# Conductor alternatives (2026): 23 options compared URL: https://agentvera.dev/en/blog/conductor-alternatives/ · Published: 2026-11-03 Conductor is Mac only and Pro costs $50/month. Alternatives by need: Windows and Linux, open source, cloud, terminal, team kanban, or only Claude or Codex. **In short:** - Conductor runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode in parallel worktrees, but only on macOS; Pro is $50 a month and Teams $60 per user a month. - Free, open-source alternatives on Windows and Linux include Orca (MIT), Nimbalyst (MIT), Paseo, Herdr, Caprock and Cloudroom (Apache-2.0). - For cloud agents look at Cloudroom or cmux; for the terminal, Claude Squad or Herdr; for a team kanban that hands cards to agents, AgentVera (Pro and Team). **Short answer:** pick by the reason you are leaving Conductor. - **Windows or Linux:** Orca, Nimbalyst, Maestro, AgentGrid or AgentVera; all run on macOS, Windows and Linux. - **Free and open source:** Orca (MIT, about thirty CLIs) or Nimbalyst (MIT); Paseo, Herdr and Caprock are Apache-2.0. - **Cloud:** Cloudroom gives each agent its own cloud sandbox; cmux sells Cloud VMs from $15 a month. - **Terminal:** Claude Squad (tmux, AGPL-3.0) or Herdr (Apache-2.0, with a TUI); cmux if you stay on a Mac. - **Team kanban and flows:** AgentVera, with a shared board that hands cards to agents and flows that pass one agent’s output to the next (Pro and Team). - **Only Claude or only Codex:** Anthropic’s Claude desktop app (Code tab) or OpenAI’s ChatGPT desktop app. We build AgentVera, one of the options below. Every tool, ours included, is described by what its own site, docs or repository said when we checked on 3 November 2026. ## Conductor alternatives compared | Tool | Runs on | Agents | License | Price | |---|---|---|---|---| | Conductor | macOS (cloud workspaces on paid plans) | Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode | Closed source | Free; Pro $50/month; Teams $60/user | | AgentVera | macOS, Windows, Linux | 18 CLI agents | Closed source | Free plan; paid Pro and Team | | Orca | macOS, Windows, Linux + iOS/Android | About thirty CLIs | MIT | Free | | Nimbalyst | macOS, Windows, Linux + iOS/Android | Claude Code, Codex; OpenCode, Copilot in alpha | MIT | App free; Wiki Teams paid | | T3 Code | macOS, Windows, Linux, web, mobile | Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode and more | MIT | Free | | Herdr | macOS, Windows, Linux | Any terminal agent | Apache-2.0 | Free | | Paseo | macOS, Windows, Linux, web, mobile | Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode + ACP agents | Apache-2.0 | Free; Hub Pro $15/seat | | [Emdash](/en/alternatives/emdash/) | macOS, Windows, Linux | 35 CLIs, Claude Code and Codex among them | Apache-2.0 | Free | | Caprock | macOS, Windows, Linux | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Hermes Agent | Apache-2.0 | Free; Premium $30/year | | Cloudroom | macOS, Windows, Linux + cloud sandboxes | Claude Code, Codex, Pi + ACP agents | Apache-2.0 | Free; Pro $50/month | | Swarmterm | Windows, macOS | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode templates | GPL-3.0 | Free | | cmux | macOS (Cloud VMs on paid plans) | Any terminal agent | GPL-3.0 (app) | Free; Cloud VMs from $15/month | | Claude Squad | Terminal with tmux | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Aider, OpenCode, Amp | AGPL-3.0 | Free | | [Pane](/en/alternatives/pane/) | Windows, macOS, Linux, WSL | Any terminal agent | AGPL-3.0 | Free | | Maestro | macOS, Windows, Linux | Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Kimi Code, Grok Build | BSL 1.1 (source available) | Free | | Canopy | macOS, Windows, Linux | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode | Source-available | Free | | [agmux](/en/alternatives/agmux/) | macOS + iPhone remote | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Grok, Cursor, OpenCode and more, plus local models | MIT + Commons Clause (source-available) | Free; Teams $12/member | | Paradev (formerly Superset) | macOS (Linux experimental) | More than twenty CLIs | Elastic License 2.0 | Free; Pro $20/user | | AgentGrid | macOS, Windows, Linux | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor and more | Closed source | Free; Pro $16/month yearly | | Enjoy | macOS, Windows, Linux | Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, OpenCode and more | Closed source | $29/month after a 7-day trial | | [HB Code](/en/alternatives/hb-code/) | macOS, Windows + iOS/Android | Claude Code, Codex | Closed source | Desktop free; phone apps need Pro | | Claude desktop app | macOS, Windows, Linux (beta) | Claude Code only | Proprietary | Paid Claude plan; Pro $20/month | | ChatGPT desktop app (Codex) | macOS, Windows, Linux (preview) | Codex only | Codex CLI: Apache-2.0 | In ChatGPT plans, Free included | | VS Code Agents window | Windows, macOS, Linux, browser | Copilot; Claude and Codex experimental | Microsoft license (Code - OSS: MIT) | Free; Copilot plan for Copilot | Checked on 3 November 2026 against each tool’s own pages. Prices are monthly unless noted; this space changes quickly, so check before you decide. ## What Conductor does well Conductor, from Melty Labs, is one of the best-known ways to run Claude Code and Codex in parallel, and for good reasons: - **A workspace per task.