# Goose > Source: > Published: 2026-09-29 14:00:00+00:00 Open Source Alternative to: Stars Last commit Repository age Version License Self-hosted Repository Goose is a general-purpose AI agent that runs natively on your machine. It's not narrowly focused on coding: you can use it for research, writing, data analysis, browser automation, or any multi-step task you'd otherwise piece together manually. It ships as a desktop app for macOS, Linux, and Windows, a full CLI for terminal-first workflows, and an API for embedding it in other tools. The LLM support is broad. Goose works with 15+ providers, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Ollama, [LocalAI](https://openalternative.co/localai), OpenRouter, Azure, and Bedrock. You can use API keys or connect through existing Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini subscriptions, so you're not locked into a new billing relationship just to try it. Extensibility is central to how goose works: Goose also implements the Agent Client Protocol, which means it works as an ACP server you can connect from editors like Zed, JetBrains, or VS Code. It can use [Codex](https://openalternative.co/alternatives/codex) and similar agents as providers through the same standard. The project sits under the Agentic AI Foundation at the Linux Foundation, which keeps it vendor-neutral and community-governed. Built in Rust for performance, it has attracted 500+ contributors and 45k+ GitHub stars. If you want a self-hostable, provider-agnostic agent that works across interfaces and integrates deeply with the MCP ecosystem, goose covers a lot of ground. Every Sunday we deconstruct one proprietary app and pick the best open source alternatives worth switching to. Compare with