mmux vs Conductor

What is Conductor?

Conductor describes itself as a way to "run parallel coding agents on your Mac" [1]. It is made by Melty Labs, Inc. [10] and ships as a macOS app, with Apple Silicon and Intel builds [11]. You add a repository, then create workspaces: each one is a separate git worktree on a new branch, based on the latest commit of the base branch on origin [4]. In each workspace you chat with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or OpenCode, test with the terminal or the Run button, review the diff, open a pull request, merge, and archive the workspace [3] [5].

Per-project setup, run and archive scripts live in .conductor/settings.toml, and each workspace gets environment variables such as CONDUCTOR_PORT, a block of ten ports so parallel dev servers do not collide [6]. The local app is free and uses your own agent subscriptions or API keys. The Pro plan ($50 per month) adds Conductor Cloud workspaces, live collaboration, the Conductor API and the mobile app; Teams ($60 per user per month) and Enterprise add admin, billing and SSO features [2]. The software is proprietary [10].

Where Conductor is better

• The review and pull request loop. The diff viewer lets you comment on changed lines, and those comments go back to the agent as attachments. Cmd+Shift+P creates a pull request, Conductor can draft its description and respond to review comments, and a Checks tab shows git status, CI, deployments and open todos [5] [7]. mmux stops at commit, push and merge.
• Starting work from an issue. A workspace can start from a branch, a pull request, a GitHub issue or a Linear issue [5]. mmux starts a worktree from a branch name.
• Every workspace can run its own dev server. Each workspace gets ten ports via CONDUCTOR_PORT, so the app on every branch can run at the same time; a nonconcurrent run mode exists for projects tied to one port [6]. mmux deliberately runs a given process in only one checkout of a repository at a time.
• A desktop app. If you do not want to learn a terminal multiplexer, Conductor is a regular Mac window with a chat composer, and you can open any workspace in your IDE [5].
• Cloud and team features. Paid plans add cloud workspaces, live collaboration, an HTTP API and an iOS app [2] [8] [9]. mmux is a local tool with none of these.
• Intel Macs. Conductor ships an Intel build [11]. mmux's prebuilt macOS binary is for Apple Silicon only.

Where mmux is better

• Runs where a terminal runs. mmux works on macOS and Linux, locally or on a remote box over SSH. Below 60 columns it switches to a single-column layout, so it is usable from a phone's SSH client.
• Sessions survive disconnects and quits. mmux lives in an invisible per-directory tmux session: closing the terminal or dropping SSH only detaches. After a quit, crash or update restart, reopening the directory restores the session, and Claude, Codex, Pi and Grok resume their conversations.
• Any agent, plus terminals and processes. An agent is any command you configure, shown in its own TUI unchanged. Dev servers and scripts sit in the same sidebar as processes you start, stop and read.
• Agents can drive it locally. Every running mmux has a control socket. mmux ask, mmux send, mmux wait, mmux read and mmux worktree new let one agent start, prompt and read others, or read a dev server's logs, all visible in your sidebar.
• A built-in git panel. Stage, commit with a generated message, schedule a commit and push, and merge a worktree back into its base branch with M. Finished worktrees (clean, idle, merged or pushed) are cleaned up on their own after 30 minutes.
• Notifications over SSH. When an agent rings the bell or sends a notification escape, mmux turns it into a desktop notification on the machine your terminal runs on, even across an SSH hop.
• Open source. GPLv3, one binary, no paid tier.

When to use which

Using Conductor and mmux together

Both tools work on plain git branches, so they can share a repository. A split that plays to each:

1. Run long agent sessions with mmux on a remote machine, where they survive your laptop closing. Cut a worktree with an agent already working in it.
2. Push the branch from mmux's git panel (P) or the command line.
3. On your Mac, start a Conductor workspace from that branch or its pull request [5] to review the diff, comment, and merge.

ssh devbox
cd ~/src/app && mmux        # open or reattach; d detaches
# then, from any shell in ~/src/app (or from an agent inside mmux):
mmux worktree new fix-auth --prompt "fix the login bug"
mmux commit -p fix-auth -m "fix login" --push

Git allows a branch to be checked out in only one worktree at a time, so let one tool own a branch at a time.