Overview
Sim is an open-source AI workspace where teams build, deploy, and manage AI agents. You can build conversationally in chat, visually on a canvas, or directly with code, and connect more than 1,000 integrations together with every major LLM to automate real work.
In chat, you describe what you want in plain language and Sim takes action across your workspace: building agents, running them, querying data, and generating files. If you prefer a canvas, the visual Workflow builder lets you design agents block by block, while Sim can generate blocks, wire variables, and fix errors from natural language.
Sim also gives agents a place to store and use your data. You can upload documents into a knowledge base so agents answer from your own content, and keep structured data in built-in Tables that you query and feed back into agent runs. It is open-source under the Apache 2.0 license and can run fully self-hosted.
What it does
- Build agents three ways: conversationally in chat, visually in the Workflow canvas, or with code
- Connect 1,000+ integrations and every major LLM to automate real tasks
- Knowledge bases: upload documents so agents answer questions from your own content
- Built-in Tables to store, query, and wire structured data into agent runs
- Generate documents, reports, and presentations from a prompt, grounded in workspace data
- Self-host with one NPM command or Docker Compose, including local models via Ollama and vLLM
Getting started
You can use the cloud-hosted version at sim.ai, or self-host. The fastest self-hosted path is the NPM package, which spins up Sim using Docker. Docker must be installed and running on your machine.
Run Sim with the NPM package
Start a self-hosted Sim instance with a single command. It launches the app and opens at http://localhost:3000.
npx simstudioOr self-host with Docker Compose
Clone the repository and bring up the production stack. Once the containers are healthy, open http://localhost:3000.
git clone https://github.com/simstudioai/sim.git && cd sim
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -dUse local models (optional)
Sim supports local models through Ollama and vLLM, so you can run agents without a cloud LLM provider. See the Docker self-hosting docs for the model setup details.
Commands and code are distilled from the project's own documentation — always check the official repo for the latest.
When to use it
- Automate real work by connecting LLMs to your apps and data across 1,000+ integrations
- Build an internal assistant grounded in a knowledge base of your team's documents
- Design multi-step agent workflows visually and run them on a schedule or on demand
- Generate reports, documents, and presentations from prompts tied to your workspace data
How Sim compares
Sim alongside other open-source low-code & no-code builders tools AI/TLDR tracks, ranked by GitHub stars.
| Tool | Stars | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Langflow | ★ 150k | Langflow is an open-source platform for building AI agents and workflows visually, then deploying each flow as an API or MCP server. |
| NocoDB | ★ 63.5k | An open-source tool that turns any SQL database into a no-code spreadsheet-style app, used as a self-hosted Airtable alternative. |
| Flowise | ★ 53.7k | Flowise is an open-source low-code tool that lets you build LLM apps and AI agents by connecting nodes on a visual canvas, then ship them as an API or chat widget. |
| Appsmith | ★ 40.1k | An open-source low-code platform for quickly building internal tools, admin panels, and dashboards from a visual editor plus custom JavaScript and data-source connections. |
| ToolJet | ★ 38k | An open-source low-code platform with a drag-and-drop UI builder, built-in database, and JavaScript logic for building internal tools, dashboards, and workflows. |
| Directus | ★ 36k | An open-source data platform that wraps any SQL database in an instant API and a no-code admin app for managing content and building back-office tools. |
| Refine | ★ 34.9k | A React meta-framework for building data-heavy internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and B2B apps, combining low-code generators with full code control. |
| Sim | ★ 28.8k | Open-source AI workspace to build, deploy, and manage agents |