# Claude Code GUI for Mac: the options compared (2026)

> The official Claude Code desktop app, Conductor, Nimbalyst, Superset, Sculptor, Claude Squad, cmux, and CmdBrief — what each one is for, what it lacks, and how to choose, verified against each vendor’s own docs.

- **Category:** Comparisons
- **Updated:** 2026-09-29
- **Reading time:** 7 min
- **Canonical page:** https://cmdbrief.com/guides/claude-code-gui-mac

## The short answer

The default Claude Code GUI for a Mac is Anthropic’s own desktop app: a sessions sidebar, a worktree option per session, diff review, a terminal pane, and a browser pane, included with a Pro or Max plan. If you only run Claude Code, start there and stop reading.

Third-party apps earn their place in three situations: you run Codex or other CLIs alongside Claude and want one view of all of them; you want parallel-agent features the official app lacks (team multiplayer, container isolation, open-source extensibility); or you supervise several products and need attention and usage rolled up across them rather than sessions listed inside one project. The table below is built from each vendor’s own documentation; a dash means the vendor does not document it, not that it is missing.

## Selection table

| Tool | Claude Code | Codex | Other CLIs | Status states | Usage windows | Terminal | Diff review | Worktrees | Open source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Claude Code desktop app (Included with Pro/Max) | Yes | No | No | Yes — sessions sidebar filters by status | Partial — usage ring shows context and plan usage; 5h/7d labels not documented | Yes — integrated terminal pane (local sessions) | Yes — inline comments, "Review code" | Yes — a worktree option per session | No |
| Conductor (Free · Pro $50/mo) | Yes — bundled with the app | Yes — bundled with the app | Yes — OpenCode bundled; Cursor Agent through the Cursor API | Partial — “Next chat needing attention” (⌘⌥L); the cross-project Home view is a Cloud feature | Yes — Claude and Codex account limits and reset times in the chat’s context popover | Yes — Big Terminal Mode replaces the centre panel with a full terminal | Yes — Diff Viewer with line comments sent back to the agent, plus a Checks tab | Yes — a branch and worktree per workspace, created for you | No — no public source repository for the app |
| Nimbalyst (Free) | Yes | Yes | Yes — Gemini, Grok Build and Cursor Agent since 0.75.5; OpenCode and Copilot in alpha | Yes — the macOS menu bar names each session as it starts, finishes, blocks or fails | Yes — Claude weekly allowances with reset times; Codex rate-limit windows | Yes — Ghostty-powered terminal beside the editors, in Developer Mode | Yes — approve, reject, edit, iterate | Yes — one-click worktree per session | Yes — MIT |
| Superset (Free · Pro $20) | Yes | Yes | Yes — OpenCode, Cursor Agent, Gemini CLI, Grok, Kimi Code, Amp, Copilot, Droid and more; any CLI agent | Yes — lifecycle hooks report working, finished and waiting for input; some agents report completion only | Yes — Claude Code and Codex quota meters, e.g. Session (5h) and Weekly, with time to reset | Yes — integrated agent terminals | Yes — review | Yes — one Git worktree per agent | Partial — source-available, ELv2 |
| Sculptor (Free · MIT) | Yes — an integrated harness | Partial — no integrated harness; runs as a terminal-based agent | Yes — Pi as an integrated harness, plus any terminal-based agent | — | — | Yes — built-in terminal tabs per workspace | Yes — live diff, unified or split, with pull-request and CI status | Yes — a git worktree per workspace by default; clone and in-place modes are experimental | Yes — MIT |
| Claude Squad (Free) | Yes | Yes | Yes — Gemini CLI, Aider, OpenCode, Amp | Partial — the session list shows a spinner while an agent works and a ready mark when it waits for input; no separate done state | No — no usage display in the README or the source | Yes — tmux panes | Yes — diff tab | Yes — a worktree per session | Yes — AGPL-3.0 |
| CmdBrief (€29.99/mo · 14-day refund) | Yes | Yes | Yes — Grok CLI, Kimi CLI, OpenCode, Cursor CLI | Yes — hooks for Claude, Codex, Grok, Kimi; partial hooks plus screen detection for Cursor CLI; process/screen detection for OpenCode | Yes — Claude 5h/7d, Codex weekly, Grok weekly credits, OpenCode Go 5h/weekly/monthly, Cursor CLI monthly Cursor-models/Other-models pools | Yes — hand-written VT emulator with a GPU text path | Yes — git diff viewer | Partial — a worktree and branch for each code builder a lead agent starts, when several share a repo; panes you open yourself use your checkout | No |

*Every row re-checked against the vendor’s own pages on 2026-09-29. “—” means not verified. Check the linked vendor pages for current terms.*

## Claude Code desktop app (Anthropic)

Included with Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise. Cmd+N opens a new session, and the worktree option next to the branch name gives it its own git worktree; the sidebar filters sessions by status and groups them by project; two sessions sit side by side; there is a diff view with inline comments, an integrated terminal, a file editor, and a browser pane that previews your dev server. Sessions run locally by default, with a cloud environment for work that should outlive your laptop. Windows and a Linux beta exist too.

