1. zai-cli
110 stars
MCP-native command line interface for Z.AI capabilities: vision analysis, web search, web reader, and GitHub repo exploration.
open-science alternatives: 12 Claude Code plugins like aipoch/open-science
Flowy lists 108 other Research plugins like open-science, ranked by shared technologies, then GitHub stars; nothing in this list is paid.
Published · Updated · By Flowy
How they compare
| Plugin | Stars | 7 days | Updated | License | Contains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| open-scienceThis page | 5,387 | +57 | Oct 27, 2026 | Apache-2.0 | 26 skills |
| 1zai-cli | 110 | not available | Jan 2, 2026 | MIT | 1 skill |
| 2last30days | 65,709 | +768 | Oct 27, 2026 | MIT | 1 skill |
| 3nature-skills | 51,234 | +1,276 | Oct 28, 2026 | Apache-2.0 | 24 skills |
| 4bgauryy-octocode-2 | 956 | +4 | Oct 21, 2026 | MIT | 13 skills |
| 5oh-my-paper | 747 | +7 | Apr 15, 2026 | MIT | 36 skills, 5 agents, 15 commands |
| 6horosa | 479 | +10 | Oct 25, 2026 | AGPL-3.0 | 1 skill, 1 MCP server |
| 7notebooklm | 213 | +11 | Oct 24, 2026 | MIT | 1 skill |
| 8servo-fetch | 163 | not available | Oct 24, 2026 | Apache-2.0 | 1 skill |
| 9deer-flow | 84,424 | +358 | Oct 26, 2026 | MIT | 29 skills, 2 agents |
| 10k-dense-ai-scientific-agent-skills | 54,934 | +1,474 | Oct 26, 2026 | MIT | 177 skills |
| 11gpt-researcher | 30,310 | +114 | Oct 10, 2026 | Apache-2.0 | 1 skill, 1 MCP server |
| 12openkb | 4,810 | +31 | Jul 22, 2026 | Apache-2.0 | 4 skills |
The 12 closest alternatives
2. last30days
65,709 stars+768 this week
An AI agent-led search engine scored by upvotes, likes, and real money - not editors.
3. nature-skills
51,234 stars+1,276 this week
符合nature论文学术表达和科研绘图的Skill
4. bgauryy-octocode-2
956 stars+4 this week
Evidence-first code research for AI agents and developers.
5. oh-my-paper
747 stars+7 this week
A Claude Code plugin that turns your terminal into an autonomous research lab — literature survey, experiment execution, paper writing…
6. horosa
479 stars+10 this week
把星阙（Horosa）的 110 个真实术数 / 占星技法，做成任何 AI 都能本地调用的 MCP server 与 CLI。 A local-first MCP server & CLI that exposes 110 real astrology…
7. notebooklm
213 stars+11 this week
Automate Google NotebookLM at scale.
8. servo-fetch
163 stars
A self-contained browser engine that fetches, renders, and extracts web content as Markdown, JSON, or screenshots — no Chromium, no API…
9. deer-flow
84,424 stars+358 this week
On February 28th, 2026, DeerFlow claimed the 🏆 #1 spot on GitHub Trending following the launch of version 2.
10. k-dense-ai-scientific-agent-skills
54,934 stars+1,474 this week
🔔 Claude Scientific Skills is now Scientific Agent Skills.
11. gpt-researcher
30,310 stars+114 this week
GPT Researcher the first open deep research agent designed for both web and local research on any given task.
12. openkb
4,810 stars+31 this week
Scale to long documents • Reasoning-based retrieval • Native multi-modality • No Vector DB 📢 Recent Updates Google Open Knowledge Format…
Questions about open-science alternatives
What is the best alternative to open-science?
zai-cli is the first of 12 alternatives to open-science by shared technologies: it has 110 stars (behind open-science).
Which open-science alternative has the most skills?
k-dense-ai-scientific-agent-skills has the most, with 177 skills of the 12 alternatives listed. open-science has 26.
Is open-science free?
Yes. open-science is published under the Apache-2.0 license, so it is free to use.