ChatDev, developed by OpenBMB (Tsinghua University), simulates a virtual software company where LLM-powered agents play roles such as CEO, CTO, and Programmer to collaborate on building software end-to-end. Version 2.0 (released January 2026) expanded beyond software development into a zero-code multi-agent orchestration platform where users can construct and configure agent teams for diverse tasks without writing code. The project is fully open-source with 25,000+ GitHub stars and active academic research backing. Key features: - Multi-agent role simulation (CEO, CTO, Programmer, Tester) covering design, coding, testing, and documentation - ChatDev 2.0: zero-code orchestration platform for configuring custom multi-agent systems - Handles full software development lifecycle from requirements to working code - Persistent memory and experience accumulation across agent sessions - Open-source with MIT-compatible license on GitHub - Academic foundation: NeurIPS 2025 paper on evolving multi-agent orchestration
Free and open-source. No commercial pricing.