# Conductor vs Orca

> Orca scores 57.4 (C) to Conductor's 41.3 (E) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-orca
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-orca.md (~4,400 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Orca scores 57.4 (C) on agent readiness against Conductor's 41.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- Conductor: grade E, 41.3/100, rank #1285 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/conductor.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/conductor.json
- Orca: grade C, 57.4/100, rank #791 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orca.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orca.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 1500 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Conductor (E)

Good for: Existing Conductor users planning their move before Cloud closes on 20 November 2026 and the local app winds down in early 2027.

Watch for: No new downloads or sign-ups since 4 November 2026

### Orca (C)

Good for: Developers who want an orchestrator agent to split work across parallel coding agents, on desktop or mobile.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 58 against 25
- Schema & documentation, 65 against 60
- Agent ergonomics, 70 against 55
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 58

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: Anonymous usage data collected by default, with an opt-out


## Why the edge

### Payments & pricing: Orca +40

- Conductor (0): No new sign-ups since 4 November, free users can't upgrade, and no price is shown. No protocol, no published price, no open free tier, no onboarding (0).
- Orca (40): Scored on the cloud option. No protocol (0). The cloud price wasn't found on the pages read (0). The desktop app is free and MIT with no card (20). The local app needs no sign-up that we found (20). 0 + 0 + 20 + 20 = 40.

### Reliability: Orca +33

- Conductor (25): Read as local software that is winding down. Installed from Conductor's own download, which stopped taking new users on 4 November 2026 (10). Closed source, so no public CI or issue tracker (0, 0). A dated changelog, newest 0.93.0 on 4 November (15). Version 0.93 (0). 10 + 0 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 25.
- Orca (58): Local software. Desktop and mobile builds and a Homebrew cask (20). Unit, end-to-end and platform test workflows; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Tags to v1.4.251, no changelog file (8). Version 1.4 (15). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 15 = 58.

### Maintenance & community: Orca +17

- Conductor (58): 0.93.0 on 4 November 2026 (30). Several dated releases in 90 days, per the changelog index (20). Discord, a subreddit and email for support (8). Closed app, no package or CI to read (0). 30 + 20 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 58. The local app gets new models and critical fixes only until early 2027.
- Orca (75): Tags to v1.4.251 and commits on 6 November 2026 (30). Many releases in 90 days (20). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Current builds (15). Extensive CI (10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 10 = 75.

### Agent ergonomics: Orca +15

- Conductor (55): Harness reading. Each task gets a workspace, branch, terminal and diff, with pull requests and merges from the app, and an API for integrations; not re-read in detail (55).
- Orca (70): Harness reading. An orchestrator agent that splits work across workers in their own workspaces, chat or raw CLI, a browser and a CLI in one app (70).

### Schema & documentation: Orca +5

- Conductor (60): Harness reading. Docs for workspaces, review and merge, a Conductor API reference page linked from the docs (not read), and security and permissions pages (60).
- Orca (65): Harness reading. A docs site with CLI orchestration and native chat pages (65).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Conductor | Orca | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 58 | Orca +33 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 65 | Orca +5 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 70 | Orca +15 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 43 | Conductor +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 40 | Orca +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 75 | Orca +17 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 53 | 54 | Orca +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **41.3 · E** | **57.4 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Conductor | Orca |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Conductor (joining Meta) | Lovecast Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary. A closed-source Mac app and hosted Conductor Cloud under Conductor's terms | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-06 |
| Terms last updated | not read yet | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | not read yet | no document linked |

## Verdicts

**Conductor.** Conductor ran parallel coding agents on the Mac, and Meta is acquiring it. It has taken no new users since 4 November 2026, Cloud turns read-only on 13 November and shuts down on 20 November, and the local app winds down in early 2027, when all user data is deleted.

**Orca.** An open-source orchestrator for coding agents with worker agents in their own worktrees, chat and terminal views, a browser and a CLI, on desktop and mobile, with heavy test automation. It collects anonymous usage data by default, and the cloud option's pricing wasn't found.

## Before you call either

### Conductor

1. Export your data from Settings, Account, Export data before 20 November 2026
2. Move Cloud workspaces to your Mac with Transfer to local before 13 November
3. Plan a move off the local app before early 2027; see the agent-harnesses category for alternatives

### Orca

1. See the telemetry docs on onorca.dev to opt out of anonymous usage data
2. Use the orchestration CLI to hand a large task to one agent that starts workers

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Conductor or Orca?

