An Orca alternative with Gemini CLI in structured views

As of October 9, 2026

Orca calls itself the ADE for working with a fleet of parallel agents: an open-source desktop app that runs coding agents side by side, each in its own git worktree, with an editor, terminals and a browser built in. Moontors is an agentic development environment (ADE) that runs Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI side by side, each through its own protocol, in Moontors’ own views.

At a glance

	Orca	Moontors
Agents	Any CLI agent, run in a terminal, with about 40 set up already	Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI, through each one's own protocol
Views	A terminal per agent; an experimental Chat UI for some	Moontors' own views for every agent, the only way it shows them
Platforms	macOS, Windows and Linux, with mobile companion apps	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 agent	A git worktree per session, when you want one (Worktrees)
When the app is closed	A background daemon keeps the agents running	Sessions keep working in a background service (Sessions and the board)
Remote work	SSH, and a headless server	Local only
Licence	MIT, open source	Free, closed source
Data	Anonymous usage telemetry, which you can turn off; no account	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

Orca:

open source, under the MIT licence;
any command-line agent, not only three;
a built-in browser, and comments on diff lines that go back to the agent;
agents on other machines, over SSH or a headless server;
GitHub, Linear and Jira in the app;
scheduled automations and a scripting CLI.

Moontors:

each agent driven through its own protocol, with its permission requests, models, efforts and commands in Moontors’ own views, the only way it shows them, Gemini CLI’s too, where Orca’s Chat UI is an experimental setting that doesn’t cover Gemini CLI;
the agents’ own settings, MCP servers and skills listed, and switched on and off for Moontors’ sessions without editing your files (Configuration);
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 Orca is the better fit

You want an open-source app.
You use agents beyond Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI.
You want a browser in the same window as the agents.
Your agents run on other machines, over SSH or on a server.

Questions

What’s the difference between Moontors and Orca?

Both run several agents at once on macOS, Windows and Linux, and keep them running with the app closed: Orca in a background daemon, Moontors in a background service. Orca runs any command-line agent in a terminal, each in its own git worktree. Moontors drives Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI through each one’s own protocol, so their permission requests, models and commands appear in Moontors’ own views, and gives a session its own git worktree when you ask for one.

Does Orca show the agents in its own views?

Partly. Orca’s Chat UI, an experimental setting, shows Claude Code, Codex, Grok, OMP and OpenCode as structured chats, with a newer structured mode for Claude Code, Codex and Grok, and question cards, model and effort pills and a list of slash commands; it doesn’t cover Gemini CLI. In Moontors, its own views are the only way it shows an agent, Gemini CLI’s included.

Is Moontors open source?

No. Moontors is free, but closed source. Orca is open source, under the MIT licence.

Can Moontors run agents on another machine?

No. Moontors runs agents on your own computer only. Orca can run them over SSH or on a headless server.