Conductor alternatives for 2026, and one that keeps your own Mac in charge
Conductor is joining Meta and its Cloud is closing. Here is where people are heading, and what each choice gives you.
Short answer: The most-named Conductor alternatives are desktop apps that run coding agents in parallel git worktrees, plus plain Claude Code and the Codex app. For something that cannot be shut down under you, MightyMouse runs your coding agents on your own Mac and lets you steer them from your phone, and it picks up your old Conductor chats.
What happened to Conductor
Per Conductor's own announcement (and TechCrunch's coverage on Nov 4, 2026), Conductor is joining Meta. Since Nov 4 there are no new signups or downloads. Cloud goes read-only on Nov 13 and subscribers are refunded. Cloud shuts down on Nov 20, and data deletion starts. The local Mac app keeps getting fixes until early 2027. Conductor's iOS app only worked with Cloud workspaces. These are their dates, so check the announcement for any change.
The lesson is not that Conductor was bad. It is that anything living in someone else's cloud can be switched off. That is the filter worth using when you pick the next tool. For the shutdown details see Is Conductor shutting down, and for the move itself see how to migrate from Conductor.
The alternatives people keep naming
These are the names that come up most on X and Hacker News in the first days after the news. I describe each one generically on purpose. Features change fast, so check each project's own page before you commit.
- Orca: a desktop app for running coding agents side by side.
- Paradev (formerly Superset): a desktop app that runs agents in parallel worktrees.
- T3 Code: free and MIT licensed, with desktop, web and iOS/Android versions.
- Paseo: a tool for managing several coding agents at once.
- Herdr: another way to run a herd of agents in one place.
- Emdash: a desktop app for running agents in parallel.
- Agentastic: a desktop app in the same parallel-agents family.
- Claude Code desktop or the Codex app: the first-party route. Nothing extra to install on top of the agent you already use.
Almost all of these are the same idea as Conductor: a desktop window where several agents each work in their own copy of your project. If that workflow is what you loved, any of them can be a good home. Try two for a day each and keep the one whose review screen you like.
The option nobody else offers: your Mac, from your phone
The list above answers "which desktop app next". A different question is "where am I when the agent needs me". If the answer is the couch, the train or the other room, a desktop app does not help much. MightyMouse turns your phone into a remote for your own Mac, so your agents keep running on your machine and you steer them from anywhere.
There is no cloud workspace to lose. The agents run on your Mac, with your files. If MightyMouse vanished tomorrow, your repos and your agent CLIs would still be right where they are. Here is what it does for a Conductor user:
- Bring your old chats along. In the Code sidebar, a "From Conductor" list reads the Conductor data already on your Mac. Tap "Continue here" and a Claude session starts with the end of the old chat as its first message.
- Use the agent you want. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor (through cursor-agent) and OpenCode can all be started.
- Ship from the couch. Every session has Changes, Open PR and Merge, and they work from your phone too.
- Approve without opening the app. When an agent asks permission, the Approve button shows on your lock screen and needs Face ID or your passcode. Read how lock screen approval works.
- Close the laptop. Lid-closed mode keeps the Mac awake while a coding agent is working, so the job finishes while the laptop is in your bag.
- Do the rest of your Mac too. The phone is also a trackpad, a keyboard and a live view of your screen, and you can talk instead of type. Voice typing is transcribed on your Mac and not uploaded.
For the wider picture of running agents from a phone, read every way to run coding agents from your phone. For the side-by-side with Conductor, see MightyMouse compared with Conductor.
How to turn on the Code area
If you are new to MightyMouse, the Code area is hidden at first. Open the MightyMouse settings, find Advanced and switch it on. The setting says it shows chat, building and agent tools. After that, Code appears in the app and the "From Conductor" list shows up in its sidebar when Conductor data is found on your Mac.
What this costs you
The honest tradeoff is that your Mac has to be on and reachable. Nothing runs in a cloud, so nothing runs when the Mac is off. Lid-closed mode needs your Mac password once to turn on, and it only holds while an agent is working. If an agent goes quiet for 30 minutes it is treated as finished.
- It is not a parallel-worktree manager. It does not try to be a Conductor clone with a big review board. If side-by-side diffs of ten agents is your whole workflow, a desktop app from the list above fits better.
- The Conductor import brings over the last part of a chat, not the entire history. It starts a Claude session, so it will not recreate the exact same agent setup.
- Open PR and Merge use the GitHub command line tool (gh). If it is not installed on your Mac, those buttons have nothing to run.
- Mac only. Running agents is part of Pro, which the pricing page lists at $20 a month. Free covers the phone remote and voice typing.
Which one should you pick
- You live at your desk and want many agents in parallel: a desktop app from the list above.
- You want the first-party route with no extra tool: Claude Code desktop or the Codex app.
- You want to keep working when you leave the desk, and never lose a workspace to a shutdown: MightyMouse, perhaps next to one of the desktop apps. They do not conflict.
Keep your agents on your own Mac and steer them from your phone.
Free to start, no card.
Common questions
What is the best Conductor alternative?
It depends on how you work. For many agents in parallel at a desk, try a desktop app like Orca, Paradev, Emdash or T3 Code. For the first-party route, use Claude Code or the Codex app. For steering agents on your own Mac from your phone, use MightyMouse.
Is Conductor shutting down?
Per conductor.build/announcement, Conductor is joining Meta. Cloud goes read-only on Nov 13, shuts down on Nov 20 and data deletion starts then. The local Mac app gets fixes until early 2027.
Can I keep using Conductor on my Mac after Nov 20?
Conductor says the local Mac app keeps getting fixes until early 2027. Cloud workspaces will not be available after the shutdown, so copy anything you need from them before then.
Is there a Conductor alternative with an iPhone app?
Yes. T3 Code lists iOS and Android versions. MightyMouse works from an iPhone or from a phone browser and controls your own Mac. Conductor's iOS app only worked with Cloud workspaces.
Can I move my Conductor chats to another tool?
In MightyMouse, the Code sidebar has a "From Conductor" list. Tap "Continue here" and it starts a Claude session seeded with the end of the old chat. It reads the Conductor data on your Mac, so do it before you delete anything.
Is there a free Conductor alternative?
T3 Code is described as free and MIT licensed. MightyMouse is free for the phone remote and voice typing, with running agents on the Pro plan.
Want agents that live on your own Mac and answer to your phone? MightyMouse turns your phone into a trackpad, keyboard and agent remote for your Mac.