Conductor alternatives in 2026: 8 tools for parallel coding agents
Conductor is winding down. We compared 8 tools, including Paperclip AI, that run Claude Code and Codex in parallel, with dates, platforms and who each fits.
The best Conductor alternative depends on how you work. If your whole team shares the agents, or you want agents to keep working while you are away with review before anything merges, use Paperclip. If you want an agent IDE that you watch as it works, use Orca, T3 Code or Paradev. If you need hosted sandboxes, use Cloudroom.
This guide compares eight tools that run Claude Code, Codex and other coding agents in parallel.
What changed at Conductor
On November 4, 2026, Conductor announced that it is joining Meta. The announcement gives this timeline:
- November 4, 2026: no new sign-ups. Existing users can keep using Conductor. Current pro users keep pro features at no charge.
- November 13, 2026: Conductor Cloud goes read-only. You can read old chats and export data, but you can’t send new messages.
- November 20, 2026: Conductor Cloud shuts down, and Conductor starts to delete Cloud user data.
- Early 2027: the local Conductor app winds down. Until then, it gets new models and critical bug fixes.
If you used Conductor Cloud, export your data before November 20. If you use the local app, you have until early 2027 to move.
The short list
Scroll horizontally to see all columns
| Tool | Best for | License | GitHub stars | Native app | Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paperclip | A whole team sharing agents, with review stages and budgets | Open source (MIT) | 113k | No (web UI) | Yes |
| Orca | An agent IDE on desktop, mobile and remote machines | Open source | 120k | Partial | Partial |
| T3 Code | A light control surface that you can fork | Open source | 54k | Partial | Yes |
| Paradev | The closest match to Conductor’s workspace model | Open source | 16k | Partial | Yes |
| Herdr | A native app that your agents can change | Open source | 50k | Yes | No |
| Paseo | Starting and checking agents from your phone | Open source | 24k | Partial | Yes |
| Multica | Assigning tasks to agents like teammates | Source-available | 55k | Partial | Partial |
| Cloudroom | Hosted cloud sandboxes for each agent | Open source | 1.6k | Partial | Partial |
“Partial” means that the comparison table marks the feature as partial, beta or subscription-only.
Paperclip
Paperclip is multi-player. Most tools on this list belong to one person: the sessions, context and approvals stay on that person’s machine. In Paperclip, your whole team shares the agents. Anyone can assign a task, everyone sees the same threads, diffs and run history, and roles and review stages decide who can do what. A pull request can carry the GitHub identity of the person who directed the work. Sharing is the default, and private projects and private tasks keep sensitive work to the people and agents you choose.
Paperclip also keeps your coding agents working when you close your laptop. You create a task and assign it to an agent. The agent can be Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenCode or another supported agent, and it uses the login you already have.
Turn on Isolated Workspaces, and Paperclip can give each task its own git worktree and branch. The agent does the work, opens a pull request and posts its plan and results in the task thread. You see the diff in the task. A Review stage keeps the task open until a person approves it, and “changes requested” sends it back to the agent.
Paperclip wakes agents when they get a task, when someone replies and on a schedule. You can message an agent while it runs. A budget for each agent or project pauses the agent at the limit, so a loop can’t use your whole quota overnight.
When the work grows, you add roles. A CTO agent splits a plan into tasks, coder agents build and a QA agent checks the result. The same app also runs work outside of code, such as support and marketing.
Pick Paperclip if your team shares its agents, or if you want agents to work through a queue of tasks without you watching each terminal. Skip it if you want a native desktop IDE. Paperclip runs as a local server with a web UI, and Paperclip Cloud is in beta (join the waitlist).
See how Paperclip runs coding agents
Orca
Orca calls itself an agent development environment. It runs Claude Code, Codex and other CLI agents in parallel, each in its own worktree. It has desktop and mobile apps and a remote runtime, so agents can run on a laptop or in the cloud.
Orca has the most GitHub stars in this group. Pick it if you want an IDE built around agents and you plan to stay close to the code while they work.
T3 Code
T3 Code describes itself as “the open-source control plane for coding agents.” It runs Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, OpenCode, Cursor and Grok from one surface. It has one button to commit, push and open a pull request.
