AI · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to legacy-use – add REST APIs to legacy software with computer-use
Hello HN! Sebastian here from Schub. We just open-sourced a new project I've been working on, called legacy-use, and I’d love to get your thoughts. At Schub, we’ve been building agents that automate legacy Windows software (healthcare systems, finance tools, EHRs), the kind of stuff that’s mission-critical but hasn’t changed since Windows XP. These apps have zero APIs and usually require humans clicking around all day. So we built legacy-use, an agentic API layer for any desktop app. Well, technically any software. Legacy-use lets AI agents control GUI-based software by emulating mouse and…
Legacy-use is an open-source tool that adds REST API capabilities to legacy desktop software by enabling AI agents to control applications through GUI automation. It emulates mouse and keyboard input with visual… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Prices are shown for the 1 we have checked on their own sites, 1 of them free or with a free tier.
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Control the web with prompts (open source)
2025 · browser-use.com · its alternatives →
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My-legacy.ai▲232Conversational, secure & affordable estate planning platform
2024 · my-legacy.ai · its alternatives →
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Hey HN, I made Browser-Use, an open-source tool that lets (all Langchain supported) LLMs execute tasks directly in the browser just with function calling. It allows you to build agents that interact with web elements using natural language prompts. We created a layer that simplifies website interaction for LLMs by extracting xPaths and interactive elements like buttons and input fields (and other fancy things). This enables you to design custom web automation and scraping functions without manual inspection through DevTools. Hasn't this been done a lot of times? Good question, as a general…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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I've been building computer-use tools for a while, and I quietly launched this about a month ago (122 Stars on GH). I figured it was worth sharing here. Over the last few months, a lot of computer-use agents have come out: Codex, Claude Code, CUA, and others. Most of them seem to work roughly like this: 1. Take a screenshot 2. Have the model predict pixel coordinates 3. Click x,y 4. Take another screenshot 5. Repeat That works, but it's slow, expensive in tokens, and fragile. If the UI shifts a few pixels, things break. And the model still doesn't know what any element actually is. But the…
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Arch▲314Hey HN — I’m Adil from Katanemo (with Salman, Shuguang, and Meiyu) We previously shared an early version of this project as ArchGW. Based on customer feedback, the scope expanded from “LLM routing and model access” into something broader: delivery infrastructure for agentic applications. We renamed it to Plano and reworked the architecture accordingly. The problem On-the-ground AI practitioners will tell you that calling an LLM is not the hard part. The really hard part is delivering agentic applications to production quickly and reliably, then iterating without rewriting system code every…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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UseAgents▲83Define tools once for agents use them everywhere
Mar 2026 · useagents.site · its alternatives →
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Open Browser Use▲112Open-source browser automation for local AI agents
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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tui-use lets agents interact with programs that expect a human at the keyboard — REPLs, debuggers, TUI apps, and anything else bash can't reach. - onesuper/tui-use
Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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This started off as a project to understand how to get LLMs to interface with more traditional desktop softwares. We were especially interested in tools related to schematic drafting and molecular simulation. Decided to explore COM automation for more traditional Windows softwares as a starting point! Been using it to help some friends automate simple excel workflows. Thought we'd share!
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Open-source Computer Use MCP for AI agents
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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UseDesktop▲78An infrastructure layer for training deskop agents
Mar 2026 · usedesktop.com · its alternatives →
- 13RE
Hey HN! We built a browser-based agent that runs inside an authenticated web app, watches how the app calls its own APIs, and automatically turns those into agent tools. You can think of it as an auto-generated MCP server that self-updates as the host app changes. The result is a skilled AI assistant that actually integrates deeply with any product (not just chat and RAG) with minimal effort. Check out these short demos below that show the agent in software you're probably familiar with: - Jira: https://demo.frigade.com/hn?skill=jira - Spotify:…
Jul 2026 · its alternatives →
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Coasty▲141A Computer-Use-Agent that runs legacy software like a human
Jul 2026 · coasty.ai · its alternatives →
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Computer Using Agents by LLMHubfree tier, from $0.05/mo▲84Agents using isolated computers to get work done like humans
2025 · coasty.ai · its alternatives →
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What's up HN! This is Jared and Art. We met on HN and started building together. Over the last few months we've been thinking a lot about how AI agents are going to impact the future. We want agents to be something that's actually useful for normal people as well as the 10x'ers. This lead us to building Meha over the last few months, our first swing at our vision! We saw OpenAI release Operators then we said f*k it let's post. Meha is a desktop app that uses your Chrome browser to execute tasks in the background. It controls your installed Chrome browser and uses LLMs with playwright to plan…
2025 · meha.ai · its alternatives →
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LapuAi▲68Desktop-native AI agent for every app, file & browser
Jul 2026 · lapu.ai · its alternatives →
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Hey HN, I built browser-use, an open-source alternative to OpenAI’s Operator for browser-use systems, and here’s why I think it’s better: Flexibility: You can use any LLM with our tool – Gemini, Anthropic, Qwen, Llama, DeepSeek, and more. As new models improve, so does your agent. Open Source: No need to pay $200/month or endure long waitlists – it’s free and accessible to everyone today. Custom Automation: Our Python package allows you to build actual web automations. Your LLM can gain new tools, like file uploads. Cost: Our system is 30x cheaper than Operator, e.g., when used with…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Free go-to resource for all things AI agents automation
Oct 2025 · reliableagents.ai · its alternatives →
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Backengine is a tool that evolved from an experiment at my startup for which we wanted to pass structured data to an LLM completion API and receive structured data back. We thought we'd release it as a standalone tool for others who might also find it useful. Backengine lets you create hosted API endpoints for which the endpoint logic is described in natural language as an LLM prompt. The endpoints accept structured requests and return structured responses. Why is this useful? Hosted - no additional infrastructure to maintain. Prompt engineering workspace - you can edit, test and tweak…
2023 · backengine.dev · its alternatives →
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Hi HN I recently got married, promptly had a bit of a meltdown, and decided to lock myself in a room and build for a while. At the same time, I was trying to outbound sell for my startup and kept running into the same problem: I wanted an automation tool that could actually use my computer like a person. Click through UIs, copy/paste between apps, handle messy workflows — not just APIs and webhooks. I couldn’t find anything that felt: - consumer-friendly (non-technical) - local-first - flexible enough for real-world, UI-driven tasks So I challenged myself to see how far I could get…
Jan 2026 · automatewithtasker.com · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →