PortBayvsClaude Squad
Both run the agents you already use — Claude Code, Codex and friends — on multiple tasks at once. Claude Squad is a terminal app: each agent gets an isolated tmux session and its own git worktree, and you flip between sessions to review diffs. PortBay is a native macOS app where the unit of work is a card on a Kanban board, and the card runs inside a full local dev environment — managed PHP and Node, a per-project database, trusted HTTPS on a real .test domain and a public tunnel.
Which one is right for you
You want the full stack, open source.
You want tasks tracked as cards — assigned, commented, moved to Done — instead of as anonymous terminal sessions, and you want the agent building against a running app: a database it can query, a URL it can load, a tunnel you can share. You'd rather press play in a Mac app than maintain tmux, gh and worktree hygiene yourself.
It already fits your workflow.
You live in the terminal and want maximum parallel throughput: many agents at once, each in its own tmux session and git worktree, with an auto-accept background mode. You run Linux, or you want the broadest agent set (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Aider, OpenCode, Amp). You don't need the tool to run your database or serve the site.
Feature by feature
Every row sourced from the live product page. We mark partial support honestly — including where the other side wins.
Already using Claude Squad?
There's nothing to import — Claude Squad manages sessions, not projects. Point PortBay at the same repository, press play, and the runtime, database and HTTPS come up around it. Then dispatch the same Claude Code or Codex from a card instead of a tmux pane. Plenty of developers will keep Claude Squad for high-throughput parallel worktree runs and use PortBay where the agent needs the app actually running.
- Install PortBay and add the project folder your Claude Squad worktrees branch from.
- Press play — PortBay provisions the runtime, database and HTTPS for that project.
- Create a card, assign Claude Code or Codex, move it to Todo, and the agent works against the running app.
PortBay vs Claude Squad, in plain terms
What does PortBay do that Claude Squad doesn't?
Two things. First, a real task board: cards with comments, assignment and @mention dispatch, instead of a list of terminal sessions. Second, the environment — PortBay provisions managed PHP/Node runtimes, a per-project MySQL or PostgreSQL database, trusted HTTPS on a real .test domain, email capture and a one-click public tunnel, so the agent builds against a running application. Claude Squad isolates sessions with tmux and git worktrees but expects you to supply everything else.
Is Claude Squad free and open source?
Yes. Claude Squad is open source under AGPL-3.0 — the same license as PortBay — and free to install via Homebrew or its install script. It requires tmux and the GitHub CLI to be installed. The agents it runs (Claude Code, Codex, etc.) carry their own subscription or API costs, as they do with any orchestrator.
Does PortBay run agents in parallel like Claude Squad?
Not the same way. Claude Squad is built for parallelism: many agents at once, each in its own tmux session and git worktree, with an experimental auto-accept background mode. PortBay dispatches one agent per card against the project in place, with a lease so two agents never claim the same card. If maximum parallel throughput across worktrees is your priority, Claude Squad is built around it.
Do I need tmux or the GitHub CLI to use PortBay?
No. PortBay is a single native macOS app — no tmux, no gh, no terminal prerequisites. Claude Squad requires both tmux and the GitHub CLI before it can start sessions. PortBay does ship a CLI (the portbay command) for scripting, but it's optional.
Which should I choose?
Choose PortBay when the agent needs a real running environment — a database to query, a site to load over HTTPS, a tunnel to demo — and you want tasks tracked as cards in one macOS app that's also your daily local dev tool. Choose Claude Squad when you want terminal-native, many-agent parallel orchestration across git worktrees on macOS or Linux and you provide the runtime yourself.
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