Guide
Native app vs. web dashboard — which orchestrator style fits you?
Once you've decided to run several AI coding agents in parallel, the first real fork in the road is the interface: a desktop app that lives in a window on your machine, or a self-hosted web dashboard you open in the browser. They can look nearly identical in screenshots — the difference is architectural, and it decides what your workflow can do.
The core difference: where the UI is coupled
A desktop orchestrator couples the UI to one machine: the app spawns and supervises agent processes locally, and when you quit it, the sessions usually end with it. A web dashboard splits UI from engine — a small server runs your agents, the browser is just a window onto it. Close the tab, the agents keep going. That single design choice drives almost every practical difference.
| Desktop app | Web dashboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Feel | Fast, OS-integrated (hotkeys, notifications) | Browser-bound, but works everywhere |
| Agents survive closing the UI | Usually no | Yes — server keeps running |
| Remote / multi-device | Rarely (some add companion apps) | Built in — any browser, often phone |
| Setup | Download, open — done | Start a server process (or Docker) |
| Where code lives | Your machine | Your machine or your server — still yours |
Pick a desktop app if…
- → You work on one machine and want the smoothest, most integrated experience — think Conductor, cmux or Unpeel.
- → You review diffs constantly — native windows, split views and OS notifications beat browser tabs for that.
- → You don't want to run or maintain a server process, however small.
Pick a web dashboard if…
- → Agents should keep working after you walk away — Vibe Kanban, jat and Multica all decouple agents from the UI.
- → You want to check on sessions from your phone or a second machine without extra software.
- → Your agents run on a beefier remote box or home server, not your laptop.
The hybrid escape hatch
The line is blurring: several desktop apps now ship a remote or mobile companion, and some web dashboards package themselves as installable desktop apps. And if you want UI-independent sessions without any server, tmux-based terminal UIs get you there a third way — we compare that in tmux vs. git worktrees.
FAQ
Is a desktop app or a web dashboard better for orchestrating AI coding agents?
Neither is universally better. A desktop app feels faster and integrates with your OS (notifications, dock badges, global hotkeys), while a self-hosted web dashboard runs anywhere — on a server, from your phone, on any OS — and keeps agents working after you close your laptop. Choose desktop for single-machine focus, web for remote and multi-device workflows.
Do self-hosted web dashboards send my code to the cloud?
No. Self-hosted means the server runs on hardware you control — your workstation, a home server or your own VPS. Your code and agent sessions stay on your infrastructure; the browser is only the UI.
Can agents keep running when I close a desktop orchestrator app?
Usually not — most desktop apps supervise agent processes they spawned, so quitting the app ends the sessions. Web dashboards (and tmux-based tools) decouple the UI from the agents: close the browser tab and the agents keep working on the server.
What is the difference between a native app and an Electron app?
Native apps are built with platform frameworks (Swift/AppKit on macOS), start faster and use less memory. Electron/Tauri apps wrap a web UI in a desktop shell, which makes them cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux) but heavier. Both count as desktop orchestrators.
See them side by side
Every desktop app and web dashboard — screenshotted and comparable.
Browse the directory →Last updated July 2026.