Orca scores 57.4 (C) on agent readiness against Conductor's 41.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Conductor and Orca open source?

No open-source release is listed for Conductor. Orca is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-orca.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-orca.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "conductor", "b": "orca"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare conductor orca`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/conductor.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orca.json

## Other comparisons with Conductor or Orca

- [Agent Zero vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-conductor.md)
- [Agent Zero vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-orca.md)
- [Aider vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-conductor.md)
- [Aider vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-orca.md)
- [Amp vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-conductor.md)
- [Amp vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-orca.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-conductor.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-orca.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-conductor.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-orca.md)
- [AXLR vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/axlr-vs-conductor.md)
- [AXLR vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/axlr-vs-orca.md)
- [Claude Code vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-conductor.md)
- [Claude Code vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-orca.md)
- [Cline vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-conductor.md)
- [Cline vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-orca.md)
- [Conductor vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-crush.md)
- [Conductor vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-cursor-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-deepseek-harness.md)
- [Conductor vs dsh-superagent (DeepSeek)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-deepseek-superagent.md)
- [Conductor vs Devin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-devin.md)
- [Conductor vs Droid CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-droid-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Conductor vs Emdash](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-emdash.md)
- [Conductor vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-gemini-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-goose.md)
- [Conductor vs Harness²](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-harness2.md)
- [Conductor vs HarnessRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-harnessrouter.md)
- [Conductor vs Jules](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-jules.md)
- [Conductor vs Junie CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-junie.md)
- [Conductor vs Kilo Code CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-kilo-code-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs Kimi Code CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-kimi-code-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs Letta](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-letta.md)
- [Conductor vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Conductor vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Conductor vs Mistral Vibe CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-mistral-vibe-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Conductor vs OpenAI Agents API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-openai-agents-api.md)
- [Conductor vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-openai-codex.md)
- [Conductor vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-opencode.md)
- [Conductor vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-openhands.md)
- [Conductor vs OpenMausBot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-openmausbot.md)
- [Conductor vs Paseo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-paseo.md)
- [Conductor vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [Conductor vs Qoder CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-qoder-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Conductor vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Conductor vs Rovo Dev CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-rovo-dev-cli.md)
- [Conductor vs Sculptor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-sculptor.md)
- [Conductor vs T3 Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-t3-code.md)
- [Conductor vs Traycer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-traycer.md)
- [Conductor vs Unstoppable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-unstoppable.md)
- [Conductor vs Verdent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-verdent.md)
- [Conductor vs Vibe-Trading](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-vibe-trading.md)
- [Conductor vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-warp.md)
- [Crush vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-orca.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-orca.md)
- [DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-orca.md)
- [dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-superagent-vs-orca.md)
- [Devin vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-orca.md)
- [Droid CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-orca.md)
- [Pi vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-orca.md)
- [Emdash vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emdash-vs-orca.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-orca.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-orca.md)
- [goose vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-orca.md)
- [Harness² vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness2-vs-orca.md)
- [HarnessRouter vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-orca.md)
- [Jules vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jules-vs-orca.md)
- [Junie CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/junie-vs-orca.md)
- [Kilo Code CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-orca.md)
- [Kimi Code CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-orca.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-orca.md)
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- [MiniMax Code vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-orca.md)
- [Mistral Vibe CLI vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-vibe-cli-vs-orca.md)
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- [OpenCode vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-orca.md)
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- [Orca vs Paseo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-paseo.md)
- [Orca vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [Orca vs Qoder CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-qoder-cli.md)
- [Orca vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Orca vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Orca vs Rovo Dev CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-rovo-dev-cli.md)
- [Orca vs Sculptor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-sculptor.md)
- [Orca vs T3 Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-t3-code.md)
- [Orca vs Traycer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-traycer.md)
- [Orca vs Unstoppable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-unstoppable.md)
- [Orca vs Verdent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-verdent.md)
- [Orca vs Vibe-Trading](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-vibe-trading.md)
- [Orca vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-warp.md)
- [Clawboo vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clawboo-vs-conductor.md)
- [Clawboo vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clawboo-vs-orca.md)
- [CLI Manager vs Conductor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-conductor.md)
- [CLI Manager vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-orca.md)
- [Conductor vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-harness-autonomous.md)
- [Conductor vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Conductor vs Parallax](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-parallax-agents.md)
- [Harness vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-orca.md)
- [OpenMausBot vs Orca](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openmausbot-vs-orca.md)
- [Orca vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Orca vs Parallax](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orca-vs-parallax-agents.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp