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Startnet OS Reviews: What StarNet Really Is, My Verdict, And How It Fits An Agent OS
Startnet OS reviews are reviews of StarNet, a free, open-source AI agent harness, and my quick verdict is 3.5 out of 5.
"Startnet OS" is a misspelling of StarNet, and StarNet isn't an operating system, because it's a desktop app that runs your agents inside a pixel-art space station.
I run it as a tab inside my own Agent OS, so this page explains the name, gives you my verdict and shows how it fits an Agent OS workflow.
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Quick verdict and scores
My quick verdict is 3.5 out of 5.
These scores are my own opinion from my own install of v0.13.1, not a lab benchmark.
| What I scored | My score | Short reason |
|---|---|---|
| Fun and design | 10/10 | It's the most enjoyable agent interface I've used. |
| First-run setup | 8/10 | The first agent is quick, but my source install needed npm ci. |
| Brain and model choice | 8/10 | It takes subscriptions, API keys and local models. |
| Permissions and control | 9/10 | Web and file access are switches on each agent. |
| Crew and multi-agent | 9/10 | You can recruit, deploy and summon a team. |
| Chat speed | 6/10 | There's a slight delay after every message. |
| Practical business use | 5/10 | I don't think there's a massive amount of practical use cases yet. |
| Maturity | 6/10 | The README calls it an early release. |
| Overall | 3.5/5 | It's a fun agent harness, not an operating system. |
My full scored review is in my StarNet reviews guide, and this page focuses on the name, the OS question and how it fits an Agent OS.
What "Startnet OS" actually means
The official name is StarNet, and the README never calls it "StarNet OS".
"Startnet" is StarNet with an extra letter, which is an easy typo to make.
The "OS" part comes from how the tool gets described.
My own video on my AI News Today podcast channel is titled "NEW StarNet Agent OS is INSANE!"
| What people type | What it really means |
|---|---|
| Startnet OS | It's a misspelling of StarNet. |
| StarNet OS | It's StarNet, described loosely as an agent operating system. |
| StarNet Agent OS | It's the phrase in my own video title for the same tool. |
| StarNet | It's the official name in the repo and the README. |
So if you searched "Startnet OS", you've found StarNet, and it lives at github.com/androoAGI/starnet.
Is StarNet an operating system?
No, StarNet isn't an operating system in the computer sense.
It's a local-first desktop harness that runs on top of Windows or macOS.
The README lists a vanilla JavaScript frontend, a local Node runtime called the sidecar and a Rust and Tauri desktop shell.
It does act like an operating system for agents, because it runs several agents at once with their own workspaces and bounded permissions.
The README also says memory, transcripts, spend records, tasks and schedules persist on disk.
That's why the "agent OS" label sticks, and in that loose sense it's fair.
It's open source under the MIT License, the repo has more than 1,500 GitHub stars, and the latest release on 16 October 2026 is v0.13.5.
If you want my team to look at how AI agents and content can get your business found in Google and AI search, book a free SEO strategy session.
🔥 Want the exact StarNet setup I run inside my Agent OS?
Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get the installable Agent OS, step-by-step video tutorials, four coaching calls a week and 3,400+ members building real automations.
StarNet vs a full Agent OS
This is where most of the confusion comes from, so here's the honest comparison.
My Agent OS is my own product, so weigh my view with that in mind.
| Question | StarNet | A full Agent OS (my own) |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | It's a free desktop agent harness shown as a pixel-art station. | It's my dashboard for running a crew of agents under one shared memory. |
| Who makes it? | Andrew Sims publishes it on GitHub as androoAGI. | I built it, and members get it inside the AI Profit Boardroom. |
| What does it cost? | It's free under the MIT License, plus whatever brain you connect. | It comes with AI Profit Boardroom membership. |
| What is it best at? | It's best at making agents fun and visible. | It's best at running real jobs with Hermes, Claude and other agents. |
| How do I use them together? | I run StarNet as one tab. | The Agent OS is the shell around that tab. |
I embedded StarNet as a tab inside my Agent OS, which is the setup I'd recommend.
You get the fun station for watching and learning, while your real SEO and publishing jobs keep running through the main dashboard.
In the AI Profit Boardroom I describe it as an agentic operating system where you can actually build StarNet in.
StarNet quick start
This is the shortest path from nothing to a working agent.
| Step | What you do | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Download the Windows or macOS app, or clone the repo to run it from source. | Apple Silicon Macs need the aarch64 file, not the x64 one. |
| 2 | If you're on source, run npm ci if the sidecar won't start. | My install needed it despite the zero-install wording. |
| 3 | Open the local web app. | The README uses port 8787, and mine runs on port 8788. |
| 4 | Connect a brain by signing in, pasting a key or choosing Ollama. | Paid brains create real bills. |
| 5 | Create an agent and pick "ask for approval" or "full power". | Start on ask for approval. |
| 6 | Give it a direction in chat. | Expect a slight delay on each reply. |
The desktop builds are on the StarNet releases page.
Running from source needs Node.js 18 or newer and Git.
The install guide says not to bypass a Windows or macOS security warning for a public release, and to report it instead.
For a free brain, the README says to install Ollama, run ollama pull qwen3:8b and pick OLLAMA as the provider.
It warns local models are slower and rougher on long tasks, and an 8B model takes about 10 GB of graphics memory.
In my video I explained StarNet can plug into existing subscriptions, including a Claude Code subscription through the Claude CLI, Kimi and Grok.
The README adds an OpenRouter key and sign-ins for supported Anthropic, OpenAI and Google accounts.
I signed in with Grok and picked Grok 4.6 over Grok 4.7, because I actually prefer Grok 4.6.
🔥 Want the exact StarNet setup I run inside my Agent OS?
Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get the installable Agent OS, step-by-step video tutorials, four coaching calls a week and 3,400+ members building real automations.
What you get once it's running
You name your agent, check its pixel-art look and pick a personality such as warm, dry, composed or unhinged.
You choose a reasoning level from low, medium, high or max, and the agent is made in one or two clicks.
Mine woke up saying, "I'm awake. Let's give the station a direction."
The station view zooms and changes frame, and everything you run lives in four docks you can open or drag around.
Agents level up the more you use them, a bit like a Tamagotchi for an AI agent.
The detail panel lets you allow or remove web and local file access, and its Brief, Growth, History and Memories tabs show what the agent is doing.
Chat shows each agent's status and level, and the left-hand list switches between idle and online agents.
My agent asked, "What made you want to set up an AI agent?", and I told it SEO and gave it aiprofitboardroom.com.
Widgets add connected apps, pinned widgets and a daily brief.
The app catalog connects Gmail, Notion and GitHub, plus real-world abilities like finding flights, sending physical letters, email and web search through Firecrawl.
The skill market has originals like ad copy testing and calendar scheduling, and the skill library has frameworks you can switch on or off.
The Crew menu recruits roles like strategist, chief of staff, researcher and marketer, and you can deploy a role or summon a new agent.
Tasks, quests, a work list, builds and a Systems menu sit in one system.
If you'd like my team to map out where agents fit your marketing, grab a free one-to-one strategy session and we'll look at your site, your competitors and the keywords you're closest to winning.
Setup reality and limits
My source install needed an npm ci even though the README says the sidecar runs without installing anything.
The README says Windows is the most-tested platform and macOS has less real-world coverage.
Linux isn't a supported public release target.
There's a slight delay when you send a message.
My honest line from the video was, "I just think it's fun to play with. I don't think there's a massive amount of practical use cases."
A viewer was frustrated that StarNet couldn't be used with Hermes Agent, and the README doesn't list Hermes as a brain.
The README says StarNet can import an existing Hermes or OpenClaw agent's persona, instructions, memory and model, with API keys re-entered.
The v0.13.5 release notes say you should save a station backup first if you might ever roll back to 0.13.3 or older.
Pros, cons and who it suits
- The biggest pro is that StarNet is the smoothest office-style agent tool I've tested.
- Another pro is that every agent gets clear web and file permissions.
- Another pro is that the crew system makes a whole team of agents visible.
- The biggest con is that I don't see a massive amount of practical use cases yet.
- Another con is that the name people search suggests an operating system, and it isn't one.
- Another con is the slight delay on every chat message.
StarNet suits operators and creators who want to learn how agent teams behave by watching one work.
It suits anyone who wants a free, local-first harness they can run next to their main tools.
It doesn't suit anyone who needs a hardened agent OS for client work today.
StarNet also felt like a much more fun version of Paperclip to me, and it reminded me of the first time I tested Hermes Agent.
Other tools that call themselves an OS
If you want an agent OS, this is my own ranking, and my own product is first, so weigh that.
| Rank | Name | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agent OS (my own, inside the AI Profit Boardroom) | Running Hermes, Claude and other agents from one dashboard with shared memory. |
| 2 | StarNet | A fun, gamified station where you watch a crew work. |
| 3 | Herald OS | A free, Hermes-based interface that comes closest to a literal operating system. |
Herald OS describes itself as an agent-native operating system with Hermes Agent as the interface, and my Herald OS guide covers it.
My AI Agent OS guide shows what the full dashboard looks like.
Also On Our Network
FAQ
What is Startnet OS?
Startnet OS is a misspelling of StarNet, a free, open-source AI agent harness by Andrew Sims, published on GitHub as androoAGI. It runs AI agents inside a pixel-art space station on your own computer.
Is StarNet an operating system?
No. StarNet is a desktop app that runs on Windows or macOS. People call it an agent OS because it runs several agents at once with their own workspaces, permissions and memory.
Why does Julian call it StarNet Agent OS?
Julian's own video title calls it the StarNet Agent OS, and he runs StarNet as a tab inside his Agent OS. The official name in the repo and README is simply StarNet.
Is StarNet the same as Julian's Agent OS?
No. StarNet is a free MIT-licensed project by androoAGI. Julian's Agent OS is his own dashboard for running a crew of agents, available inside the AI Profit Boardroom, and he runs StarNet as one tab inside it.
What score does StarNet get?
Julian rates StarNet 3.5 out of 5. It scores highest on fun, permissions and the crew system, and lowest on practical business use and chat speed.
How do I install StarNet?
Download the desktop app for Windows or macOS from the StarNet releases page, or clone github.com/androoAGI/starnet and run it from source with Node.js 18 or newer. Julian's source install needed npm ci first.
Final word on Startnet OS reviews
Search for StarNet, download it from the official releases page and create one agent on "ask for approval".
Treat it as a fun agent harness, not as the operating system for your business.
If you want a clear plan for getting your content found in Google and AI search, book your free strategy session here.
If you want the Agent OS with StarNet built in as a tab, it lives inside the AI Profit Boardroom, with 3,400+ members and four coaching calls a week.
That's my honest answer to these Startnet OS reviews.
About Julian
I'm Julian Goldie, an AI entrepreneur, SEO expert and the founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.
I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.
My YouTube channel has 400,000+ subscribers, and I run Goldie Agency, a seven-figure SEO agency.
Related guides on agentos.guide
→ StarNet AI Agent In Your Agent OS
→ StarNet GitHub: Install And Updates
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