What it lacks: everything outside Claude. A Codex thread in the same repo is invisible, and the usage ring covers your Anthropic plan only. Local sessions group by project in the sidebar, and Projects — a public beta on Pro and Max — coordinate cloud threads that share repositories, instructions and memory; we found no local, per-product home with tasks and a saved layout.

> **Tip:** Before installing anything else, run `claude agents` in a terminal. It is a built-in dashboard of your background Claude sessions — Needs input, Working, Completed — and it solves the attention problem for the single-vendor case at no cost.

## Conductor

“Run a team of coding agents in the cloud.” Conductor runs Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode, bundled with the app, and Cursor Agent through the Cursor API, on your own subscriptions or keys. Each workspace is a git worktree and branch with a diff viewer whose comments go back to the agent, a Checks tab, and a path to a pull request. Local workspaces are on the free tier; the paid tiers add Conductor Cloud sandboxes and team multiplayer. Codex and Claude chats show account limits and reset times in their context popover. macOS only.

Consider it when one repository needs many parallel attempts, or when shared cloud workspaces are central to the workflow. This guide has not run a hands-on Conductor trial; [CmdBrief vs Conductor](https://cmdbrief.com/compare/conductor) has the sourced detail.

## Nimbalyst (formerly Crystal)

"The visual workspace for Codex and Claude Code." Crystal, the MIT-licensed Electron app for parallel worktree sessions, was deprecated in February 2026 in favour of Nimbalyst. It is free for individuals with no feature limits, MIT-licensed for the desktop and iOS apps, local-first with open file formats, runs on macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows, Linux, and iOS, and organises sessions on a kanban board with searchable history, one-click worktrees, and inline diff review. Claude Code and Codex are first-class; Gemini, Grok Build and Cursor Agent arrived in 0.75.5, and OpenCode and Copilot are in alpha.

It is a visual workspace first: a Ghostty-powered terminal (in Developer Mode) and a built-in Chromium browser sit beside the editors. Its navigation gutter shows Claude, Codex and Gemini usage indicators, with Claude weekly allowances and reset times.

## Superset

“Orchestrate any coding agent.” Superset runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor Agent, Gemini CLI, Grok, Kimi Code and any other CLI agent in workspaces that are separate Git worktrees, with persistent terminals, hook-based agent status, diff review, an in-app browser, and remote hosts. Its Usage page shows Claude Code and Codex quota meters per account — Session (5h) and Weekly, with time to reset. Source is available under ELv2. It runs on macOS, with an experimental Linux AppImage; Windows is not yet available.

It is a relevant option for managing parallel checkouts across different agents, with Claude and Codex usage side by side. This guide has not run a hands-on Superset trial.

## Sculptor (Imbue)

"Sculptor is a desktop app for running coding agents in parallel." Imbue rebuilt it and published it under MIT; the README calls it an experimental research preview. Each workspace is a git worktree of your repository by default, with a Docker or SSH container backend as an experimental option. Claude Code and Pi are integrated harnesses, and any other terminal-based agent, Codex included, runs in a terminal inside the workspace. There is a live diff with pull-request and CI status; workspaces and agent sessions persist, and an interrupted turn survives a quit or crash. Free, on macOS Apple silicon and Linux x64 and ARM64.

Two integrated harnesses, Claude Code and Pi, and no documented usage windows. If isolation is your main worry, its worktree workspaces and experimental container backend are the reason to look.

## Claude Squad (terminal, not a GUI)

Included because it is what many people actually want when they search for a GUI: a list of sessions with status and a diff tab, without leaving the terminal. Free, AGPL, installs with Homebrew, creates a tmux session and a worktree per agent, and supports Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Aider, OpenCode, and Amp.

**install and open**

```bash
brew install claude-squad
cs

```

## cmux

cmux is a free Mac terminal with workspaces, split panes, an embedded browser, notification rings, and session restoration. It runs terminal-based coding agents, including Claude Code and Codex. It is a useful starting point if you want a native terminal organized for multitasking; check [cmux’s documentation](https://cmux.com) for its current capabilities. This is a documentation-based inclusion, not a hands-on comparison.

