An evaluation guide
Looking for an open-source
Devin alternative?
Start with the work you need done. Shiba gives solo builders and teams a self-hosted workspace for AI employees across engineering, design, marketing, sales, operations, finance, and research.
We build Shiba. This guide is a way to evaluate it, not a claim that it matches every Devin feature or performs better.
What you choose with Shiba
The software is open source under AGPL-3.0-only. You run it in your own Cloudflare account, choose a configured model, and manage access to the workspace.
That gives you control and responsibility. Hosting and model usage cost extra, and someone needs to maintain the installation. Shiba is under development; review the readiness checklist before relying on a live deployment.
For any hosted alternative, check the provider's current product and pricing information against your requirements. We have not run a head-to-head benchmark or verified comparative cost savings.
Use four questions to judge the fit.
- Useful output
- Can the employee return something your team can inspect: a code change, brief, report, or checklist?
- Permission
- Can you see the proposed request before repository work starts, including whether a pull request will be published?
- Review
- Can you read the files and reported checks, spot missing evidence, and decide what to use?
- Operation
- Are you willing to set up the installation, manage access, and pay the hosting and model providers?
Employees describe responsibilities, not separate models. The built-in templates are Engineering, Marketing, Research, and Operations; other roles use custom instructions.
Try one task you can check.
Choose a low-risk example from your own work. Give the employee the relevant context and say what should come back.
- Engineering: fix a reproducible bug and add a regression test.
- Marketing or design: turn product notes into a launch brief or a design specification.
- Sales or revenue: draft an account brief or summarize supplied pipeline notes.
- Operations or finance: write a handoff checklist or draft a budget from figures you provide.
Every execution currently needs a GitHub repository, including non-code tasks. Documents are drafts for your review. A role does not connect an account, update a CRM, send outreach, run bookkeeping, or authorize payments.
- Describe the task, the repository, and the expected output.
- Read the proposed request and approve standard repository execution only when it matches your intent.
- Inspect the files, changes, and checks. Note what was missing or needed correction.
- Compare the setup effort, review time, and actual hosting and model charges with your other options.
Free software. Separate running costs.
You do not need a Shiba subscription or an invitation to self-host the source. You pay the hosting and model providers you configure. Your task size, model, and usage determine those costs.
See Costs and Self-hosting before setting up an installation. Keep publication off for the first task, then review the result before deciding what to share.
Evaluate the work, not the promise.
A small task will tell you more about the fit than a feature checklist. Start there, and keep the final decision with your team.