# Conductor vs Sculptor

> Sculptor scores 53.1 (D) 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-sculptor
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/conductor-vs-sculptor.md (~4,800 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

Sculptor scores 53.1 (D) on agent readiness against Conductor's 41.3 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Conductor leads on schema & documentation and agent ergonomics. 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
- Sculptor: grade D, 53.1/100, rank #960 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sculptor.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sculptor.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.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 60 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 55 against 50

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

### Sculptor (D)

Good for: Developers who want parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces and are fine with a research preview.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 43 against 25
- Security & auth, 57 against 45
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 58

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

Watch for: Labelled an experimental research preview that may change drastically


## Why the edge

### Payments & pricing: Sculptor +60

- 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).
- Sculptor (60): Free self-hosted software with nothing to buy, so 0 for a protocol and 20 each for public pricing, a free tier and onboarding with no sign-up, 60.

### Reliability: Sculptor +18

- 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.
- Sculptor (43): Local software. Desktop downloads for Mac (Apple Silicon), Linux and Linux ARM64 (20). checks.yml and a PR gate run on the repository; 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). sculptor-v tags up to v0.49.0, no changelog file (8). 0.x and labelled a research preview (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 43.

### Maintenance & community: Sculptor +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.
- Sculptor (75): Commits on 6 November 2026 and frequent tagged versions (30). More than three 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; the README says Imbue can't take many outside contributions yet (0). Current official downloads (15). CI on pull requests (10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 10 = 75.

### Schema & documentation: Conductor +15

- 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).
- Sculptor (45): Harness reading. A README, specs and agent docs in the repository; no API reference (45).

### Security & auth: Sculptor +12

- Conductor (45): Closed app. Telemetry and data handling weren't read beyond the transition notice (10 of 30). A security and permissions page (10 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance found (5). No audit log found (5). SOC 2 Type II report at trust.conductor.build (15 of 20). 10 + 10 + 5 + 5 + 15 = 45.
- Sculptor (57): Harness reading. Product analytics, error reporting and session recording default to off in the user config, and the app asks for a telemetry level and privacy consent at first run; PostHog runs on the front end only for now (25 of 30). Each workspace is an isolated copy of the code (14 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). SECURITY.md (8). 25 + 14 + 5 + 5 + 8 = 57.

### Agent ergonomics: Conductor +5

- 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).
- Sculptor (50): Harness reading. Workspaces as isolated copies, review and merge back, and built-in skills (50).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Conductor | Sculptor | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 43 | Sculptor +18 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 45 | Conductor +15 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 50 | Conductor +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 57 | Sculptor +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 60 | Sculptor +60 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 75 | Sculptor +17 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 53 | 57 | Sculptor +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **41.3 · E** | **53.1 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Conductor | Sculptor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Conductor (joining Meta) | Imbue, 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.

**Sculptor.** Imbue's open-source app for parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces, with telemetry off until you choose otherwise. It's an experimental research preview that warns of bugs and drastic changes, Mac and Linux only, with no changelog.

## 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

### Sculptor

1. Download from the README's links, connect a repository and create a workspace before prompting
2. Review the diff before merging a workspace back to main

## Questions

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

Sculptor scores 53.1 (D) on agent readiness against Conductor's 41.3 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Conductor leads on schema & documentation and agent ergonomics.

### Are Conductor and Sculptor open source?

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


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Conductor or Sculptor

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

---

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