Run a Team of AI Coworkers on Your Own Server With Rerun
In short
- Rerun is an open-source app (AGPL-3.0) that gives you AI coworkers with their own job, memory, browser and schedule, all on one board. You can self-host it.
- Self-hosting needs Docker, Node.js 22, a free Supabase project and an OpenRouter key. The hosted Pro plan is $29 a month.
- Money angle: boring inbox, invoice and lead chores can run on your own server for €0 in software fees, with a human approving anything risky.
Every small business has the same problem. Somebody has to sort the inbox, chase late invoices and qualify leads, and that somebody is usually you. Hiring costs hundreds of euros a month. Classic automation tools break the moment a page changes. Rerun takes a different route: you hire AI coworkers and keep them on your own machine.
The project showed up on Product Hunt this week and ranked third on November 5. It is young, so I will tell you what works on paper and where it is thin.
What Rerun is
Rerun is a no-code builder for AI agents it calls coworkers. Each coworker has its own name, instructions, model, memory, skills, files and a browser you can watch or take over. It runs on a schedule, on a webhook, or when you message it. A Foreman agent interviews you about the job and builds the team for you.
Two safety details matter. It asks for approval before sending, paying or deleting, even during scheduled runs, and then continues after you answer. And credentials stay on your machine instead of in Rerun’s database. According to the README, it supports 200+ integrations, any MCP server, and Composio with more than 2,000 apps. Models can come from Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini or OpenRouter.
The makers are Clément Janssens and Théo Louro. The code is on GitHub under AGPL-3.0. That means you can run and modify it freely, but if you host it for other people you must publish your changes under the same license.
What it costs
How much does it cost? Self-hosted, the software is free. You still pay for the model. If you connect your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription, or use a local model, Rerun’s pricing page says those models cost nothing on Rerun’s side. With OpenRouter you pay per use.
- Self-hosted: free software. You pay for your own server, model access and Supabase if you outgrow the free tier.
- Hosted free trial: $0 for 5 days, card required. Up to 3 coworkers and 350 credits.
- Hosted Pro: $29 a month. Unlimited coworkers, unlimited seats, 500 credits a month. Extra 1,000 credits cost $10 a month. LinkedIn and WhatsApp add $19 a month.
- Enterprise: custom price.
Do the math: say one person spends 20 hours a month on inbox sorting, invoice reminders and lead checks, at €15 an hour. That is €300 a month, or €3,600 a year. Hosted Pro at $29 is roughly €27 a month, about €330 a year. If a coworker handles even half of that work, you save around €1,800 a year before model costs. Those hours are an example, so use your own.
Rerun does not charge per task or per run. That is a real plus compared with tools that count every execution.
How to self-host it, step by step
These steps come from the project’s README. You need Docker, Node.js 22, a Supabase project (the free tier works) and an OpenRouter key. A small VPS or an old computer is enough to start.
- Clone the repo:
git clone https://github.com/rerun-build/rerun.git && cd rerun - Copy the settings file:
cp .env.example .env. Open it and fill in your Supabase URL and keys, and your OpenRouter key. - Run the check script:
node scripts/self-host-check.mjs. It tells you what is missing before you waste time. - Link your Supabase project and push the database:
npx supabase link --project-ref YOUR-PROJECT-REF, thennpx supabase db push --include-seed. - Start it:
docker compose up -d --build. Openhttp://localhost:3000. - Talk to the Foreman. Describe one small job, for example sorting your support inbox into urgent and not urgent. Connect only the tool it needs.
- Turn on approvals for anything that sends, pays or deletes. Run it for a week with you approving everything before you loosen anything.
The README does not list every environment variable. It points to the self-hosting guide at docs.rerun.build for the rest, so keep that open while you fill the file.
Jobs worth giving a coworker first
Pick work that is frequent, boring and easy to check. Rerun’s own page mentions invoice chasing, lead qualification and inbox sorting. Those are the right first picks because a wrong answer is cheap and you can see it fast.
- Invoice reminders: a coworker checks your accounting inbox every morning and drafts reminders for overdue payments. You approve before anything is sent.
- Lead triage: new form submissions get a score and a short summary in your chat.
- Competitor watch: a browser coworker checks three price pages weekly and reports changes.
- Support sorting: incoming messages are tagged and drafted, never sent without your yes.
For a business like GiantParts, where the same stock and fitment questions arrive every day, I would test inbox sorting first. That is a plan, not a result. I have not run Rerun on it yet.
Limits and weak spots
Be realistic. The GitHub repo is tiny: 2 stars and 12 commits when I checked. That means little community, little battle testing and fast-changing code. Do not put your only copy of anything important behind it.
Some features are Cloud-only: the template library, the ready-made computer for each workspace, the included model credit, premium connections such as LinkedIn, WhatsApp, paid data and emails, and official support. On Product Hunt a user asked for docs that show which connections depend on Rerun Cloud. The maker said that is being worked on.
Self-hosting also means you own backups, updates and security. And one more thing: coworkers in a workspace share the same machine, folder and database. A Box groups them but does not isolate them. Do not mix a client’s data with your own experiments.
Alternatives
- n8n: a mature workflow tool you can also self-host. Better when your process is fixed and you want exact control.
- Make: hosted visual automations with a huge app library. Easy start, but you pay for usage as you grow.
- Zapier: the simplest hosted option for small chains of apps, at the price of per-task limits.
The difference: those tools run steps you define. Rerun’s pitch is an agent that works out the steps, uses a browser and asks you when unsure. That is more flexible and less predictable.
Ivan’s Take
Worth a weekend test, not worth betting the company on yet. The idea is right: own the machine, approve the risky steps, pay no per-run fees. But a 2-star repo with missing Cloud-only details is an experiment. I would start with one boring chore, keep approvals on, and compare it to the hours I spend on it today.
Sources: Rerun · Product Hunt
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