An Emdash alternative with Gemini CLI and a background service
As of October 9, 2026
Emdash calls itself the open-source Agentic Development Environment: a desktop app for running coding agents in parallel, each task in its own git worktree, with the agent command-line tools it finds installed. Moontors is an agentic development environment (ADE) that runs Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI side by side.
At a glance
Section titled “At a glance”| Emdash | Moontors | |
|---|---|---|
| Agents | 35 agent CLIs, Claude Code and Codex among them; Gemini CLI removed | Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows and Linux | macOS 13+, Windows 10+ (x64), Linux (x86-64); an Android app on Google Play, the iPhone's coming soon; no build is signed yet, and macOS and Windows ask before the first open; on Windows 11, Smart App Control, when it's on, blocks unsigned apps, Moontors among them; early preview (0.x) (Known limits) |
| Isolation | A git worktree per task | A git worktree per session, when you want one (Worktrees) |
| When you quit | Agents keep running with tmux turned on; not for local projects on Windows | Sessions keep working in a background service (Sessions and the board) |
| Remote work | SSH, and per-task remote workspaces | Local only |
| Licence | Apache-2.0, open source | Free, closed source |
| Data | Telemetry on by default, which you can turn off | No Moontors account and no Moontors servers. Moontors itself sends no telemetry; each agent's own usage data follows that agent's settings |
What each has that the other doesn’t
Section titled “What each has that the other doesn’t”Emdash:
- open source, under the Apache-2.0 licence;
- 35 agent CLIs to choose from;
- issues from Linear, Jira, GitHub and nine more trackers handed to an agent;
- a diff view that opens pull requests;
- CI checks from GitHub Actions in the app;
- automations that start tasks on a schedule;
- an in-app browser;
- agents on other machines over SSH;
- Linux ARM64 builds.
Moontors:
- Gemini CLI;
- a background service that keeps sessions working after you quit, on every platform, with nothing to set up;
- an Android app on Google Play that follows and answers your computer's own sessions, end to end, with no Moontors server between them; the iPhone's coming soon.
Where Emdash is the better fit
Section titled “Where Emdash is the better fit”- You want an open-source app.
- You use agents beyond Claude Code and Codex.
- Your tasks start as issues in a tracker, and end as pull requests opened from the app.
- Your agents run on other machines, or you need Linux ARM64.
Questions
Section titled “Questions”Is there an Emdash alternative that runs Gemini CLI?
Section titled “Is there an Emdash alternative that runs Gemini CLI?”Moontors runs Gemini CLI beside Claude Code and Codex. Emdash removed Gemini CLI from its agents.
Do the agents keep working after you quit the app?
Section titled “Do the agents keep working after you quit the app?”In Moontors, yes, on every platform: a background service keeps the sessions working, with nothing to set up. Emdash keeps agents running after you quit with tmux turned on, though not for local projects on Windows.
Is Moontors open source?
Section titled “Is Moontors open source?”No. Moontors is free, but closed source. Emdash is open source, under the Apache-2.0 licence.