slack, WhatsApp and email. Self-host it in one click, or start on Alfera Cloud.

In one line: Alfera is open source with a company brain, vs a closed agentic process automation platform.

Agentic process automation platformAlfera on GitHub
Hire your coworkerBook a demo
Beam AIAgentic process automation platformOpen source, or Alfera Cloud
What it isNo-code platform that turns standard operating procedures into AI agent flows for operations work such as finance and HR.The AI coworker your whole team shares, with a company brain that syncs your apps. Open source.
Open sourceNoYes, AGPL-3.0
Self-hostYesYes: one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or one command on any server
PriceFree: 20 tasks/month. Pro: $50/month, 200 tasks/month. Scale: $3990/month. Custom plan availableFree to start: open source to self-host, and Alfera Cloud starts with $10 of free AI usage
Where it worksWeb app, Email (Gmail trigger), Webhook, API, MCP, Slack, Microsoft Teams, email (monitoring alerts)Slack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, the API and MCP
Team useShared workspace with workspace-level integrations. Owner, Admin, Member roles plus custom roles that limit which agents each teammate can use.Multiplayer: one coworker for the whole team. It knows who is asking, and each connection is shared with everyone, one project, or one person
Permissions'Consent required' per tool step pauses the task for approval; approvals collect in a central Inbox. Tasks also pause for missing input.Allow, ask first, or never, per connection and per action. Approvals in Slack, email or the app, and every action logged
Starts on its ownOne Trigger node per flow: app events (e.g. Gmail new email), webhooks, schedules, emails, queue messages.On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events
ModelsModel-agnostic: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta Llama, or custom models via your own endpoint and API key. Model chosen per AI step.230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or your own

Where Beam AI is the better choice

Enterprise operations teams (finance, HR, shared services, BPO) automating high-volume processes from their SOPs.

  • Turns an uploaded SOP document into a working agent flow
  • Ready-made agent suites for finance and HR work, such as invoice reconciliation and debt collection
  • On-premises deployment with your own models, alongside cloud on Azure or AWS

Everything Alfera does

  • A company brain that syncs your apps. Connect Google Drive, Notion, Slack and the rest. Documents sync on their own, keep every version, and every answer draws on them.
  • One coworker for the whole team. It knows who is asking. Many people, many tasks at once, each with their own chats and connections, and shared chats when you want.
  • 3,000+ app connections, shared the way you choose. Each connection is open to everyone, one project, or one person. A personal mailbox stays personal; the support inbox is the team’s.
  • Permissions on every action. Allow, ask first, or never, per connection and per action. Approvals land in Slack, email or the app, and every action is logged.
  • Where your team already is. Slack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, and your own code through the API and MCP.
  • It starts work by itself. On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events in Gmail, HubSpot, Stripe and more.
  • Its own computer. Every chat runs in a sandbox with a terminal and a browser, and its files stay from one chat to the next.
  • Any model. 230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or a model you run yourself.
  • Open source, and free to start. AGPL-3.0. Self-host it in one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or start on Alfera Cloud with $10 of free AI usage.

Beam AI and Alfera

Alfera. Alfera is the AI coworker your whole team shares. It has a company brain that syncs your apps, 3,000+ app connections shared per person or per team, permissions on every action, and it works in Slack, WhatsApp, email and the web app. It starts work by itself, runs on any model, and it is open source: self-host it in one click or start free on Alfera Cloud. Beam AI is not open source.

Sources

Facts about Beam AI come from its own pages, read on 16 October 2026. Something out of date? Write to hello@alfera.ai and we will fix it.