In early November 2026, many developers on X named T3 Code as their Conductor replacement. Pick it if you want something light and familiar that you can fork and change.
Paradev
Paradev, formerly Superset, is an open-source workspace for Claude Code, Codex and other coding agents. Each task gets its own git worktree and branch, and you review everything in one place. Its GitHub description calls it a Conductor alternative.
Pick it if you want the workflow that is closest to Conductor, with the least to relearn.
Herdr
Herdr is a native app for running coding agents. Your agent can change any part of the app, from the sidebar to new panels. Agents keep working in herdr-core after you close the window, and one sidebar shows every machine.
Pick it if you want a fast native app that you can reshape. The comparison table marks mobile and team features as not supported.
Paseo
Paseo calls itself an agentic development environment. It runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and 30+ other coding agents in parallel on your own machines. One window has an editor, terminals, diffs, pull requests and a browser. The full app also runs on iOS and Android. Its FAQ says that worktrees are optional.
Pick it if you start and check agents from your phone as often as from your desk.
Multica
Multica is project management for teams of people and agents. You assign a task to an agent in the same way that you assign it to a colleague. Each solution becomes a skill that the whole team can reuse. Multica is source-available and self-hostable.
Pick it if your team works from a task board and wants agents on the same board as people.
Cloudroom
Cloudroom runs AI coding agents in the cloud, each in its own sandbox, or on your computer. It is open source and works with several agent harnesses.
Most tools on this list run on your own machine or server. Pick Cloudroom if you used Conductor Cloud and want hosted sandboxes again. The comparison table marks it as the only tool here with full managed cloud.
How to choose
Answer three questions:
- Do you want to watch each agent, or come back to finished work? If you watch, pick an IDE such as Orca, Paseo or Herdr. If you come back to finished work, pick a task-based tool such as Paperclip or Multica.
- Where should the agents run? All eight tools can run on your own machine. For hosted sandboxes, start with Cloudroom.
- Does more than one person direct the agents? The comparison table gives full team support to Paperclip, Multica and Paradev, and none to Herdr.
Move off Conductor
- Export your Conductor Cloud data before November 20, 2026.
- Install the new tool and connect your repositories.
- Check your agent logins. Most tools on this list run the Claude Code or Codex CLI that you already use.
- Recreate each open Conductor workspace as a task or workspace in the new tool.
- Merge or close old branches so that the new tool starts from a clean main branch.
To try Paperclip, run:
npx paperclipai@latest onboard --yes
FAQ
What is the best Conductor alternative?
It depends on your workflow. For agents that work unattended with review and budgets, use Paperclip. For an agent IDE, use Orca, T3 Code or Paradev. For hosted sandboxes, use Cloudroom.
Is there a free Conductor alternative?
Yes. Paperclip, Orca, T3 Code, Paradev, Herdr, Paseo and Cloudroom are open source. Multica is source-available. You still pay for the agents and models that they run.
Which Conductor alternative has a cloud option?
Cloudroom runs each agent in a hosted sandbox. Orca has a remote runtime. Paperclip Cloud is in beta, and you can join the waitlist.
Do these tools work with my Claude or ChatGPT subscription?
Most of them run the Claude Code or Codex CLI on your machine, so they use the login that you already have. Paperclip does this too, and an API key is optional.
Is Conductor already shut down?
No. Conductor Cloud goes read-only on November 13, 2026 and shuts down on November 20, 2026. The local app continues until early 2027.
For background on how these tools differ from a control plane, read Coding-agent orchestrator vs. agent control plane. For a hands-on setup, read How to run multiple Claude Code agents with git worktrees.
Sources
- Conductor, announcement, checked November 9, 2026
- Ryan Shea, Conductor alternatives comparison v2.0, November 6, 2026
- Orca, T3 Code, Paradev, Herdr, Paseo, Multica and Cloudroom homepages, checked November 7 to 10, 2026
- GitHub star counts from the GitHub API, November 9, 2026: stablyai/orca, paperclipai/paperclip, multica-ai/multica, pingdotgg/t3code, herdrdev/herdr, getpaseo/paseo, ParadevAI/Paradev, davidondrej/cloudroom