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Next Termthe IDE for your AI agents

Next Term vs Conductor

Conductor is a Mac app for running coding agents in parallel. Each task gets a workspace, an isolated git worktree on its own branch, with a chat with the agent, a terminal, a diff viewer and a flow from checks to pull request to merge. It works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode under your own subscriptions, needs GitHub signed in through gh, and is free for local workspaces, with paid plans for cloud workspaces, live collaboration, its API and a mobile app. Next Term takes a different shape: it is a free, MIT-licensed macOS terminal and code editor where each agent runs in its own tab, exactly as it does in any terminal. It shows every agent’s status on its tab, sends a notification when one finishes or needs you (quoting Claude Code’s, Codex’s, Command Code’s and OpenCode’s questions), adds diffs with per-hunk staging and the Git Log, and is a local MCP server through which one agent runs the others. Choose Conductor if you want each task isolated in its own worktree and carried to a pull request for you. Choose Next Term if you want your agents in real terminals, any agent, with no GitHub sign-in required.

At a glance

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FeatureNext TermConductor
PlatformsmacOS 13 or latermacOS; an iOS app on the Pro plan
PriceFreeFree for local workspaces; Pro $50 a month; Teams; Enterprise
Open source✓ MIT—
NeedsNothing beyond the agents you runGitHub signed in with gh, and Claude Code, Codex or Cursor
Agents✓ Any agent that runs in a terminal; 21 recognised by nameClaude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode
How you work with an agentIts own command-line interface, in a terminal tabA chat per workspace, plus a terminal
Isolation per taskPartly, when you ask: Open in New Worktree… makes one in its own window, copying or linking what git ignores (such as node_modules and .env), or leaving it out, as you choose; agents offer to run parallel tasks in tabs of their own and to go on in a worktree that already has the work; Close and Remove Worktree cleans up. Nothing makes a worktree per task by itself✓ A git worktree and branch for every workspace, made and archived for you
Status of each agent✓ On every tab: working, done, waiting on you (with the question, for Claude Code, Codex, Command Code and OpenCode), failed; Claude Code’s, Codex’s, Command Code’s and OpenCode’s notifications quote the question✓ A status per workspace, and unread marks
Reviewing changes✓ Git Diff (⌃⌘G): everything a branch changed in one tab, side by side or unified; stage, unstage or roll back uncommitted work per hunk; the Git Log and blame✓ A diff viewer, checks, pull requests and merge
MCP✓ A local MCP server: one agent starts, prompts, waits for and reads the others; no accountAn MCP client in chats; a hosted MCP server (beta) for cloud workspaces, signed in with OAuth or an API key
Cloud— Agents run on your Mac, or on your own servers in remote tabs✓ Cloud workspaces on the Pro plan
Collaboration—✓ Live collaboration on Pro and Teams

Choose Conductor if…

Section titled “Choose Conductor if…”
  • You want every task isolated for you. Conductor makes a worktree and branch per workspace, so parallel agents never touch each other’s files, and archives it when you are done.
  • You want the path to a pull request built in: checks, the pull request and the merge, from the workspace.
  • You prefer chatting with an agent to working in its terminal interface.
  • You want cloud workspaces, collaboration or a phone app, on the paid plans.

Choose Next Term if…

Section titled “Choose Next Term if…”
  • You want your agents exactly as they are. Each runs its own command-line interface in a real terminal tab, with its own commands, settings and keys.
  • You use agents Conductor does not run, such as Gemini CLI, Qwen Code, Command Code, Junie or Amp. Next Term recognises 21 agents by name, and anything else that runs in a terminal works too.
  • You want orchestration that stays on your Mac. Next Term’s MCP server is a local socket with no account: an agent can start others in new tabs, send prompts, wait for them and read their screens, across every open project.
  • You want no sign-in. Next Term needs no account and no GitHub login; on its own it only checks GitHub daily for updates and fetches your projects’ own remotes, and both can be turned off.
  • You run agents on your own servers. Remote tabs open over your ssh configuration and keep running in tmux or herdr while your Mac sleeps.
  • You want your agents’ API keys out of plain-text config files. Secrets keeps them sealed on your Mac; agents use a key by name, after you approve with Touch ID or your password, and never get its value back.

Use both

Section titled “Use both”
  • Open a Conductor workspace in Next Term to run another agent in its worktree, or to review everything its branch changed in Git Diff (⌃⌘G) and stage what is not committed yet per hunk: nxtrm followed by the workspace’s folder opens it as a project.
  • Keep Conductor for tasks you want carried to a pull request, and Next Term for agents you watch and steer in their terminals.

Questions

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Does Next Term make a worktree for each agent?

Section titled “Does Next Term make a worktree for each agent?”

No. Next Term shows the worktrees a repository has, with the agent tabs working in each and their status marks, marks a tab whose agent works in another worktree than its window shows, and frees a worktree an ended agent left locked. Agents that make their own worktrees, such as Claude Code, keep doing so. Conductor makes and archives a worktree for every task for you.

Is Conductor free?

Section titled “Is Conductor free?”

Local workspaces are free, with your own Claude Code, Codex or Cursor subscription. Cloud workspaces, collaboration, the API and the mobile app are on paid plans. Next Term is free, with no paid tier.

Can an agent drive Conductor the way it drives Next Term?

Section titled “Can an agent drive Conductor the way it drives Next Term?”

Partly. Conductor’s MCP server is hosted, in beta, signs in with OAuth or an API key, and manages cloud workspaces. Next Term’s MCP server runs on your Mac with no account and drives the agents in your local tabs and on your servers.

Read more

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Sources

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Checked October 2026 against Conductor’s own site and documentation. Products change quickly; if something here is out of date, please open an issue.

Next Term is free and open source under the MIT licence. Made by Mishuk Adhikari. This site uses no cookies, no trackers and no third-party requests.