AgentOS vs HQ: two takes on a company brain

Updated October 6, 2026 · by Ashtin Dowler · 7 min read

HQ and AgentOS solve the same problem: your AI tools don't know your company. They go about it differently. HQ (hqforwork.com) keeps your company's knowledge as files in a local workspace and was built around coding agents like Claude Code and Cursor. AgentOS runs in the browser, connects to the apps a business already uses, and was built for the whole team, including the people who never open a terminal. If your company runs on engineers, HQ is a strong choice. If most of your team works in email, Slack and a CRM, AgentOS will fit better.

AgentOS vs HQ at a glance

	HQ	AgentOS
What it is	A company brain made of files, plus the setup that puts your AI tools to work on it	A workspace that holds your company's knowledge and tools, runs workflows on them, and shares them with every AI tool you use
Where it lives	In a local workspace on each person's computer, synced through HQ Cloud	In the browser. There's nothing to install
Getting started	Install the desktop app or command-line tool, then run setup inside Claude Code	Sign up, connect your apps, and ask your first question
Built around	Coding agents first: Claude Code, Codex and Cursor. ChatGPT and Claude chat connect over MCP	Business teams first. Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor connect over MCP
Automation	Bots that start on a schedule or a company event. Hosted bots start at $100 a month each	Workflows you describe in plain language. Otto, the built-in agent, builds them and runs them on a schedule
Approval before changes	Changes to skill files surface for review. We didn't find approval steps for what a bot does	Important changes to your business systems wait for a person to approve them
Seeing what AI costs	Not covered on HQ's site, apart from a usage dashboard on one plan	One view of AI use and spend across the tools and teams you connect
Open source	Yes. The core is MIT-licensed and your knowledge stays as plain files you own	No. AgentOS is a hosted product
Pricing	Free for up to 5 people. Individual $50 a month. Workforce $500 a month flat (as of Oct 6, 2026)	Free to start. See the pricing page for current plans

HQ details come from hqforwork.com (product, pricing and FAQ pages) and its public GitHub repository, checked October 6, 2026. HQ is a new product and its pages are changing quickly, so check the sources below before you decide.

What is HQ?

HQ is a product from Indigo AI that calls itself "the company brain your AI runs on." The idea is simple. Instead of every AI tool keeping its own notes about your business, your company's knowledge, skills, projects and policies live in one set of files. Any AI tool you point at those files starts with the same understanding.

You install HQ on your computer, either as a desktop app or from the command line, and set it up from inside Claude Code. The files stay on your machine, and HQ Cloud handles syncing, sharing and who has access. There's a marketplace of "packs" that add ready-made skills, and bots that can work in Slack or email.

What does HQ do well?

A few things about HQ are hard to argue with. The core is open source, and your knowledge is stored as ordinary files, so you're never locked in. The pricing is unusually friendly for bigger teams: free for up to five people, and a flat $500 a month for unlimited people on the Workforce plan.

It also fits coding agents extremely well. If your engineers already live in Claude Code, Codex or Cursor, HQ slots into that workflow with a few commands, and everything those agents learn stays in files the whole team can read.

How are HQ and AgentOS different?

The biggest difference is who can set it up. HQ's main path runs through an installer, a terminal and Claude Code. HQ says non-technical teammates can join in through Claude Desktop or ChatGPT, but someone comfortable with developer tools has to get it running first. AgentOS runs in a browser. You sign up, connect Gmail, Slack, Google Drive or your CRM, and start asking questions. Nobody installs anything.

The second difference is how work gets done. In HQ, automation comes from bots and skill files. In AgentOS, you describe a workflow in plain language, such as "every Friday, pull this week's client emails and draft a status update for each account." Otto, the agent built into AgentOS, builds it, runs it on schedule and checks in when a decision needs a person.

The third is control. When an AgentOS agent wants to change something important in one of your systems, it waits for a person to approve it, and answers link back to the email, call or document they came from. AgentOS also gives you one view of AI use across the company: which models each team uses and what that costs. We couldn't find either of those on HQ's site today, though it's a young product and that may change.

Should you choose HQ or AgentOS?

Choose HQ if your company is engineering-led, your team already works in coding agents, and you like the idea of open-source software and plain files on your own machines.

Choose AgentOS if most of your team works in email, chat, documents and a CRM, if you want workflows a non-technical person can set up, or if someone needs to see and control what the company's AI use costs.

Both products agree on the main point. AI tools get far more useful once they share what your company knows.

What is a company brain?

"Company brain" is one name for an idea that goes by several: a shared place where your company's knowledge lives, so every AI tool and agent works from the same understanding. You'll also see it called a context layer or a context lake. We wrote a longer guide to what a context layer is and how to tell whether you need one.

If you're comparing options, these may help too: what AgentOS is, how AgentOS works with Claude, and how to manage AI costs once several tools are in play.

Questions people ask

Is AgentOS an HQ alternative?

Yes. Both give your AI tools a shared understanding of your company. HQ does it with files in a local workspace and is built around coding agents. AgentOS runs in the browser, connects to business apps like Gmail, Slack and your CRM, and adds plain-language workflows, approvals and a view of AI spend.

What is HQ (hqforwork.com)?

HQ is a product from Indigo AI that describes itself as the company brain your AI runs on. It stores company knowledge, skills, projects and policies as files that AI tools such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and ChatGPT can work from.

How much does HQ cost?

As of October 6, 2026, HQ's pricing page lists a free plan, a free Starter plan for up to 5 people, Individual at $50 a month, and Workforce at a flat $500 a month for unlimited people. Hosted bots start at $100 a month each and meeting notes are $1 an hour.

Can non-technical teammates use HQ?

HQ's FAQ says they can, through Claude Desktop or ChatGPT connected to HQ, and through bots in Slack and email. The main setup still runs through an installer and Claude Code, so someone technical usually gets it started.

Does HQ replace Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor?

No. HQ says it works with those tools and isn't a model of its own. The same is true of AgentOS. Both sit underneath the AI tools you already use.

What's the difference between a company brain and a knowledge base?

A knowledge base is written for people to read. A company brain, or context layer, is built for AI tools to work from: it stays current, carries permissions, and is shared across every tool, so each one starts with the same picture of the business.

AgentOS is free to try and runs in your browser. Connect two or three of the apps your team uses every day and see what your AI tools can do once they know the business.

Try AgentOS free

Sources

AgentOS is built by Devcore. Found something out of date on this page? Tell us at tryagentos.net and we'll fix it.