The free, open-source Conductor alternative

Both run Claude Code, Codex, and other coding agents in parallel Git worktrees. bb is free for any team size, open source, and runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Conductor is a closed-source Mac app that’s free locally, with cloud workspaces, scheduled routines, multiplayer, and its mobile app on the Pro plan, at $50 a month. In bb, your agents keep working on any computer you own, follow you to your phone, and can start each other and hear back.

Yes: bb. It’s free for any team size and MIT-licensed, so you can use and change it for anything, including at work. Conductor is closed source and free only for local workspaces on a Mac, with Pro at $50 a month and Teams at $60 per person a month. Download bb.

Ask bb to do it. Conductor’s local workspaces are plain Git worktrees on your Mac, and its cloud workspaces push to branches, so a bb agent can add the repo and open each unfinished workspace or branch as a thread. Your CLAUDE.md, skills, MCP servers, slash commands, and agent sign-ins come along, and Conductor keeps working while you try bb.

• Each Conductor chat becomes a thread. Threads can get their own worktree or share one, like chats in a workspace.
• Your setup script moves to .bb-env-setup.sh. A .worktreeinclude file works as is, and Files to copy patterns from Conductor’s settings move into it.
• Threads run on whichever of your computers you pick, and follow you to your phone and any browser.
• Agents can start new threads and message each other, whatever the provider.

1. Download bb for macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows, or Linux (both alpha). On an Intel Mac, run npx bb-app@latest, which needs Node.js 22.19 or later.
2. Install and sign in to a coding agent, like Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or OpenCode.
3. Open bb, add your project folder, and type your first request.

Yes. Start a thread in a worktree and it gets its own Git worktree and branch, so agents never overwrite each other’s changes. Run as many as you like: bb runs one thread per processor core and starts the rest as others finish.

Yes. Commit a .bb-env-setup.sh at your repo root and bb runs it in every new worktree. List untracked files like .env in .worktreeinclude and bb copies them in first, and .bb-env-teardown.sh cleans up when a worktree goes away. Start your dev server in the thread’s terminal or ask the agent to, and open it from anywhere at a private link with bb Connect.

Yes, without leaving the thread. Select lines in the diff and choose Add to chat to send feedback. When the agent opens a pull request, the thread shows its checks and a Merge button. The GitHub plugin adds an issues and PR panel and Review with agent on any PR.

bb lets you rewind the conversation instead. Edit any earlier message to rerun the thread from there, or fork a new thread from any message to try a different approach. Every change stays on the thread’s own Git branch, so nothing lands until you merge it.

Yes, as one shared bb, free at any team size. Teams usually run one bb on an always-on machine and share it, so everyone sees the same projects, threads, terminals, and links, and can jump into any thread. Keep it on your tailnet and let your Tailscale ACLs decide who gets in, since everyone with access can run commands on every machine.

Yes, for free. Use the bb mobile app, a public beta on iPhone through TestFlight (Apple’s beta testing app) and in alpha on Android, or open bb in any browser through bb Connect, bb’s free remote access. Conductor’s iPhone app works with its cloud workspaces, on the $50-a-month Pro plan.

Yes, free. Automations start an agent thread or run a script on a repeating schedule, once at a set time, or after a delay. Conductor’s routines run only in its cloud, on Pro. Pick the agent, model, and permission mode, and give each run its own worktree if you like.

Not on that laptop. Agents run on your machine, and closing the lid puts it to sleep. On a Mac, switch on Keep Awake, a built-in bb plugin that stops idle sleep while bb runs. For long runs, add an always-on desktop or server to bb, or run threads in the cloud with a cloud plugin like Modal Sandbox, which is built in and starts each thread in an on-demand sandbox in your own Modal account.

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode, plus Pi, Grok Build, omp, and Hermes Agent. In Settings, add any other agent that supports the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), an open standard for connecting coding agents to apps, like Gemini CLI or Devin. You can also add one with a plugin. Each thread can use a different agent.

Yes. Ask Claude Code to “start a bb Codex thread to review this branch, then fix what it finds.” It starts Codex in the same worktree, waits, and applies the fixes. Codex shows up as its own thread, so you can read the exact prompt Claude sent, watch it work, and message it mid-run. Any other pair works the same way, like Cursor and OpenCode.

Yes, and there’s no coordinator to set up, while Conductor connects agents through MCP or its Pro cloud workspaces. Tell your agents to work together and they coordinate on their own: any agent can message another thread, whatever the provider, agents answer each other’s messages, and an agent hears back automatically when a thread it started finishes or fails. The receiving thread shows each message and who sent it, and you can step in and message any of them yourself.

Yes. Pick a permission mode for each thread. Accept Edits applies changes inside the project and asks before anything else. Approve for me reviews requests automatically and sends high-risk ones to you. Full Access skips approvals and can run anything on your machine. Allow or deny approvals from your computer or your phone.

Yes. bb works out of the box, with worktrees, diff review, automations, and the mobile app ready from your first thread. When you want more, install plugins from the marketplace or ask an agent to build one. Plugins can add panels, commands, and new agents, and they work in the mobile app too.

Yes. The bb CLI covers everything the app does: start and message threads, run terminals, schedule automations, and manage machines and plugins, so a script or another agent can drive bb end to end. The SDK and plugin API let you add your own commands, tools, and screens.

Yes, for one person or a whole team. The mobile app, remote machines, automations, and plugins are all included, while Conductor puts its mobile app, cloud workspaces, and routines on its Pro plan, at $50 a month. You pay only for the agent plans or API keys you already use, from any provider. The code is on GitHub under the MIT license.

Yes. bb runs the agents you already use, signed in the way you already pay for them: a Claude Pro or Max plan, a ChatGPT plan for Codex, a Cursor plan, API keys, or any other provider’s plan. Your existing setup comes along too (CLAUDE.md, skills, MCP servers, and agent settings).

bb picks the work back up. When an agent stops on a usage limit that reports when it resets, bb sends the message again a little after the reset, so you don’t have to come back and press send. To keep going on another Claude Code or Codex account you own, turn on Account Pooler, a plugin built into bb.

Yes. Download the app for Apple Silicon Macs, Windows, or Linux (both alpha), or run npx bb-app@latest on an Intel Mac. Conductor’s desktop app runs only on macOS.

Yes: bb runs on your machines, so your code goes only where your agents send it, the AI providers you chose. Anonymous usage stats exclude code and prompts and can be turned off. The bb Connect relay doesn’t store traffic, but isn’t end-to-end encrypted.