Is Kortix AI Free? Pricing, Self-Host, and What You Actually Own

Published: 2026-09-25

Kortix is an open-source AI Management System — the autonomous-company operating system where your agents, skills, connectors, and memory live in one git repo you own. Its open-source core is Suna.

Is Kortix AI free? The short answer is split in two: the open-source platform, Suna, is free to self-host, while the managed Kortix Cloud is a paid service at $40 per seat per month plus usage. This page explains exactly which parts cost nothing, what the managed tier bills, what the Elastic License 2.0 actually permits, and what you own when you run Kortix yourself.

Is Kortix free?

Kortix is free when you self-host it, and paid when you use the managed cloud. The documentation describes the product as "the Autonomous Company Operating System — a cloud computer where a workforce of AI agents runs your company, and everything is code you own." The Suna README reduces the access model to a single comparison-table row: "Self-host free · managed cloud $40/seat/mo + usage." The software costs nothing to run on your own machines; the subscription applies only when you run it on the managed Kortix Cloud.

What does Kortix cost?

The managed Kortix Cloud costs $40 per seat per month plus usage, while self-hosting the software is free, per the Suna README. Model costs are separate by design, because Kortix does not bundle a model into the price. The Suna README states the model policy as "any provider, your own keys — or the ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor subscription you already pay for." That means your model spend is whatever your chosen provider charges, with no lock-in to a single model vendor. The only infrastructure bill is your own, since Kortix "runs on your own infrastructure — a laptop, a VPS, your own VPC, or your own on-prem network" (Suna README).

Free vs open source: the license

Kortix is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0, which is not the same as OSI-approved open source. The license text is published in the Suna repository (LICENSE), and GitHub's license detector files it as "Other" rather than a standard open-source license. The Elastic License 2.0 grants the right to use, copy, distribute, and prepare derivative works, with one important limitation: "You may not provide the software to third parties as a hosted or managed service, where the service provides users with access to any substantial set of the features or functionality of the software." In practice, you can read, fork, audit, and self-host Kortix freely, but you cannot resell it as your own managed SaaS — that paid role is what the managed Kortix Cloud fills.

What you actually own

When you run Kortix, your company's entire configuration is files in a git repository you own, not state locked inside a closed vendor account. The about page lists the components as files in one repo: "Agents, skills, connectors, triggers and memory are files in one git repo that is the company." Each session runs on its own isolated machine, on its own branch, and when the work is done the agent "opens a change request. You review it and merge it to the default branch" (docs). Secrets are "encrypted at rest," and "connector credentials brokered server-side, never entering the machine" (about). Because everything is versioned in a repo you own, you can self-host on your own VPC or on-prem network instead of handing that configuration to a vendor (Suna README).

When Kortix is (and isn't) the right fit

Kortix is the right fit when you want to own your agent infrastructure, audit the code you run, and self-host on your own VPC or on-prem network. It is the wrong fit when you need a permissive OSI-approved license such as MIT or Apache — the Elastic License 2.0 is source-available but not OSI-open (LICENSE) — or when you plan to resell the platform as your own managed service, which the license forbids. It is also the wrong fit if you want a fully hands-off experience with no git repo, no code, and no infrastructure responsibility, since the ownership model assumes you are comfortable reviewing change requests (docs).

FAQ

Is Kortix AI completely free?

No. The open-source platform, Suna, is free to self-host, but the managed Kortix Cloud is paid. The Suna README states the split as "Self-host free · managed cloud $40/seat/mo + usage."

How much does Kortix cost per seat?

Managed Kortix Cloud costs $40 per seat per month plus usage (Suna README). A self-hosted Kortix instance has no per-seat software fee; you pay only for your own infrastructure.

Is Kortix open source?

Kortix is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0, not OSI-approved open source. You may read, fork, audit, and self-host it, but you may not offer it to third parties as a hosted or managed service (LICENSE).

Can I self-host Kortix, and where does it run?

Yes. Kortix "runs on your own infrastructure — a laptop, a VPS, your own VPC, or your own on-prem network," and the managed option is Kortix Cloud (Suna README).

Do I pay extra for the models Kortix uses?

Models are not bundled. Kortix supports "any provider, your own keys — or the ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor subscription you already pay for," so your model bill is whatever your provider charges (Suna README).

How do I get started with Kortix?

Install the CLI with the one-line command from the Suna README (curl -fsSL https://kortix.com/install | bash), then run kortix init and kortix ship. For a zero-setup path, "sign up at kortix.com, create a project, and start a session — nothing to install."