ClawIDE vs Orca
An MIT-licensed Electron desktop app with 27+ agents, an embedded browser and mobile companions, versus a self-hosted binary you open from any browser.
TL;DR
Orca and ClawIDE both run many coding agents in parallel, each in its own git worktree, and both are free for local work.
Orca is an MIT-licensed Electron desktop app with an embedded browser, native mobile companions and more preconfigured agents. ClawIDE is a single Go binary you run on your own machine or server and open from any browser, with model gateways, a markdown task board and, on Pro for $5/mo, Symphony-compatible autonomous runs.
At a glance
- What it is
- Self-hosted web app served by a single Go binary
- License
- Closed source, free binary (EULA)
- Price
- Free for the whole local workspace; Pro $5/mo, $48/yr or $99 once
- What it is
- Electron desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, with an iOS app, an Android APK and a headless
orca servemode - License
- MIT
- Price
- Free with no limits; Enterprise on request
ClawIDE
Orca
| Capability | ClawIDE | Orca |
|---|---|---|
| License | Closedfree binary | MIT |
| Paid plan starts at | $5/mo | NoneEnterprise on request |
| Unlimited projects on the free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Git worktree per task, free | Yes | Yes |
| Browser UI from any device, nothing to install on the client | Yes | No |
| Single binary or headless server | Yes | Partialorca serve |
| Sessions persist when you disconnect | Yestmux | Partial |
| Agent CLIs supported | Unlimited17 presets | 27 |
| Model gateways (OpenRouter and others) | Yes13 + custom | No |
| File editor | Yes | Yes |
| Diff and merge review | Yes | Yes |
| AI code review | Pro | Partial |
| Markdown task board in your repo | Yes | No |
| Linear, Jira or GitHub Issues | Pro | Yes |
| Symphony WORKFLOW.md orchestration | Pro | No |
| Scheduled loops and automations | Pro | Yes |
| Usage and cost analytics | Yes | Partial |
| Checkpoints and rollback | Yes | Yes |
| Push notifications to your phone | Pro | Yesmobile app |
| MCP server manager and debugger | Yesdebugger is Pro | Partial |
| Embedded browser with an element picker | No | Yes |
| Detects when an agent is working, blocked or done | Partial | Yes |
| Plugin, socket or CLI API | No | CLI |
Checked September 2026 against www.onorca.dev, github.com/stablyai/orca. Out of date? Email support@clawide.app.
Who each is best for
Choose ClawIDE if
- You want to reach your agents from any browser, including a tablet or phone, without installing an app on each device.
- Your agents run on a workstation or server, and you want tmux sessions that outlive the browser tab.
- You route agents through OpenRouter, LiteLLM, Ollama or another model gateway.
-
You want Linear, Jira or GitHub issues to drive autonomous runs from a
WORKFLOW.mdfile (Pro).
Choose Orca if
- You need an open-source (MIT) tool.
- You want an embedded browser with Design Mode for picking page elements.
- You prefer a native desktop app, or native iOS and Android companions.
- You rely on stacked PRs, Bitbucket, SSH worktrees, or an agent beyond ClawIDE’s catalog.
Moving from Orca
Nothing in your repositories is tied to either tool, so you can try ClawIDE next to Orca.
- Install ClawIDE on the machine that holds your repos, then run
clawideand openhttp://localhost:9800. - In the setup wizard, point the projects directory at your repos and import them.
- Your agent CLIs keep their own login and config. ClawIDE detects the installed ones; assign a gateway only if you want one.
- If you used Orca’s Linear, Jira or GitHub integration, connect the same tracker with a personal token. In ClawIDE that’s a Pro feature.
- To reach ClawIDE from another device, open the machine’s address on port 9800 over your local network or VPN.
ClawIDE doesn’t import Orca’s settings, chat history or automations, so finish or merge in-flight work in Orca first.
Your agents, on your hardware, in any browser.
Install the binary, run clawide, and open localhost:9800. The setup wizard finds your agent CLIs and projects. Every install includes a 14-day Pro trial.
curl -fsSL https://www.clawide.app/install.sh | bash