Paperclip is orchestration for developers. Tycoon is a company for founders.
Paperclip is an exceptionally fast-moving open-source orchestration framework (73.6K GitHub stars, 2 major versions + 7 blog posts in 10 days). It now includes Hermes agent runtime, Ramp-integrated agent bank accounts, and a Naïve Studio distribution channel. Paperclip is the best choice for developers who want full control over agent orchestration. Tycoon is the better choice for founders who want a pre-hired team, structured governance, persistent memory, and automated routines — without writing a single config file.
Paperclip now ships with Hermes built-in, Ramp bank accounts, and a Naïve Studio distribution deal. It's an impressive orchestration layer with 73.6K GitHub stars. But Paperclip is a toolkit — you configure org charts, write policy gates, and wire up tools. Tycoon is a company — you talk to your CEO, and nine specialists produce results. The difference is the difference between buying a server rack and hiring a CTO.
Clear answers about wallet credit, usage, subscriptions, and how Tycoon charges for work.
Paperclip is MIT licensed and free to self-host. You pay for the AI model calls (Claude, OpenAI, etc.) and your hosting infrastructure (Postgres, compute). There's also a managed version at paperclip.ing. A Naïve Studio managed SaaS is available through the Naïve+Paperclip alliance. Tycoon is free to start with usage-based pricing; most founders spend $50-$500/month for a full AI team.
Technically yes — Paperclip has all the primitives (agents, governance, budgets, heartbeats). But you'll spend days configuring the org chart, writing agent prompts, wiring up tools, and setting escalation rules before getting your first output. Most founders who try Paperclip abandon it in the first week. Tycoon skips the configuration entirely by shipping a pre-hired team with specialist expertise.
No. Tycoon and Paperclip both use agent runtimes (Claude Code, Hermes) for execution, but they're independent platforms with fundamentally different architectures. Tycoon is a managed, chat-first AI operating system; Paperclip is an open-source, config-first orchestration layer. Paperclip now bundles Hermes as its native agent runtime.
As of July 2026, Naïve's 'Naïve Studio' bundles Paperclip as its orchestration layer — Naïve provides infrastructure (company registration, bank cards, browser sessions) and Paperclip provides agent orchestration (org charts, task allocation, governance). Together they cover the full AI company stack, but you have to assemble and integrate them yourself. Tycoon delivers the same capabilities as a single, integrated operating system.
In July 2026, Paperclip announced 'Ramp for Agents' — your Paperclip agents can now have real bank accounts through Ramp. This is significant: it gives Paperclip agents the ability to spend real money. Tycoon's governance model (Chairman approves every irreversible action) provides a different kind of financial safety — you control spend through structured Decision Cards rather than code-based policy gates.