Best Claude Code GUI apps (2026)

The best Claude Code GUI depends on your operating system and on whether Claude is your only agent. If it is, Anthropic’s own Claude Code desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux beta) or the VS Code extension is the simplest choice. If you want Claude Code next to Codex or other agents in parallel worktrees, look at Conductor on a Mac, or Nimbalyst and AgentVera if anyone on your team uses Windows or Linux.

This post compares nine ways to put a window around Claude Code in 2026: the official apps, multi-agent desktop apps, a kanban board and a terminal UI. AgentVera, which publishes this blog, is one of them, so we also say where the others are the better pick. Prices and platforms below were checked on each tool’s own site or repository as of October 2026.

What counts as a Claude Code GUI?

Claude Code is a terminal program: you type claude in a project folder and talk to it. A GUI adds things a single terminal tab doesn’t give you:

• Several sessions at once, each visible, with a status (working, waiting for approval, done).
• Isolation, usually a git worktree per session so two agents never edit the same file.
• Diff review before you commit, ideally with comments the agent can act on.
• Platform support for the machines your team actually uses.

Some GUIs replace the terminal with a chat interface. Others keep Claude Code’s own terminal interface and arrange several of them in panes. Neither is better; it depends on whether you like Claude Code’s slash commands and prompts as they are.

Quick comparison

The apps, one by one

1. Claude Code desktop app (Anthropic)

Anthropic’s Claude desktop app has a Code tab that runs Claude Code with a graphical interface. It ships for macOS (universal build), Windows (x64 and ARM64) and, in beta, Linux via apt or a .deb for Ubuntu and Debian. It bundles Claude Code, so you don’t need Node.js or the CLI to use it.

What it does well, per Anthropic’s docs:

• Parallel sessions with worktrees. Turn on Worktree in a git repository and each session gets an isolated copy, stored under .claude/worktrees/ by default.
• Diff review with comments. Comment on specific lines and submit them together; Claude applies them as a new diff.
• Pull request tracking. After you open a PR, CI status shows in the session, and auto-fix can address failing checks (this needs the GitHub CLI, gh).
• Environments. Local, cloud sessions that keep running after you close the app, SSH to your own machines, and WSL 2 on Windows.
• Browser pane for previewing your dev server, plus scheduled tasks, plugins and connectors.

Limits: it runs Claude only. If you also use Codex or Gemini CLI, they live in other windows. It needs a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise subscription; there is no free tier for the Code tab.

Fits: anyone who uses Claude as their only coding agent. Start here before you install anything else.

2. Claude Code for VS Code and JetBrains (Anthropic)

If you’d rather stay in your editor, Anthropic ships two integrations:

• VS Code extension (also installable in Cursor). It needs VS Code 1.94.0 or later and gives you a graphical panel with plan review, inline diffs, @-mentions with line ranges, conversation history and multiple conversations in tabs.
• JetBrains plugin for IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand, PhpStorm, Android Studio and others. It runs the claude CLI in the IDE terminal and shows Claude’s changes in the IDE’s diff viewer.

# VS Code: install the extension from the command line
code --install-extension anthropic.claude-code

# JetBrains: install the CLI first, then the "Claude Code" plugin from the Marketplace
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

From any external terminal, /ide connects a running Claude Code session to the open IDE. Setup details are in using Claude Code in VS Code.

Limits: an editor panel is built around one conversation in one workspace. Running five sessions in five worktrees means five editor windows. Like the desktop app, it needs a paid Claude plan or a Claude Console account.

3. AgentVera

AgentVera is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that runs Claude Code and 17 other coding-agent CLIs in real terminals, side by side, per project. It keeps Claude Code’s own interface: what you see in a pane is the same claude you run in your terminal, with your slash commands, skills and settings.

What it does well:

• A grid per project from 1×1 to 5×4 panes, with status and live context size on each. See the workspace.
• Worktrees from the Git panel: create one per feature and start an agent directly in it.
• Mixing agents. Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Cursor Agent, opencode and others run in the same grid, each with its own login. No API key needed.
• Review. When a turn ends, a Claude model you pick can review the code and send findings back to the agent.
• Limits. Account switching moves an agent to the next account when a limit runs out (Pro plan).

Limits: AgentVera is closed source, and it’s a terminal-first app, so if you want a chat-style interface instead of Claude Code’s own TUI, Anthropic’s app will feel more natural. Flows and account switching are on the paid Pro plan; the grid, worktrees and all 18 agents are free.

Fits: people who use Claude Code plus at least one other CLI, or who need the same setup on Windows, Linux and macOS.

4. Conductor

Conductor is a macOS app that runs Claude Code, Codex and Cursor’s agent in parallel, each in an isolated workspace backed by a git worktree, with a status view and a review-and-merge step. Its pricing page lists Free ($0), Pro ($50/month), Teams ($60 per user/month) and Enterprise (custom) as of October 2026; paid plans add cloud workspaces and a mobile app. Local workspaces run on your Mac only.

Strengths: a focused, polished flow from task to pull request. Limits: no Windows or Linux desktop app, and it is closed source. Fits: all-Mac teams. If that’s not you, see our Conductor comparison.

5. Nimbalyst

Nimbalyst, the successor of Crystal, is a desktop app for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows and Linux, with an iOS companion app. Its repository is MIT-licensed and the app is free for individuals. Claude Code and Codex are fully supported; OpenCode and GitHub Copilot are in alpha. Each session runs in its own worktree, there’s a session kanban, and it adds visual editors for Markdown, Mermaid, Excalidraw, CSV and mockups.

Strengths: free, cross-platform and actively released (v0.81.7 in mid-October 2026). Limits: fewer agents than terminal-based multi-agent apps. Fits: anyone who wants a free GUI on any OS. See the Nimbalyst comparison.

6. Superset (now Paradev)

Superset renamed itself Paradev in 2026; the CLI is still called superset. It runs any CLI agent, including Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode, each in its own git worktree, and adds automations, a CLI, an SDK and an iPhone and iPad app. The desktop app runs on macOS with an experimental Linux AppImage; Windows isn’t available yet. It is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0, which is not an OSI-approved license.

Pricing as of October 2026: Free (one user, local workspaces), Pro $20 per user/month, Team $60, Ultra $200, Enterprise custom. Fits: Mac users who run many agents at once. See the Superset comparison.

7. Vibe Kanban

Vibe Kanban turns tasks into cards; each card runs an agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Amp, Cursor, OpenCode, Qwen Code and more) in its own worktree. You start it with one command and it opens a web UI in your browser:

npx vibe-kanban

Bloop, the company behind it, announced its shutdown on 10 April 2026. The project continues as Apache-2.0, community-maintained, and its hosted team features were removed; local workspaces still work. Fits: solo developers who think in tickets. Check recent commits before betting a team process on it. See the Vibe Kanban comparison.

8. Claude Squad

Claude Squad (cs) is a terminal UI in Go. Each session gets a tmux session and a git worktree, and you move between them from the keyboard. It needs tmux and the GitHub CLI gh, so on Windows it runs inside WSL.

brew install claude-squad   # or the install script from the README
cs                          # n = new session, ↵ = attach, s = commit and push
cs -p "codex"               # use another agent for new sessions

It supports Claude Code (default), Codex, Gemini, Aider, OpenCode and Amp, under AGPL-3.0. Strengths: light, free, works over SSH. Limits: no graphical diff view or notifications. See the Claude Squad comparison.

9. opcode (formerly Claudia)

opcode is a Tauri desktop app for Claude Code with project and session browsing, custom agents, usage tracking and checkpoints. It lists Windows, macOS and Linux and is AGPL-3.0. As of October 2026, the last tagged release is v0.2.0 from August 2025, and commits have been rare since. It’s worth a look if you like to build tools from source, but check the repository’s activity first.

How to choose

1. Start with your operating system. Windows or Linux in the mix rules out Conductor, and Superset for Windows. Anthropic’s app, the IDE extensions, Nimbalyst and AgentVera cover all three; Claude Squad covers Linux and macOS, and Windows through WSL. More detail in Claude Code GUI for Windows and Linux.
2. Claude only, or several agents? Claude only: the official app or extension. Claude plus Codex: Conductor, Nimbalyst, Superset or AgentVera. Many CLIs: Superset, Vibe Kanban or AgentVera.
3. Chat UI or terminal UI? Anthropic’s app, Nimbalyst and opcode present a chat. AgentVera, Superset and Claude Squad keep the CLI’s own terminal interface.
4. License and price. Need a permissive license: Nimbalyst (MIT) or Vibe Kanban (Apache-2.0). Fine with closed or source-available: compare the free tiers above.
5. Where does the work go next? If you review diffs and open PRs all day, look at the review and PR features. If you hit Claude limits often, see Claude Code usage limits.

A setup that works in any of them

Whichever GUI you pick, the habits are the same:

# one worktree per task, so agents never share files
git worktree add ../app-auth -b feat/auth
git worktree add ../app-tests -b feat/tests

# check what each agent changed before merging
git -C ../app-auth diff main --stat

• Give each session one measurable goal, such as “add refresh tokens and make the auth tests pass”.
• Start with two sessions. Add a third once you can keep up with reviewing.
• Give each worktree its own dev server port, or two agents will fight over localhost:3000.
• Put shared rules in CLAUDE.md, so every session starts from the same conventions.

The full workflow is in how to run multiple Claude Code agents in parallel and git worktrees for parallel agents.

Doing it in AgentVera

If you go the AgentVera route, the steps look like this:

1. Install Claude Code (curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash, or irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex on Windows) and sign in once with claude.
2. Download AgentVera, open your repository as a project and add a Claude Code agent. It uses the existing login.
3. In the Git panel, create a worktree per task and start an agent in each. Add a Codex or Gemini CLI pane next to them if you use those.
4. Let agents that wait for approval reach you: ⇧⌘A jumps to the next one, and desktop notifications tell you when a turn ends.
5. Read the automatic review findings, then commit and open the pull request from the Git panel.

For a wider view beyond Claude Code GUIs, see best tools to run AI coding agents in parallel and best Claude Code alternatives.

Wrapping up

There’s no single best Claude Code GUI. Anthropic’s desktop app is the default for Claude-only work, and the IDE extensions are best if you live in your editor. Conductor is the polished Mac pick, Nimbalyst the free cross-platform one, and Claude Squad the terminal one. AgentVera is for running Claude Code next to other agents in one grid on macOS, Windows or Linux. It has a free plan, and the comparison pages go into detail on each tool.

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