What is an agentic development environment?

It is the app where you run coding agents, several at a time, and review their work. Each agent usually gets its own copy of the repo, called a Git worktree, so they do not edit the same files. You see which agent is working, which needs you, and the diff each one produced before it merges.

How is it different from an AI IDE?

An AI IDE puts chat and autocomplete in an editor. These apps start from the agents. The editor is a pane or missing. Cursor 3 has an Agents Window you can open instead of the editor, and the Codex app and Claude Code desktop are built around sessions. The line is blurry; each vendor’s own docs are the source for what its app does.

How is it different from Claude Code or Codex in a terminal?

The terminal agent is the worker. The environment is where you run several of them and check on them. Claude Code desktop and the Codex app wrap their own agent. T3 Code, Orca, Herdr, cmux and Paseo run the agent CLIs you already use, so you can mix them.

Which one should I try first?

No source here compares quality or speed. If you pay for ChatGPT, open the Codex app. If you use Claude Code, use the Claude desktop app. If you use several agents, try T3 Code or Orca, which are free. If you work in a terminal on several machines, try Herdr or cmux (Mac).

What happened to Conductor?

Meta is acquiring it. Conductor announced on November 4, 2026 that new sign-ups and downloads had stopped. Its cloud goes read-only on November 13 and shuts down on November 20. The local Mac app keeps working and gets fixes into early 2027. Export cloud workspaces before the 20th.

Why aren’t Copilot, Antigravity, Warp and Windsurf ranked?

They are real products, but in what builders wrote about parallel agents they came up far less than the apps above. They are runners, not rejected. Warp open-sourced its environment in April 2026, and Windsurf was renamed Devin Desktop on June 2.

Are any of these apps free?

Yes. T3 Code, Orca, Herdr, Paseo and cmux are free and open source, and Zed has a free plan. The Codex app and Claude Code desktop are included in paid plans, with limited Codex access on ChatGPT Free. Cursor and Paradev have free tiers. You still pay your agent provider for usage.

Can I use my own Claude or Codex subscription?

In most of them. T3 Code, Orca, Herdr, Paseo, cmux and Paradev run your installed agents on your own sign-in. Claude Code desktop and the Codex app use their own vendor’s sign-in. T3 Code’s FAQ warns that Claude through Anthropic’s Agent SDK uses up Claude’s 5-hour limit faster than Claude Code itself.

What about Jules, Terragon and Vibe Kanban?

Google Jules is read-only after November 11 and shuts down December 31, 2026. Terragon shut down on February 9, 2026. Vibe Kanban’s repository says the project is sunsetting. None is listed.

Shortlist

Which agentic development environment to shortlist

An agentic development environment is the app you run coding agents from, several at a time, and review what they changed. Most builders now pick one of two kinds. One is the app from their agent’s maker: the Codex app or Claude Code desktop. The other is an open-source app that runs any agent, such as T3 Code, Orca or Herdr. Cursor’s Agents Window is the first-party option that mixes models. Conductor, the Mac app many people used, announced on November 4, 2026 that it is joining Meta, and its cloud is closing.

Quick pick

Best if you pay for ChatGPT
Codex app
OpenAI’s desktop app for running several Codex agents. Included in ChatGPT plans.
Best if you use Claude Code
Claude Code desktop
Claude’s desktop app for running many Claude Code sessions at once.
Best for several agents in one app
T3 Code
Free app that runs Claude Code, Codex and Cursor side by side.

Ordered shortlist

01
Codex app
Commercial
Agentic development environments
OpenAI’s desktop app for running several Codex agents. Included in ChatGPT plans.
5M+ weekly Codex usersReportedAs of Jun 2, 2026OpenAI
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Reported.
- OpenAI’s desktop workspace for Codex. Launched on Mac in February 2026 and on Windows in March. It runs Codex only.
- Up more than sixfold since the desktop app launched in February. On Oct 7 OpenAI cited 40M weekly users for Codex and ChatGPT Work combined, which is not a Codex-only count. The OpenAI page could not be opened; Every and Superpower Daily cite it.
02
Claude Code desktop
Commercial
Agentic development environments
Claude’s desktop app for running many Claude Code sessions at once.
Run-rate above $2.5 billion (Claude Code)VerifiedAs of Feb 12, 2026Anthropic
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- Anthropic’s Claude app with a Code tab. Sessions, diffs and a terminal in one window. It runs Claude Code only.
- Covers Claude Code overall, not the desktop app. Anthropic has not updated it since February.
03
Cursor
Commercial
Agentic development environments
An editor with an agents-first window and a command line.
$4B+ annual run-rateReportedAs of Jun 8, 2026Forbes
About $60B implied equity valueReported As of Nov 9, 2026
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Reported.
- Cursor 3 (April 2, 2026) added an Agents Window for parallel agents across local, worktree, cloud and SSH. The only multi-model first-party option.
- From a person familiar with the matter, up from $3 billion in late April (Bloomberg) and $2 billion in February. Cursor told Forbes about 75% comes from businesses. Cursor itself confirmed above $1 billion in November 2025.
- About $60 billion implied equity. TechCrunch reported talks at $50 billion on 2026-04-17. That is an earlier, separate figure.
04
T3 Code
Open source
Agentic development environments
Free app that runs Claude Code, Codex and Cursor side by side.
56,889 GitHub starsVerifiedAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- Free app from Theo’s team. Drives Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and more on your subscriptions. 56.9k stars, up from 18.3k in August.
- Up from about 18,300 on Aug 12 (Wayback Machine snapshot). The site claims 500,000+ developers, a vendor figure.
05
Orca
Open source
Agentic development environments
Free app with a worktree per agent, on Mac, Windows, Linux and phone.
122,312 GitHub starsVerifiedAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- Free app with a worktree per agent, on Mac, Windows, Linux and phone. 122k stars, up from 42k in August, which runs ahead of its daily use.
- Up from about 42,200 on Aug 11 (Wayback Machine snapshot). Devtoolwatch records 5,000 to 9,600 new stars a week; the repo has about 650 contributors. A 21-point Show HN and one user's UI-bug report suggest the count runs ahead of daily use.
06
Paradev
Open source
Agentic development environments
Formerly Superset. A Mac app for parallel agents, with a $11.5M seed.
$11.5M seed led by Union Square VenturesVerifiedAs of Oct 26, 2026Paradev blog
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- Superset, renamed on October 26, 2026 with an $11.5M seed. Mac-first, with automations. The closest to Conductor.
- Announced with the rename from Superset. USV published the same news. The repo has 16,226 GitHub stars.
07
Herdr
Open source
Agentic development environments
Free runtime that keeps agents alive and flags the one that needs you.
50,296 GitHub starsVerifiedAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- A Rust runtime that keeps agents alive and flags the one that needs you. In Y Combinator’s Fall 2026 batch. 50.3k stars.
- Up from about 28,000 on Aug 12 (Wayback Machine snapshot). Herdr's YC page cites 340,000 downloads, a vendor figure.
08
cmux
Open source
Agentic development environments
A free Mac terminal for running agents, with notification rings.
28,762 GitHub starsVerifiedAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- A free native Mac terminal on Ghostty with a notification ring per pane. Slower growth than the others: 28.8k stars.
- Up from about 25,600 on Aug 4 (Wayback Machine snapshot), the slowest growth of the open-source group.
09
Paseo
Open source
Agentic development environments
Free app to run agents on any machine from your desk or phone.
23,817 GitHub starsVerifiedAs of Nov 11, 2026GitHub repository
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- Free app to run agents on any machine from your desk or phone. 23.8k stars, up from 13.2k in August.
- Up from about 13,200 on Aug 11 (Wayback Machine snapshot).
10
Zed
Commercial
Agentic development environments
A fast native editor that runs agents in parallel.
$32M Series B, over $42M raised in totalVerifiedAs of Aug 20, 2025Zed blog
Evidence notes
- Evidence level: Verified, primary.
- A fast editor whose Threads Sidebar runs agents in parallel (April 22, 2026). I found little talk of it among builders running many agents.
- Led by Sequoia Capital. Over 14 months old. The repo has about 94,700 GitHub stars, up from 88,600 on Aug 13.

Compare on

Brand	Runs	Platforms and cost	Scale (dated)
Codex app	Codex	Mac, Windows. In ChatGPT plans, Plus $20	5M+ weekly users (Jun 2026)
Claude Code desktop	Claude Code	Mac, Windows, Linux beta. In Pro, Max, Team	No app figure
Cursor	Cursor’s agents, many models	Mac, Windows, Linux. Free, then $8 to $200	$4B+ run-rate (Jun 2026)
T3 Code	Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, others	Mac, iOS, Android. Free (MIT)	56.9k stars (Nov 2026)
Orca	Any CLI agent	Mac, Windows, Linux, phone. Free (MIT)	122k stars (Nov 2026)
Paradev	Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, others	Mac, Linux experimental. Free, Pro $20	$11.5M seed (Oct 2026)
Herdr	Any terminal agent	Mac, Windows, Linux, phone. Free	50.3k stars (Nov 2026)
cmux	Any terminal agent	Mac. Free, paid from $50	28.8k stars (Nov 2026)
Paseo	Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode	Desktop, web, phone. Free	23.8k stars (Nov 2026)
Zed	Zed’s agent, Claude Agent, Codex CLI	Mac, Linux, Windows. Free, Pro $10	$32M Series B (Aug 2025)

Prices are from each vendor’s pricing page, read November 11, 2026. Stars are GitHub counts on that date, not users. Not recorded: speed, reliability, review quality, and platform support for T3 Code and Paseo beyond what their sites list.

How we picked

Ranked on what builders use and talk about in November 2026, not on company size. Sources: launch posts, a 219-comment Hacker News thread on Conductor’s sale (Nov 4), and GitHub activity.
The first three are first-party apps and are listed by launch date and reach. The open-source apps are ordered by how much builders recommended them, then by stars. That order is a judgment call.
Star growth compares GitHub’s count on November 11 with an archived copy of each repo page from August to September. Stars measure interest, not users. Orca’s count looks high for its size, so treat it as reported.
Each is an app for running and reviewing agents, not an agent. The agents themselves are on the coding agents page.
GitHub Copilot, Google Antigravity, Warp and Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) are runners here. Builders running many agents named them little in what I read.

Questions and answers

What is an agentic development environment?: It is the app where you run coding agents, several at a time, and review their work. Each agent usually gets its own copy of the repo, called a Git worktree, so they do not edit the same files. You see which agent is working, which needs you, and the diff each one produced before it merges.
How is it different from an AI IDE?: Our judgmentAn AI IDE puts chat and autocomplete in an editor. These apps start from the agents. The editor is a pane or missing. Cursor 3 has an Agents Window you can open instead of the editor, and the Codex app and Claude Code desktop are built around sessions. The line is blurry; each vendor’s own docs are the source for what its app does.
How is it different from Claude Code or Codex in a terminal?: Our judgmentThe terminal agent is the worker. The environment is where you run several of them and check on them. Claude Code desktop and the Codex app wrap their own agent. T3 Code, Orca, Herdr, cmux and Paseo run the agent CLIs you already use, so you can mix them.
Which one should I try first?: Our judgmentNo source here compares quality or speed. If you pay for ChatGPT, open the Codex app. If you use Claude Code, use the Claude desktop app. If you use several agents, try T3 Code or Orca, which are free. If you work in a terminal on several machines, try Herdr or cmux (Mac).
What happened to Conductor?: Meta is acquiring it. Conductor announced on November 4, 2026 that new sign-ups and downloads had stopped. Its cloud goes read-only on November 13 and shuts down on November 20. The local Mac app keeps working and gets fixes into early 2027. Export cloud workspaces before the 20th.
Why aren’t Copilot, Antigravity, Warp and Windsurf ranked?: Our judgmentThey are real products, but in what builders wrote about parallel agents they came up far less than the apps above. They are runners, not rejected. Warp open-sourced its environment in April 2026, and Windsurf was renamed Devin Desktop on June 2.
Are any of these apps free?: Yes. T3 Code, Orca, Herdr, Paseo and cmux are free and open source, and Zed has a free plan. The Codex app and Claude Code desktop are included in paid plans, with limited Codex access on ChatGPT Free. Cursor and Paradev have free tiers. You still pay your agent provider for usage.
Can I use my own Claude or Codex subscription?: In most of them. T3 Code, Orca, Herdr, Paseo, cmux and Paradev run your installed agents on your own sign-in. Claude Code desktop and the Codex app use their own vendor’s sign-in. T3 Code’s FAQ warns that Claude through Anthropic’s Agent SDK uses up Claude’s 5-hour limit faster than Claude Code itself.
What about Jules, Terragon and Vibe Kanban?: Google Jules is read-only after November 11 and shuts down December 31, 2026. Terragon shut down on February 9, 2026. Vibe Kanban’s repository says the project is sunsetting. None is listed.

Runners-up

Conductor
Acquired by Meta on November 4, 2026. Cloud shuts down November 20; the local Mac app is supported into early 2027.
GitHub Copilot and Google Antigravity
Runners only. Copilot runs agents inside VS Code with its Agents window; Antigravity 2.0 is a desktop app for agents. Neither came up among builders running parallel agents.
Warp
Open-sourced its agentic development environment on April 28, 2026 (66k stars, little growth since August) and launched Oz for cloud agents in February.
Windsurf (Devin Desktop)
Renamed on June 2, 2026. Its newest sourced figure is from 2025.
Emdash Classic
Open source, from Y Combinator’s Winter 2026 batch. Its team says new work has moved to a cloud-first Emdash 2.0 with a waitlist.
Nimbalyst
The successor to Crystal, which was deprecated in February 2026. Open source (MIT), about 2,000 stars.
OpenCode desktop, Factory, Amp
Agents that also ship desktop or cloud workspaces. Listed on the coding agents page, not here.

Neighbours

Coding agents
Coding agents are the workers, such as Claude Code and Codex. These apps are where you run and review them.
App builders
App builders start from a prompt and hand you a hosted app. These work on code you already have.

Homepage shortlistCoding agentsCustomer supportLegalApp buildersMCPInsurance