Orca
Open SourceShip 100x with the agent IDE.
Published 27 September 2026
Scores
Popularity4/5
The highest-starred tool in the Agentic Dev Environments subcategory, with Y Combinator backing and coverage across independent AI-tooling roundups — a category only a couple of years old and still mostly known to developers already running multiple CLI coding agents side by side.
Learning Curve3/5
The worktree-per-agent model, embedded browser Design Mode, and desktop-app interface introduce more concepts than a plain terminal, and getting the most out of it means understanding git worktrees alongside whichever CLI agents are being orchestrated.
Flexibility5/5
Supports 25+ CLI coding agents out of the box, exposes a scriptable Orca CLI, runs headless via `orca serve` for VPS self-hosting, and pairs SSH remote worktrees with native desktop and mobile clients.
Performance4/5
WebGL-rendered terminal with infinite splits and an embedded Chromium browser are designed for responsiveness under many simultaneous agent sessions, though running several CLI agents and a browser pane at once is heavier than a lightweight terminal multiplexer.
Portability5/5
MIT-licensed and self-hostable with a headless server mode, runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android, and works with any CLI agent a developer already has a subscription to rather than locking into one vendor.
About Orca
Orca is an open-source agent development environment (ADE) built by Stably AI for running a fleet of CLI coding agents in parallel rather than one at a time. Instead of wrapping a single model, Orca hosts external agent CLIs, Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor CLI, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, and 25+ others, each inside its own isolated git worktree with its own branch, terminal, and file state, so parallel runs never collide with the base repository until a change is explicitly merged.
The interface centers on a Ghostty-inspired terminal with WebGL rendering and infinite splits, paired with an embedded Chromium browser in "Design Mode" for clicking UI elements and sending HTML, CSS, and screenshots straight into an agent's prompt. Native GitHub and Linear integration surfaces pull requests, issues, and project boards without leaving the environment, and inline diff annotation lets a developer leave markdown comments on generated changes that feed back to the agent. A companion Orca CLI scripts common actions like creating worktrees and taking snapshots.
Orca runs as a desktop app on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with iOS and Android companion apps for monitoring and steering agents remotely, and a headless self-hosted mode (orca serve) for running on a VPS with SSH-based remote worktrees. The entire project is MIT-licensed and free, with no per-seat fee or proxy layer, developers bring their own agent subscriptions and API keys, and Orca calls provider APIs directly rather than routing traffic through its own servers. Stably AI is backed by Y Combinator.
Key Features
- Parallel agent execution, each CLI agent isolated in its own git worktree with its own branch and terminal
- Supports 25+ CLI coding agents, including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor CLI, Gemini, and GitHub Copilot
- Ghostty-inspired WebGL terminal with infinite splits and persistent scrollback
- Embedded browser "Design Mode" for sending UI elements, CSS, and screenshots straight into agent prompts
- Native GitHub and Linear integration for PRs, issues, and project boards
- Inline diff annotation with markdown comments that feed feedback back to the agent
- SSH remote worktrees and a headless self-hosted mode (`orca serve`) for VPS deployment
- Desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux plus iOS/Android companion apps
Pros
- Free and MIT-licensed with no per-seat fee or proxy, calls provider APIs directly from the user's own subscriptions
- Broadest agent-CLI compatibility in the subcategory, 25+ supported agents including all the major vendor CLIs
- Self-hostable headless mode plus SSH remote worktrees suit running agents on a VPS instead of a local machine
- Mobile companion apps let a developer monitor and steer running agents away from the desktop
- Design Mode's browser-to-prompt workflow is a differentiated feature for frontend-heavy agent work
Cons
- Requires separately-held subscriptions or API keys for every agent it orchestrates, no bundled model access
- Desktop-app-first workflow (git worktrees, embedded browser) has more moving parts to learn than a plain terminal multiplexer
- Value depends entirely on already running one or more CLI-based coding agents
- Younger, VC-backed project without the multi-year track record of established terminal or IDE incumbents
Orca Pricing
Open SourceTech Stacks with Orca
Orca Dev Stack
DeveloperOrca runs several coding agents side by side, each in its own git worktree, with your pick of agents and models underneath and GitHub or GitLab for version control.
Tools Related to Orca
Works well with Orca(5)
OpenCode is one of the CLI coding agents Orca wraps unmodified, running in its own git worktree as a parallel session.
Claude Code is one of Orca's natively supported CLI agents — it runs inside an isolated git worktree as one of the parallel sessions Orca coordinates.
Codex CLI is one of Orca's natively supported coding agents, hosted in its own isolated worktree alongside other parallel agent sessions.
The GitHub Copilot CLI is one of the coding-agent CLIs Orca can orchestrate alongside other agents in parallel worktrees.
Cursor's CLI agent is one of the 25+ coding-agent CLIs Orca can host and run in parallel isolated worktrees.
Alternatives to Orca(6)
Both are open-source, self-hostable, mobile-inclusive control planes for running several official CLI agents unmodified — Orca adds an embedded browser and native desktop apps, Paseo leans on a headless daemon reachable over a relay, Tailscale, or direct connection.
Both are agentic dev environments that host and coordinate coding-agent CLIs across parallel sessions — Warp bundles its own built-in agent alongside hosted CLIs, Orca is a dedicated multi-agent orchestrator with no agent of its own. Genuinely competing environment choices.
Both orchestrate multiple coding-agent CLIs across parallel sessions rather than running a single agent loop — OpenHands centres on a browser-based multi-agent control center, Orca on a native desktop app with git-worktree isolation.
Both are open-source control planes with mobile clients for running multiple CLI coding agents in isolated worktrees — Orca adds an embedded browser for frontend work and 25+ supported agents, T3 Code leans on a simpler Electron GUI with a narrower agent list.
Both automate a git-worktree-per-task workflow for running parallel coding agents with a visual diff viewer — Conductor is closed-source and macOS-only, cited as the incumbent baseline by newer competitors; Orca is open-source, cross-platform, and self-hostable.
Same job-to-be-done (running and tracking multiple coding agents in parallel) delivered through a different interface — Herdr is a terminal-native, headless session runtime, while Orca is a full desktop app with a GUI terminal, diff viewer, and mobile companions.
Learning Resources
No resources yet — check back soon.
Vendor
Stably AI
Website →Tags
Details
- Maintained
- Yes
- Primary languages
- TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust
- Type
- AI IDE
- Open source
- Yes
- GitHub stars
- 76.2k
- AI features
- Agent, Inline edit
- Stars updated
- 2026-09-23