Apps for running multiple Claude Code agents on a Mac, compared

The right app depends on how you split the work. If you only run Claude Code, Anthropic's own desktop app already runs parallel sessions, each optionally in its own Git worktree, with diff review and pull request tracking. If you want a worktree, branch and review step for every task across agents, Conductor and Paradev are built around that. Nimbalyst and Agentastic do similar jobs for free, cmux keeps you in a terminal, and Maestri and Armadai lay agents out on a canvas. Armadai puts several projects on one canvas.

Update, 9 November 2026: Conductor announced on 4 November (version 0.93.0) that it is joining Meta and that it is winding down the product over the coming weeks and months. Conductor Cloud goes read-only on 13 November and shuts down on 20 November. Local Conductor keeps getting new models and critical bug fixes until early 2027. Conductor suggests moving a cloud workspace to your Mac with Transfer to local, or exporting your data from Settings, Account, Export data. Read this page with that in mind: the descriptions below are of Conductor as it worked before the announcement.

What an app has to do for several agents at once

You can run several Claude Code agents with nothing but terminal tabs. Start each with claude --worktree and a different name, and each gets its own Git worktree on its own branch, so their edits don't collide. The Claude Code docs note the repository needs at least one commit first. Claude Code's own agent view, opened with claude agents, shows every background session on one screen with which ones need your input; it is in research preview. Running multiple Claude Code agents at once covers the terminal method in full.

An app earns its place when it solves the problems that appear around the third or fourth agent:

• Isolation. Every agent needs its own checkout, or two of them edit the same file. Check whether the app creates worktrees for you and whether that is on by default.
• Attention. Agents stop to ask for permission or finish while you're looking elsewhere. The app should show which one is waiting.
• Review. Five agents produce five diffs. A diff view per agent, and a path to a pull request, matter more than how the chat looks.
• Layout. Some apps organise work by task, some by session, some by project. Pick the one that matches how you think about the work.
• Cost. None of these apps includes Claude. You pay for your Claude plan or API use in every case, and parallel agents use it faster.

The apps side by side

Prices and platforms are from each vendor's own site, read on the date at the top of this page.

Anthropic's desktop app is the first-party option

The Code tab in the Claude desktop app is Claude Code with a graphical interface, and it needs a Pro, Max, Ultra, Team or Enterprise plan. The macOS download is a universal build for Intel and Apple Silicon. According to the desktop documentation, you start parallel sessions from the sidebar or with Cmd+N, switch with Ctrl+Tab, and open a second session in split view or its own window. Claude can also check on and message your other sessions, and the app sends a notification when a session finishes a task and you aren't viewing that session.

Review is built in. The diff view shows changes file by file before you create a pull request, and once a pull request is open the app shows its CI checks, with Auto-fix to have Claude fix failing checks and Merge when ready to have GitHub merge it.

The setting to watch is Worktree. It is off by default, so two sessions on the same folder edit the same files unless you turn it on before starting each one. With it on, each session gets its own checkout under <project-root>/.claude/worktrees/. Claude Code GUI for Mac covers the app in more detail.

Conductor and Paradev give every task its own workspace

Both apps are built around the same unit: one task, one isolated checkout, one review.

Conductor runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode in parallel. Each task gets its own workspace, branch, files, terminal and diff, and when the work is ready Conductor helps you review it, open a pull request, merge and archive the workspace. It runs on macOS only. The Free plan covers parallel agents in local workspaces with your own subscriptions; Pro costs $50 a month and adds cloud workspaces, an API and a mobile app. More detail is in Conductor alternatives.

Paradev, formerly Superset, gives each agent its own Git worktree and branch and shows which agents are working, blocked or waiting on you. It runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode or any CLI agent, on macOS with an experimental Linux AppImage. Its source is on GitHub under the Elastic License 2.0, which Paradev itself notes is not OSI-approved open source. The Free plan covers one user with local workspaces. Pro costs $20 per user a month, or $16 billed yearly, and adds remote access, automations and the mobile app.

Nimbalyst and Agentastic do it for free

Nimbalyst is an open source workspace, free for individuals, for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, Windows and Linux. It works with Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Copilot agents, and puts a session manager with searchable history next to a task tracker, code editor, terminal, git tools and worktrees. Its emphasis is on the documents around the work: it adds a wiki the agents write, markdown editing, diagrams and mockups. There is also a mobile app for managing sessions.

Agentastic is a native Mac IDE, free without limits and with no sign-up, for macOS 14.0 or later on Apple Silicon or Intel. It ships 55 built-in agent definitions and runs each agent in its own Git worktree, an Apple container or a Docker container. It has a native diff viewer with review by Claude, Codex or CodeRabbit, Manager Agents that steer other agents towards a goal over days, and an iPhone app in TestFlight beta. Its developers say it is in closed development. Agentastic compared with Armadai goes further.

cmux keeps you in a terminal

If you like the terminal and want it to keep track of agents for you, cmux is a native macOS terminal built on Ghostty's rendering library. The terminal is free and GPL-licensed. Any agent that runs in a terminal works in it. Its vertical tabs show each tab's git branch, working directory, ports and latest notification, and a pane gets a coloured ring when its agent needs attention. When Claude Code starts teammates, cmux opens them as panes, and it restores workspaces and agent sessions after a restart. Its free plan also includes browser panels and a scriptable socket API. Pro costs $50 a month and adds cloud agents on remote VMs, unlimited workspaces and the iOS app.

Maestri and Armadai put agents on a canvas

A canvas app gives each agent a place on a surface you can pan and zoom, instead of a tab or list entry. It helps when you want to see many agents at once and remember where each one sits.

Maestri is an infinite canvas where each terminal you drop runs its own agent: Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode or a plain shell. You draw connections between terminals so one agent can prompt another directly, and a "floor" copies the whole workspace onto a new branch for risky work. The Free plan has one workspace with unlimited agents; Pro is an $18 one-time payment for unlimited workspaces on up to two devices. The Mac app needs macOS 15.4 or later on Apple Silicon, and Windows and Linux versions are available. Armadai vs Maestri compares the two canvas apps.

When the agents belong to different projects

Another way to split the work is by project: your product, a client project and an experiment each have agents running, along with their own terminals, browser tabs and notes.

Armadai is built around that split. It is a native macOS app that turns each project folder into a workspace on one infinite canvas, holding that project's Claude Code, Codex, Grok or Cursor agents beside a full IDE, browser, terminals, notes and a task board. A sidebar shows which agent is working, idle or waiting for approval across every project, and you can review and answer an agent's request from there without leaving the workspace you're in, when the agent and request allow it. A master agent can open workspaces, launch agents and message them for you, and a task handed to Claude Code or Codex from the board runs in its own Git worktree, and successful work comes back as a draft pull request for your review.

Armadai costs $20 a month or $120 a year after a 7-day free trial for eligible new subscribers that needs no card, and it runs on macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Armadai has no free plan and runs on macOS only. If all your agents work on one repository, Conductor, Paradev or Anthropic's own app will serve you as well for less. Plans are in the pricing section.

Which one to pick

• Only Claude Code: the Claude desktop app with Worktree turned on, or agent view in the terminal.
• A queue of tasks that each end in a pull request: Conductor or Paradev.
• No budget for another subscription: Nimbalyst or Agentastic, or the free plans of Conductor, Paradev, cmux or Maestri.
• Windows or Linux as well as a Mac: Nimbalyst or Maestri.
• A terminal you already like, with better status: cmux.
• Several projects, each with its own agents and tools, in one view: Armadai.