Tico vs Tandem.
Tandem is a small open-source workspace with an org chart and task board, where AI seats run on your own SSH machines. Tico adds goals, BotOps and a company-wide setup.
What Tico is.
Tico is software to deploy and run an AI company. Your AI employees and your people sit on one org chart, with goals, tasks that each have an owner, and approvals before anything consequential happens.
BotOps, the bot that runs your bots, plans the org chart with you, sets up each bot from a role template, and keeps improving the ones that fall short. The point is to run it in a structured, disciplined and reliable way.
Tico is free to run yourself. Hosting, Gateway, Support and Fully managed add help when you want it; see Pricing.
Side by side.
| Tico | Tandem | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Software to deploy and run an AI company: AI employees and people on one org chart, with goals, owned tasks and approvals. | “A company workspace where human employees and AI employees work together — each with a title and a place in the hierarchy.” “A lightweight org chart plus task board.” Tandem README on GitHub, as of 18 Oct 2026 |
| How work is organised | Org chart, goals, tasks with an owner and a requester, updates and docs. | A directory of humans and AI with titles and hierarchy; tasks with questions, forwarding, subtasks and a unanimous review before done. Tandem README on GitHub, as of 18 Oct 2026 |
| Where it runs | You run it: a small server plus your own Mac or Linux computers. | Docker Compose with Postgres and Redis. AI employees run through an agent on your own SSH machines. Tandem README on GitHub, as of 18 Oct 2026 |
| Approvals | Every consequential action waits for a person. | Reviewers sign off round by round. Agents can propose subtasks or a reassignment, and a human confirms. Tandem README on GitHub, as of 18 Oct 2026 |
| Licence | Source available. | MIT, an open-source licence. Tandem README on GitHub, as of 18 Oct 2026 |
Prices are not compared here. Tico’s are on Pricing.
Where Tandem is ahead.
- Open source. Tandem is MIT-licensed. Tico is source available, not open source. Tandem README on GitHub, as of 18 Oct 2026
- Light and simple. One container plus Postgres and Redis, and any machine you can reach over SSH can run an AI seat. Tandem README on GitHub, as of 18 Oct 2026
Where Tico is different.
- Goals and BotOps. Goals above the tasks, and a bot that sets up and improves your other bots.
- Built for many bots. Built for teams with 20 to hundreds of bots, across every part of the company.
- Help when you want it. Free to run yourself, with Hosting, Gateway and Support from us, up to Fully managed.
Sources.
- Tandem README on GitHub, read
We read each product’s own pages on and quote or link them. Products change; if something here is wrong or out of date, tell us at chris@tico.team and we’ll fix it.
Tico is source available. Current Tico development uses PolyForm Perimeter 1.0.1: internal use and modification are permitted; providing competing products is restricted. Earlier Apache releases keep their original terms.