Agentastic vs Orca
Native Mac IDE or cross-platform Electron app for parallel agents.
Who should choose each option
Agentastic
Choose Agentastic if you work on a Mac and want a native app with Ghostty terminals, container isolation, AI code review, and cloud agents built in.
Orca
Choose Orca if you need Windows or Linux, an MIT-licensed codebase, or an Android companion app.
Feature comparison
| Agentastic | Orca | |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | Native macOS app (Swift) | Electron app (TypeScript) |
| Platforms | macOS 14+ (Apple Silicon and Intel) | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Terminal | GPU-accelerated (Ghostty) | xterm.js with WebGL rendering |
| Supported agents | 55 built-in definitions + any terminal agent | 36 listed + any CLI agent |
| Worktree per agent | Yes | Yes — and fan one prompt out to five agents |
| Built-in editor | Yes — syntax, LSP, search, and source control | Yes — Monaco, the editor from VS Code |
| Built-in browser | Yes — agents drive it via the dev browser CLI; React Grab; share via tunnel | Yes — Chromium browser with Design Mode |
| Code review | Claude / Codex / CodeRabbit review; merge GitHub PRs in the app | Annotate diffs for the agent; open PRs on GitHub, GitLab, and more |
| Issue intake | Linear, Sentry, Slack, and schedules start agent runs | GitHub, GitLab, Linear, and Jira; scheduled runs from the CLI |
| Remote agents | Any SSH server | SSH worktrees and self-hosted Orca servers |
| Cloud agents | Free — Modal, Fly.io, Vercel Sandbox with your own account | Experimental recipes on your own account (Vercel Sandbox, Fly, Modal) |
| Container isolation | Yes — Docker or Apple Container | Local Docker via an experimental recipe |
| Usage tracking | Quota meters and past usage across accounts | Usage, rate-limit resets, and account hot-swap |
| Automation CLI | Yes — the dev CLI | Yes — the orca CLI |
| Mobile | iPhone app in public beta on TestFlight | iOS app on the App Store; Android app as an APK |
| License | Free app | Open source (MIT) |
Pricing
Agentastic
Free — everything ships in the free app: cloud agents, remote SSH, Linear / Sentry issue tracking, browser automation, and code review. BYO agent subscriptions.
Orca
Free and open source under MIT. Bring your own agent subscriptions and cloud accounts; enterprise support is by contact.
Using them together
They cover the same layer, so most people pick one. Both run official agent CLIs on ordinary git branches, so switching later costs you nothing but muscle memory.
Frequently asked questions
Is Orca open source?
Yes. Orca is MIT-licensed on GitHub. Agentastic is a free app.
Does Orca run on Windows and Linux?
Yes. Orca ships for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Agentastic is Mac-only (macOS 14 or later) but can drive agents on Linux machines over SSH.
Native or Electron: what actually differs?
The shell around the agents. Agentastic is written in Swift and renders terminals with Ghostty. Orca is an Electron app with xterm.js terminals and the Monaco editor from VS Code, which is what lets it run on three operating systems.
Which one runs agents in the cloud?
Both use your own cloud account. Agentastic runs cloud agents on Modal, Fly.io, or Vercel Sandbox as a built-in feature. Orca's Cloud VM mode is marked experimental: an agent writes a recipe for your repo, and Orca boots it per workspace.
Can I use the same agents in both?
Yes. Both run the official CLIs, like Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI, with your existing subscriptions. Agentastic ships 55 built-in definitions, and both accept any agent that runs in a terminal.
Further reading
- The worktree problems nobody warns you about — dependencies, ports, and env files across parallel checkouts
- Cloud agents documentation — how cloud agents run on your own account
- AI coding agent orchestration tools — the wider roundup this comparison sits inside
See also
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