## CmdBrief

Ours, so read the others first. CmdBrief is a native Rust macOS app for the founder running several products: each product gets a persistent workspace with agents, tasks, terminals, files, a diff viewer, and browser panes, and the sidebar rolls attention up across all of them. It supervises Claude Code, Codex, Grok CLI, Kimi CLI, OpenCode, and Cursor CLI with the same working / needs-input / completed / failed states, and shows supported provider usage windows side by side. Providers expose different measurements; a missing meter means data is unavailable. The terminal is a hand-written VT emulator with a GPU text path, not a chat box with a shell bolted on.

It is €29.99 a month (or annual) with a 14-day money-back guarantee, Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later, local-first, and it creates worktrees only for the code builders a lead agent starts — pair it with `claude --worktree` for sessions you open yourself. If you run one product on one vendor, the official app is the better deal. See [features](https://cmdbrief.com/features) and [pricing](https://cmdbrief.com/pricing). Also compare the workspace: [CmdBrief vs Claude Desktop](https://cmdbrief.com/compare/claude-desktop), or start at the [comparison hub](https://cmdbrief.com/compare).

## How to choose

1. One product, Claude only → the official desktop app, plus `claude agents` for a dashboard. Free with your plan.
2. Claude and Codex, one product, want free and open source → Nimbalyst (GUI) or Claude Squad (terminal).
3. A team that wants cloud workspaces and multiplayer → Conductor Pro.
4. Isolation is the worry → Sculptor’s worktree workspaces, with an experimental container backend.
5. Several products, several vendors, usage windows on one screen → CmdBrief.
6. Still unsure → you probably need `claude --resume` and a worktree, not a new app. See [managing multiple Claude Code sessions](https://cmdbrief.com/guides/manage-multiple-claude-code-sessions).

> **Warning:** A failure to expect: buying a manager app when the problem was context, not sessions. If each of your sessions is healthy but you keep re-explaining the product to the agent, the fix is a better `CLAUDE.md` and `claude --continue`, and no dashboard will help.

## Questions

### Is there an official Claude Code GUI for Mac?

Yes. The Claude Code desktop app from Anthropic is included with Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, with parallel sessions that can each take their own worktree, diff review, a terminal, and a browser pane.

### What is the best free Claude Code GUI?

The official desktop app is included with a paid Claude plan. Among third parties, Nimbalyst (MIT, GUI), Sculptor (MIT, GUI) and Claude Squad (AGPL, terminal) are free and open source; Conductor and Superset have free tiers.

### Which Claude Code GUIs also run Codex?

Conductor, Nimbalyst, Superset, Claude Squad, and CmdBrief. Sculptor runs Codex only as a terminal-based agent, without an integrated harness. The official Claude desktop app is single-vendor, and so is Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app, which the standalone Codex app merged into on 2026-07-09.

### Which tools show usage limits across vendors?

As of 2026-09-29, Superset shows Claude Code and Codex quota meters side by side on its Usage page, Nimbalyst shows Claude, Codex and Gemini usage indicators in its navigation gutter, and Conductor shows Claude and Codex limits, each in its own chat. CmdBrief shows Claude Code, Codex, Grok CLI, OpenCode Go and Cursor CLI windows side by side, rolled up across products. Verify the current documentation and the available account data for every tool; an undocumented capability is not proof that it is absent.

## Primary sources

Provider terms and product behavior can change. Confirm plan, pricing, model, and permission details in the current official documentation.

- [Claude Code desktop app docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop)
- [Conductor](https://www.conductor.build)
- [Claude Code Projects](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/claude-projects)
- [Conductor pricing](https://conductor.build/pricing)
- [Conductor changelog](https://www.conductor.build/changelog)
- [Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/whats-new)
- [cmux](https://cmux.com)
- [Nimbalyst](https://nimbalyst.com)
- [Nimbalyst changelog](https://nimbalyst.com/changelog/)
- [Crystal README (deprecation notice)](https://github.com/stravu/crystal)
- [Superset](https://superset.sh)
- [Superset usage](https://docs.superset.sh/usage)
- [Sculptor README](https://github.com/imbue-ai/sculptor)
- [Claude Squad README](https://github.com/smtg-ai/claude-squad)

## Keep reading

- Workflows: [How to manage multiple Claude Code sessions on a Mac (2026)](https://cmdbrief.com/guides/manage-multiple-claude-code-sessions)
- Comparisons: [Claude Code vs Codex (2026): benchmarks, cost per task, and a fair trial](https://cmdbrief.com/guides/claude-code-vs-codex)
- Comparisons: [Claude Code vs Cursor (2026): terminal agent or editor workflow?](https://cmdbrief.com/guides/claude-vs-cursor)

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