I build Morphy, so read this with that in mind. I'll tell you where Anthropic's app is the better choice, because for a lot of people it is.
What are they?
The Claude Code desktop app is the Code tab of Anthropic's Claude app. It's the same Claude Code you'd run in a terminal, with a window around it: a sidebar of sessions you can run in parallel, a visual diff, a terminal, a file editor and a browser that previews your app. It reads the same CLAUDE.md, MCP servers, hooks and skills as the command line.
Morphy is a desktop app with a canvas: every chat is an agent, and you can put as many of them as you like next to each other, on Claude, Codex, Copilot, Antigravity, Grok, OpenRouter, Ollama or any service with OpenAI's Responses API. Each project is a group on the canvas with its own folder (and its own canvases if you want them), focus mode tiles the agents you're working with, and Morphy's own assistant can start and check on the others for you.
How do they compare?
| Claude Code desktop | Morphy | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | macOS, Windows (x64, ARM64), Linux beta (Debian/Ubuntu) | Windows 10/11, macOS 11+, Linux (beta) |
| Agents | Claude models only | Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Antigravity (Gemini), Grok, OpenRouter, Ollama, and services with OpenAI's Responses API |
| Keeps agents apart | Optional git worktree per session | None built in: chats in a project share its folder (point a chat at another folder yourself) |
| Price | A paid Claude plan: Pro ($17–20/mo) or higher (companies can bill through the API or a cloud provider instead) | Free during early access; you use your own AI plans |
| Open source | No | No |
| Best for | Claude-only work with built-in review, PRs and cloud sessions | Seeing many agents, on any AI, at once |
And feature by feature:
| Claude Code desktop | Morphy | |
|---|---|---|
| Agents visible at once | Two side by side; the rest in a sidebar you can filter by status | As many as fit the canvas; focus views tile any number |
| Other AIs next to Claude | No, Claude only | Codex, Copilot, Gemini, Grok, OpenRouter, Ollama |
| Visual diff and line comments | Yes | No; open the project in your editor |
| Pull requests, CI fixes, auto-merge | Yes (with the GitHub CLI) | No |
| Git worktree per agent | Yes, optional | No; agents in a project share its folder |
| Built-in browser | Yes, and Claude can check its own work in it | Yes, a simple one; click an element on your local site to send it to a chat |
| Built-in terminal | Yes | Yes, as many as you like per project |
| Cloud sessions (run with your laptop closed) | Yes | No, agents run while Morphy is open |
| Phone control | Anywhere, through Anthropic | Same Wi-Fi only, directly to your computer |
| Scheduled tasks | Recurring and one-time tasks, plus cloud routines | One message, sent after a delay |
| Live cards | No canvas; Claude can publish live artifact pages | Yes, on the canvas next to your agents |
| Price | A paid Claude plan (or API / cloud-provider billing for companies) | Free; you pay for the AIs you use |
Where is the Claude Code desktop app better?
It's the more complete tool for a Claude-only workflow, and it's built by the people who make Claude.
- Review is built in. You get a visual diff, can leave comments on lines for Claude to act on, and run a code review. Morphy has none of that: you review in your own editor or with git.
- Agents can't overwrite each other. Turn on worktrees and every session gets its own copy of the project. In Morphy, agents in one project share its folder, so two agents editing the same files can collide unless you give each its own folder.
- Pull requests end to end. It shows PR and CI status, can fix failing checks and merge when they pass.
- It keeps going without you. Cloud sessions continue with the app closed, and you can watch and steer sessions from the Claude phone app wherever you are. Morphy's agents run only while Morphy is open, and Morphy Remote works on your own Wi-Fi.
- More automation. Recurring scheduled tasks, cloud routines triggered by GitHub events, computer use (a research preview), and the controls companies need.
Where is Morphy better?
- Many AIs, side by side. Anthropic doesn't support pointing Claude Code at other companies' models. In Morphy, a Claude chat, a Codex chat and a Gemini chat can work on the same project next to each other, and you can compare what they come back with. When one plan hits its limit, you keep going on another.
- You see the whole crowd. The desktop app shows at most two sessions side by side, with the rest in a sidebar you can filter by status. A canvas shows them all at once, each with its status (working, or waiting for you), so you notice the one that needs an answer.
- No paid plan needed to start. Morphy is free during early access, and with OpenRouter's free models or Ollama on your own computer you can run agents without paying anyone. Claude chats in Morphy still need your Claude plan, of course.
- An assistant that runs the others. Ask Morphy to "start three Codex chats in my website folder and have them review the checkout" and it does, on any AI and in any folder; ask it later which are done and it checks every chat. (Claude's app can check on and message its own sessions too, but it can't start Codex or other AIs.)
- Things that stay on the canvas. Ask for a dashboard, a tracker or a tool and it appears as a live card next to your agents.
Do they share the same limits?
Yes, on the Claude side. Both run Claude Code on your Claude plan, and Anthropic is clear that running several sessions at once multiplies usage. Ten Claude agents in either app empty a Pro plan quickly. The difference is that in Morphy, the next chat can be on Codex, Copilot or a free OpenRouter model instead.
Can you use both?
Yes. Morphy's Claude chats run Claude Code with the same Claude sign-in, and a chat working in your project folder reads that project's own CLAUDE.md, like the desktop app and the command line do. A setup that works well:
- Run the agents in Morphy, on whichever AIs suit each task, and watch them on the canvas.
- Open the project in the Claude Code desktop app (or your editor) when it's time to review the diff and open the pull request.
Which should you pick?
- Only Claude, and you care most about review and PRs: the Claude Code desktop app.
- Claude plus Codex, Copilot or Gemini, or you hit plan limits often: Morphy.
- You want agents to keep working with your laptop closed: the Claude Code desktop app, with cloud sessions.
- No paid AI plan yet: Morphy, with OpenRouter's free models or Ollama. See Connect your AI.
- On a Mac and want a Claude-and-Codex tool built around worktrees: also look at the other tools in our roundup.
References
- Anthropic: Claude Code desktop documentation, including parallel sessions, worktrees and what's not available in the app
- Anthropic: Claude Code desktop on Linux (beta)
- Anthropic: LLM gateway, on routing Claude Code to non-Claude models
- Anthropic: Claude pricing
- Morphy: Chats and agents, Morphy Remote, Connect your AI
