If you run AI coding agents for hours at a time, the question is where the work runs and how you get back to it. Several tools cover this now, with different answers. Here is a short map. Disclosure: I am on the Clusto team, so weigh this accordingly. The summaries follow each product's own documentation, and we last reviewed them on September 29, 2026. Features and plans change, so check the linked sources.
At a glance
| Tool | Main workflow | Where work runs |
|---|---|---|
| Clusto | Persistent terminals, structured chats, managed agent teams | Your own daemon hosts, optional clustering |
| Herdr | Agent-aware terminal workspaces with persistent sessions | Local and remote servers over SSH |
| Warp | Terminal with integrated code tools and agent automation | Local terminal, hosted workers, Enterprise self-hosted runners |
| Conductor | Parallel agents in isolated workspaces with review and merge | Local workspaces and cloud sandboxes |
| cmux | Native macOS terminal workspaces with agent notifications | Local terminals and remote SSH workspaces |
| Cursor | AI editor, coding agents, repository automation | Local, cloud agents, self-hosted machines |
When each one fits
Herdr if you want to stay in a terminal. It keeps agent terminals on a background server, shows which agents are working or need input, and offers CLI and socket automation across machines over SSH.
Warp if you want a richer terminal with a code editor (language server support, project navigation, Vim keybindings) or an automation platform for your team.
Conductor if your workflow is parallel repository tasks that end in review and merge, especially with managed cloud sandboxes. It runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode.
cmux if you are on a Mac and want agent-aware panes, notifications, and an embedded browser. It supports SSH workspaces and reconnecting to persistent remote sessions.
Cursor if you want editing and delegated development inside the Cursor ecosystem.
Clusto if you want agents and ordinary shells to live on your own workstations or servers, with desktop, Android, browser, and CLI clients, plus structured chats and managed teams. Its editor is for remote inspection and focused changes, not a full editing environment, and its nodes are machines you provision, so it does not give you a fresh hosted sandbox per task.
How to choose
Try the same workflow in two of them: start an agent on a server, disconnect, reconnect from another device, and respond to an agent that needs input. Persistent remote agents are a shared capability, so the choice mostly comes down to the interface you prefer and where you want the work to run.
Full comparison with sources: Clusto compared with other coding tools.
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