** Each workspace is a git worktree with its own branch, files, terminal and diff, and you review, open a pull request, merge and archive it from the app. - **A Checks tab** gathers git status, the pull request, CI, deployments, comments and todos before a merge and flags blockers. - **A generous free tier.** Local workspaces on your Mac are free; agents use your own Claude Code login, Codex login or Cursor key. - **Paid extras that few rivals have in one place:** Pro adds cloud workspaces (8-core, 16 GB sandboxes), live collaboration with up to five Pro users, a mobile app and the Conductor API. Teams adds an admin portal and central billing; Enterprise adds SAML SSO and SCIM. If you are on a Mac, use Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or OpenCode, and want a polished app, Conductor is a strong choice. The rest of this post is for when it is not. ## Why people look for an alternative - **It is macOS only.** Conductor’s docs say it is not available for Windows or Linux yet and offer a sign-up form. We covered the Windows side in [Conductor on Windows](/en/blog/conductor-for-windows/). - **Pro costs $50 a month.** Cloud workspaces, collaboration and the mobile app sit behind Pro, and Teams is $60 per user a month. Many alternatives are free. - **They want more agents.** Conductor runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode. Gemini CLI, Copilot, Amp or Qwen Code need another tool. - **They want open source.** Conductor is closed source; several alternatives are MIT, Apache-2.0 or GPL. - **They want team features of a different kind:** a shared task board, work handed between agents, or a tool that every teammate can run whatever their operating system. ## The alternatives, one by one ### Orca: the widest open-source option [Orca](/en/alternatives/orca/), from Stably AI, is a free MIT desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux with iOS and Android companions. It runs about thirty named CLIs plus any other CLI agent, each task in a real git worktree, and one prompt can fan out to several agents so you merge the best result. It has an embedded browser, SSH worktrees and an experimental orchestration mode. It lists no team plan; an Enterprise page covers rollout and self-hosting. ### Nimbalyst: open source, focused on Claude Code and Codex [Nimbalyst](/en/alternatives/nimbalyst/), the successor of Crystal, is MIT-licensed and runs on macOS, Windows and Linux with mobile companions. Sessions run in their own worktrees, and it adds a session kanban, a task tracker and markdown, mockup and diagram editors. Claude Code and Codex are supported; OpenCode and Copilot are in alpha. The paid Wiki Teams plan ($20 per user a month, free during its beta) shares one agent-written wiki. ### T3 Code: one chat surface, built for remote use [T3 Code](/en/alternatives/t3-code/) is a free, MIT app that drives Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode and other agents through one chat-style interface, on desktop, web, iOS and Android. Threads can start in their own worktree, and you can run it on a server and connect from anywhere. Its README calls it very early. ### Herdr: terminals that keep running [Herdr](/en/alternatives/herdr/) is free and Apache-2.0, with a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux and the original Herdr TUI. Agents run in a small local server, so they keep working when you close the window; an agents sidebar shows which are working, blocked or done, and an agent can start helper agents and collect their reports. ### Paseo: desktop, web and phone on one daemon [Paseo](/en/alternatives/paseo/) is free and Apache-2.0. A local daemon runs your agents and the desktop, web, iOS and Android apps and a CLI all connect to it, so the phone apps are full clients. Tasks can start in their own worktree, agents can launch and message other agents, and the optional Paseo Hub starts agents from GitHub, Slack or Discord (free for 50 runs a month, Pro $15 per seat). ### Caprock: from agent to release, with