Nori vs Factory: Jiro or any agent with no token charges, or Droid with metered usage (October 2026)

Which is better, Nori or Factory?

It depends on where the work must run and how you want to pay. Both ship their own agent: Factory builds Droid, Nori ships Jiro. Pick Factory if you need a fully air-gapped deployment with on-prem models or an isolated EU deployment, want a $20 entry plan, and are happy standardizing on Droid. Pick Nori if you want Jiro or the harness your team already uses, Droid included, on your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription, keys, or gateway, with flat plans and no token charges. Factory meters usage per model; Nori never charges for tokens.

This page compares the two as of October 2026, using Factory's own pricing and documentation. It is part of our comparison of cloud coding agents; see also Nori vs Devin and Nori vs Warp.

What is Factory?

Factory builds Droid, a coding agent you run from a CLI, a desktop app, and Factory's hosted web and mobile platforms, plus automations that start Droid sessions on events and schedules. It is aimed at engineering organizations that want one agent across individual developers and larger teams, with an enterprise deployment story that goes as far as running without internet access. According to press reports, Factory raised $200M at a $5B valuation in September 2026.

As of October 2026, Factory's enterprise deployment docs describe three options beyond its standard cloud: an isolated EU deployment, a fully air-gapped mode with on-prem models, and a hybrid mode that routes through customer gateways. Usage on its plans is metered with rolling 5-hour, 7-day, and 30-day limits and per-model multipliers, then prepaid Extra Usage. Bring-your-own-key is “free up to an allowance,” and custom models work only in the Droid CLI and desktop app.

What is Nori?

Nori ships Jiro, its own AI engineering teammate, and also runs any harness you prefer. Each session is a cloud machine where you run Jiro or another harness — Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, pi, or an ACP agent including Factory's own Droid — on your Claude or ChatGPT subscription, your API keys, or your LLM gateway. You drive sessions from Slack, Discord, the web UI, or the CLI, and you schedule work with cron and webhook automations. Teams have merged 100,000+ PRs with it.

We never charge for tokens. Plans are per runtime, with no metering, resale, or markup, so our incentive is to make each run useful rather than long, and you are free to switch model providers. Everything is customizable: harness, subscriptions, keys, and gateway on every plan; on Enterprise, your compute, IdP, LLM gateway, token provider, and memory provider, in your cloud or on-prem. And the defaults are opinionated: a workflow skillset for plans, TDD, worktrees, and review, plus org skillsets, memories, automations, and checkpoints.

Meet Jiro

Jiro is Nori's own AI engineering teammate, the Nori counterpart to Droid. It runs on Claude Code or Codex under the hood, on your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription or API key, so there are no token charges and no multipliers. It follows an opinionated engineering workflow: planning, test-driven development, review, and worktrees. You work with it in Slack or the browser, and on its first day it reads your repos, asks the team how you ship, and sets up the workspace. See jiro.bot.

Nori vs Factory, head to head

Enterprise deployment: where does the control plane run?

The control plane is the part that orchestrates sessions, holds transcripts and org state, and runs the agent loop. Both products can run inside your environment: Factory's Enterprise tier offers on-prem and fully air-gapped deployment with on-prem models, and its bring-your-own-compute option, OpenCompute, is in Private Preview. Nori Enterprise deploys the full stack — control plane, agents, and data — into your own AWS VPC, Azure VNet, or on-prem environment. The difference is what runs there: any harness, on your Claude or ChatGPT subscription, keys, or gateway, with no token charges, plus your own IdP, LLM gateway, and memory provider. On hosted plans, Nori gives each organization a dedicated, single-tenant control plane and data store, and every session runs on its own isolated machine.

When to choose Factory

• You need air-gapped or EU-isolated deployment. Factory documents a fully air-gapped mode with on-prem models and an isolated EU deployment. Nori Enterprise runs in your cloud or on-prem, but Factory's air-gapped mode with on-prem models is documented and ours is not.
• You want the cheapest way in. Factory Pro is $20/mo. Nori's paid plans start at $99/mo after a free 30-day trial.
• You want documented SAML and SCIM on a standard tier. Factory lists SSO, SAML, and SCIM on Business and Enterprise. Nori offers SAML, SCIM, and OIDC on Enterprise.
• You want Jira and GitLab connected out of the box. Factory lists Slack, Linear, GitHub, Jira, and GitLab integrations.
• You have already standardized on Droid and want the vendor that builds it to host it.

When to choose Nori

• You want a ready-to-work agent without metered usage. Jiro plans, works test-first, and reviews its changes from Slack or the browser, on the Claude or ChatGPT subscription you already pay for.
• Your engineers use different agents. Nori also runs Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and the ACP agents side by side, Droid among them. Factory runs only Droid.
• You already pay for Claude or ChatGPT. Nori uses those subscriptions directly; Factory documents no subscription support.
• You want your own keys in the cloud, not just on laptops. Factory's custom models work in the Droid CLI and desktop app but not on its hosted web or mobile platforms. On Nori, your keys and gateway are what the cloud sessions use.
• You want to stop thinking about multipliers. Factory's rolling limits and 0.04× to 12× model multipliers make cost depend on which model you pick and when. Nori's price is per runtime and does not change with token use.
• You need webhook automations now. Factory's webhook triggers are in Private Preview at 10 runs per hour per automation. Cron and webhook automations are standard on Nori.
• You want bring-your-own compute without a preview program. Factory's OpenCompute is in Private Preview with limited availability; Nori Enterprise runs on AWS EC2, Docker, Modal, or Sprites.

How to switch from Factory to Nori

1. Inventory your automations. For each one, note the trigger, the prompt, and the repository.
2. Start the free trial. Thirty days, five runtimes, no card.
3. Keep Droid if you like it. Droid runs on Nori as an ACP agent, so you can switch platforms before you decide whether to switch harnesses.
4. Connect models. Sign in with a Claude or ChatGPT subscription, or add the API keys or gateway you already use with Droid.
5. Recreate automations as cron or webhook automations, and move team conventions into your org skillset and memories.
6. Connect Slack or Discord and run both side by side on the same tasks for a week.

Plan details are on our pricing section.

Frequently asked questions

Does Nori have its own agent?

Yes. Nori ships Jiro, its own AI engineering teammate (jiro.bot). Jiro runs on Claude Code or Codex under the hood with your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription or API key, so Nori never charges for its tokens. It works in Slack or the browser and follows a planning, test-driven development, and review workflow. Nori also runs any other harness, including Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, and ACP agents such as Factory's Droid.

How much does Factory cost compared with Nori?

As of October 2026, Factory lists Pro at $20/mo, Plus at $100/mo, Max at $200/mo, Teams at $60/mo plus $40 per seat for up to 10 seats, and custom Business and Enterprise plans, with usage metered by rolling limits and per-model multipliers, then prepaid Extra Usage. Nori has a free 30-day trial, Developer at $99/mo, Team at $250/mo, and custom Enterprise pricing, and never charges for tokens.

Can I use my own API key with Factory?

Yes, with limits. Factory's documentation says BYOK is free up to an allowance, and custom models are available in the Droid CLI and desktop app, not on Factory's hosted web or mobile platforms. Nori uses your own keys or LLM gateway in every cloud session.

Can I use my Claude or ChatGPT subscription with Factory?

Factory's documentation does not describe Claude or ChatGPT subscription support as of October 2026. Nori lets you sign in with either subscription.

Can I run Droid on Nori?

Yes. Droid is one of the ACP agents Nori runs, alongside Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, and others.

Does Factory support air-gapped deployment?

Yes. As of October 2026, Factory's enterprise documentation describes a fully air-gapped mode with on-prem models, an isolated EU deployment, and a hybrid mode through customer gateways. Nori Enterprise runs in your cloud or on-prem with your own compute, IdP, LLM gateway, token provider, and memory provider.

Sources

Competitor facts were read from these vendor pages on October 19, 2026. Vendors change plans and features often; check the source before you decide.

• Factory — Pricing
• Factory docs — Pricing for organizations
• Factory docs — Pricing for individuals
• Factory docs — Models and usage multipliers
• Factory docs — Bring your own key
• Factory docs — Automations
• Factory docs — OpenCompute overview
• Factory docs — Enterprise network and deployment
• Factory docs — Enterprise identity and access
• Factory docs — Slack integration
• Factory docs — Linear integration
• AIwire — Factory raises $200M at $5B valuation (press report)

Nori ships Jiro, its own AI engineering teammate, and runs any coding agent you prefer in the cloud — on your subscription or keys, from Slack, Discord, the web, or the CLI, for a flat price. Learn more at noriagentic.com, or join our community Slack.