# A Herdr alternative with sessions that carry on after a restart Herdr is [a desktop app for terminals and coding agents](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app): it keeps your work in spaces, shows which agents need you, and leaves terminals running when you close the window, and you change it [by asking your agent](https://herdr.dev/). Moontors is an agentic development environment (ADE) that runs Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Grok Build side by side, each through its own protocol, in Moontors' own views. ## At a glance | | Herdr | Moontors | | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | | Agents | [Any program that runs in a terminal](https://herdr.dev/); a status for those that [report one through OSC 7501](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app/blob/master/defaults/AGENTS.md) | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Grok Build, through each one's own protocol | | Views | [A terminal per agent, in spaces](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app) | Moontors' own views for every agent, the only way it shows them | | Platforms | [macOS on Apple silicon, Linux and Windows](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app) | macOS 13+, Windows 10+ (x64), Linux (x86-64); an app for your phone, on [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moontors.mobile) for Android, the iPhone app coming soon; the Windows and Linux builds aren't signed yet, and Windows asks 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](/docs/known-limits/)) | | Isolation | [A git worktree as a space](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app/blob/master/defaults/AGENTS.md), from its worktree mod | A git worktree per session, when you want one ([Worktrees](/docs/worktrees/)) | | When the app is closed | [herdr-core keeps the agents running](https://herdr.dev/) | Sessions keep working in a background service ([Sessions and the board](/docs/sessions-and-board/)) | | Remote work | [Other machines over SSH, in the same sidebar](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app) | Local only | | Licence | [Apache 2.0, open source](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app) | Free, closed source | | Price | [Free](https://herdr.dev/) | Free, with no Moontors account needed | ## What each has that the other doesn't Herdr: - open source, under the [Apache 2.0 licence](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app); - [any program that runs in a terminal](https://herdr.dev/), not only four agents; - agents on other machines, [over SSH](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app); - its layout, keys, themes and [mods](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app/blob/master/docs/mods.md) as plain files your agent changes when you ask, with [a gallery](https://herdr.dev/gallery/) of other people's. Moontors: - a real interface for each agent, driven through its own protocol: its answers, plans, questions, models and commands in Moontors' own views, where Herdr shows each agent in [its terminal](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app); - sessions that carry on after your computer restarts: the next prompt continues the conversation, where Herdr's kept panes [get fresh shells, not their old programs](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app); - Gemini CLI in the same views, with its status, where Herdr shows a status only for [programs that report one](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app/blob/master/defaults/AGENTS.md), and Gemini CLI [doesn't report one yet](https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/issues/29710); - an app for your phone that follows and answers your computer's own sessions over a link encrypted end to end, which no Moontors server can read, on [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moontors.mobile) for Android, the iPhone app coming soon; - the agents' own settings, MCP servers and skills listed, and switched on and off for Moontors' sessions without editing your files ([Configuration](/docs/configuration/)); - a build for Intel Macs, where [Herdr's macOS builds are for Apple silicon](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app). ## Where Herdr is the better fit - You want an open-source app. - You run agents or programs beyond Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Grok Build. - Your agents run on other machines, over SSH. - You want to reshape the app by asking your agent. ## Questions ### What's the difference between Moontors and Herdr? Both run several agents at once and keep them running with the window closed: Herdr in [herdr-core](https://herdr.dev/), Moontors in a background service. Herdr arranges [terminals](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app), any program in each, and shows a status for the agents that report one. Moontors drives Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Grok Build through each one's own protocol, so their answers, plans and questions appear in Moontors' own views, every session a live card on one board, and you can answer them from your phone. ### Is Moontors open source? No. Moontors is free, but closed source. Herdr is open source, under the [Apache 2.0 licence](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app). ### Is there an app for my phone? Moontors has an app for your phone that follows and answers your computer's own sessions over a link encrypted end to end, which no Moontors server can read, on [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moontors.mobile) for Android, the iPhone app coming soon. Herdr's [home page](https://herdr.dev/) and [README](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app) name no phone app of its own; the phone clients for it in the stores, such as [Herdr Mobile](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.herdr.mobile), are other people's, reaching your machines over SSH. ### What happens to my agents after a restart? In Moontors, the sessions stay: a turn that was running shows as stopped, and the next prompt carries the conversation on ([Keep agents running](/docs/how-to/keep-agents-running-when-the-window-closes/)). In Herdr, [kept panes get fresh shells in their last folders, not their old programs](https://github.com/herdrdev/herdr-app). ## Related - [What is an agentic development environment (ADE)?](/docs/what-is-an-ade/) - [How to keep coding agents running when the window closes](/docs/how-to/keep-agents-running-when-the-window-closes/) - [How to use your coding agents together](/docs/how-to/claude-code-codex-and-gemini-cli-together/)