cost per pull request [Caprock](/en/alternatives/caprock/) is an Apache-2.0 desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI and Hermes Agent in terminal tabs. A Work board follows each branch from agent to pull request, CI and release with its estimated agent spend, and tasks carry done criteria (tests, type checks, lint) that Caprock runs itself. Community is free; Premium is $30 a year; a self-hosted Team ledger starts at $500 a month billed yearly. ### Cloudroom: agents in your own cloud sandbox [Cloudroom](/en/alternatives/cloudroom/) is the closest open-source answer to Conductor’s cloud workspaces. It is Apache-2.0, runs agents locally on Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Windows 11, or gives each one a cloud sandbox and git branch where it keeps working after you close the laptop; Teleport moves a running thread between the two. The free plan includes 3,000 Cloud Credits every 30 days; Pro is $50, Super $150 and Ultra $500 a month. You can also self-host the core on your own Linux server. ### Swarmterm: a swarm of panes, with agents that talk [Swarmterm](/en/alternatives/swarmterm/) is a free GPL-3.0 app for Windows and macOS (Linux packages are listed as coming soon). One switch puts every agent pane in its own worktree, and in the War Room agents message each other to flag bugs or hand off prompts while you moderate. ### cmux: a native Mac terminal for agents [cmux](/en/alternatives/cmux/) is a macOS terminal built on libghostty, with vertical tabs, split panes, notification rings when an agent needs you and a scriptable browser. The app is free under GPL-3.0-or-later and runs any terminal agent. Paid plans add Cloud VMs: Plus $15, Pro $50 and Max $200 a month, Team $60 per user a month. It stays on the Mac, so it answers the price and terminal reasons, not the platform one. ### Claude Squad: the terminal classic [Claude Squad](/en/alternatives/claude-squad/) is an AGPL-3.0 terminal app that runs Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Aider, OpenCode and Amp in tmux sessions, each in its own worktree. It is light and scriptable; it has no board, and on Windows it needs WSL because it relies on tmux. ### Maestro: closest in shape, and it imports Conductor projects [Maestro](/en/alternatives/maestro/) is a free desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux from a single developer. Every workspace is a fresh worktree with its own chat, terminal, editor, diff, preview and a Checks tab that gates merging, much like Conductor; its site offers a one-click import for people coming from Conductor. Its source is public under the Business Source License 1.1, which is not an open-source license; each version becomes Apache 2.0 four years after release. ### Canopy: free, local-first and source-available [Canopy](/en/alternatives/canopy/) runs Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and OpenCode across worktrees on macOS, Windows and Linux, with diff review, a browser tab per worktree and an Inspector for live token use and spend. It is free with no account, under its own source-available license. ### Paradev (formerly Superset): many agents, still Mac first [Paradev](/en/alternatives/superset/) is an agentic IDE that runs more than twenty named CLIs, each in its own worktree and branch. It is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0. Its desktop app targets macOS, with Linux experimental and Windows not yet available, so it fixes the agent count and price more than the platform. Pro is $20 per user a month and Team $60. ### AgentGrid: a canvas with coordinators and workers [AgentGrid](/en/alternatives/agentgrid/) puts agents on an infinite canvas next to terminals, browsers, notes and source control, on macOS, Windows and Linux with mobile apps in beta. A coordinator starts team leads that hand tasks to builder, reviewer and QA workers. It is closed source, with a free plan and Pro at $16 a month billed yearly. ### Enjoy: one message box for many agents [Enjoy](/en/alternatives/enjoy/) installs Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, OpenCode, Antigravity and Muse Code and gives them one message box, on macOS, Windows and Linux, with scheduled workflows and phone access through the browser. It is closed source and costs $29 a month after a 7-day trial. ### Claude desktop app: if you only use Claude Code The Code tab in [Anthropic’s Claude app](/en/alternatives/claude-desktop/) runs several Claude Code sessions side by side on macOS, Windows and Linux (beta), each optionally in a worktree, with diff review, a preview browser, pull request monitoring and cloud or SSH sessions. It needs a paid Claude plan (Pro from $20 a month) and runs only Claude. ### ChatGPT desktop app: if you only use Codex [OpenAI’s ChatGPT app](/en/alternatives/codex-app/) runs Codex chats in parallel on macOS, Windows and Linux (preview), each optionally in its own worktree, with code review, scheduled tasks and subagents. Codex is included in ChatGPT plans, Free included. It runs only Codex. ### VS Code Agents window: if you live in VS Code The [Agents window](/en/alternatives/vscode-agents/) in Visual Studio Code runs GitHub Copilot sessions, with Claude and Codex as experimental harnesses, each optionally in its own worktree, on Windows, macOS, Linux and in the browser. VS Code is free; Copilot sessions use your Copilot plan. ## Where AgentVera fits AgentVera is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that runs agent CLIs in real terminals, side by side in a grid from 1×1 to 5×4. It is a Conductor alternative mainly for these reasons: - **Platform:** the same app on all three systems, so a mixed Mac and Windows team uses one tool. - **More agents:** 18 CLI agents, including Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Cursor Agent, opencode, Amp and Aider, each with the login you already have. No API key is required. - **Team kanban:** a board shared with your organisation; send a card to an agent on your computer and its final reply lands on the card. Only cards, comments and assignments go to the cloud; your code stays on your machine. - **Flows and checks:** flows pass one agent’s output to the next and a parallel team ends in one pull request (Pro and Team); a read-only verifier checks the acceptance criteria from your request after the agent’s turn. What to weigh, plainly: - **AgentVera is closed source,** like Conductor. If open source is the reason you are leaving, Orca, Nimbalyst, Paseo or Herdr fit better. - **Several features are on paid plans.** The free plan has unlimited agents, worktrees, Git, MCP, Docker, SSH and code review. Team kanban (Pro: 10 boards; Team: unlimited), flows, night shift, auto approval, automatic account switching, the database manager and the Runner on your own server need Pro or Team. Pro has a 7-day free trial; current prices are on the [pricing page](/en/pricing/). - **No hosted cloud workspaces.** Agents run on your computer, or on your own server with the Runner. If you want sandboxes someone else hosts, Conductor Pro or Cloudroom fit better. The side-by-side table is on the [Conductor vs AgentVera](/en/alternatives/conductor/) page, and the wider field is in [the best tools for parallel AI coding agents](/en/blog/best-tools-parallel-ai-coding-agents/). ## Frequently asked questions **What is the best Conductor alternative?** It depends on why you are leaving. On Windows or Linux with free, open-source software: Orca or Nimbalyst. Agents in the cloud: Cloudroom. Terminal only: Claude Squad or Herdr. A team kanban and flows between agents: AgentVera. Only Claude Code or only Codex: Anthropic’s Claude app or OpenAI’s ChatGPT app. **Is there a free Conductor alternative?** Yes, many. Orca, Nimbalyst, T3 Code, Herdr, Paseo, Maestro, Canopy, Swarmterm and Claude Squad are free. Conductor itself is free for local workspaces on a Mac; Pro ($50 a month) adds cloud workspaces, collaboration and the mobile app. **Is there an open-source Conductor alternative?** Yes. Orca, Nimbalyst and T3 Code are MIT; Herdr, Paseo, Caprock and Cloudroom are Apache-2.0; Swarmterm and the cmux app are GPL-3.0; Claude Squad is AGPL-3.0. Canopy, Maestro and Paradev publish their source under licenses that are not open source. Conductor, AgentGrid, Enjoy and AgentVera are closed source. **Does Conductor run on Windows or Linux?** No. As of 3 November 2026 Conductor’s install docs say it is available for macOS and not yet for Windows or Linux, with a form to be notified. Its cloud workspaces on paid plans run in hosted Linux sandboxes, but the app itself is a Mac app. **Is AgentVera open source?** No. AgentVera is a closed-source desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. Its free plan has unlimited agents; team kanban, flows, night shift and the Runner are on the paid Pro and Team plans. --- **About AgentVera.** AgentVera is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, built by Solviera Teknoloji. It runs 18 AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Cursor, Antigravity, opencode, Hermes, Qwen Code, Kimi Code, Kiro, Amp, Droid, Goose, Vibe, Crush, Aider, Cline) side by side, per project, in real terminals with the user's own CLI installs and logins. The free plan has unlimited agents. Download: https://agentvera.dev/en/download/ · Pricing: https://agentvera.dev/en/pricing/