Orca
Desktop agent IDE for running multiple coding agents in parallel, locally or on remote hosts.
Used as a daily driver for running Claude, Codex and other models side by side1234, including on remote hosts over SSH, with several commenters switching to it from herdr, Superset or Conductor.567 No single complaint dominates: one found the diff view hard to locate8, one struggled to install it on a headless server9, and one said it lacks multi-project task routing.10
Why people recommend it
Remote hosts · 3
Runs agent sessions on remote machines over SSH that keep working after the laptop is closed.
“I used herdr before now Orca has fully replaced it.”
“only recently swapped to using Orca for Remote SSH and perf improvements”
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“This is exactly how I want to keep working.”
Replaces alternatives · 3
Commenters moved to it from herdr, Superset and Conductor and use it daily.
“I used herdr before now Orca has fully replaced it.”
“Orca is my daily driver right now. It could be better but it’s far from bad.”
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“only recently swapped to using Orca for Remote SSH and perf improvements”
Multi-agent workflows · 3
Lets users run several models or a team of coding agents at once.
“It helps me to use multiple models simultaneously in the CLI environment and make the work 10x faster”
“try out Orca for running a team of coding agents”
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“I use them in onorca.dev”
Desktop UI · 1
Its desktop UI includes a markdown reader, a browser and Linear and GitHub integration.
“Onorca.dev is very similar but has a desktop UI that I prefer to herdr.”
Performance · 2
Commenters cite performance improvements and faster work as reasons to use it.
“only recently swapped to using Orca for Remote SSH and perf improvements”
“It helps me to use multiple models simultaneously in the CLI environment and make the work 10x faster”
Caveats and dissent
Hidden diff view · 1
One user took about half an hour to find the diff view behind a panel.
“In Orca, it took me about half an hour to even find the diff view (hidden behind a panel, activated on the top right)”
Headless install · 1
Installing it on a headless server gave one user trouble.
“I've been impressed with orca”
Multi-project work · 1
It lacks integration for routing tasks across multiple projects.
“Onorca.dev is very similar but has a desktop UI that I prefer to herdr.”
Long conversations · 1
Finding an agent's earlier blocking question means scrolling back through long conversations.
“I used Orca for ages and that was great”
Room to improve · 1
Even a daily user says it could be better.
“Orca is my daily driver right now. It could be better but it’s far from bad.”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Mitchellh starts a new company: Superlogical 2 mentions
- Three new discoveries in mathematics, computer science, and physics 1 mention
- I had Codex and Pi build the same app in Orca, then compared them side by side 1 mention
- Show HN: Offrun – manage every coding agent from one workspace 1 mention
- Pi 1.0 1 mention
- Claude Cowork and chat are now one Claude 1 mention
Also written as ORCA, orca. Data: orca.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 15
“ORCA is free but you do have to create an account on their forum”
“try out Orca for running a team of coding agents”
“I used Orca for ages and that was great”
“I used herdr before now Orca has fully replaced it.”
“This is exactly how I want to keep working.”
“It helps me to use multiple models simultaneously in the CLI environment and make the work 10x faster”
“Onorca.dev is very similar but has a desktop UI that I prefer to herdr.”
“I've been impressed with orca”
“In Orca, it took me about half an hour to even find the diff view (hidden behind a panel, activated on the top right)”
“This seems like a mix of several projects I recently encountered”
“Orca is my daily driver right now. It could be better but it’s far from bad.”
“I built a multi-agent alternative with Stream Deck and cmux/orca”
“paying a company like Orca $200/mo”
“I use them in onorca.dev”
“only recently swapped to using Orca for Remote SSH and perf improvements”