Baton vs Orca by Stably

Detailed side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right tool

Baton

🔴Developer

developer-tools

A macOS menu bar app that tracks every Claude Code and Codex session on your machine and tells you which AI coding agent is waiting on you right now.

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Starting Price

$0 (self-hosted)
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Orca by Stably

🔴Developer

developer-tools

Free, open-source Agent Development Environment (ADE) that runs multiple CLI coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor side-by-side, each in its own isolated git worktree, tracked in one desktop app.

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Starting Price

Free
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Feature Comparison

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FeatureBatonOrca by Stably
Categorydeveloper-toolsdeveloper-tools
Pricing Plans1 listed plan1 listed plan
Starting Price$0 (self-hosted)Free
Key Features
  • • Menu bar count of AI agent sessions waiting on you, updated in under a second via FSEvents file watching
  • • Unified view of Claude Code sessions and Codex threads, grouped by waiting, working, and done
  • • Click-to-jump: raises the Claude session's Terminal.app tab or opens Codex threads via codex:// deep links
  • • Run any CLI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, and more) side-by-side
  • • Isolated git worktrees per agent with fan-out prompts and merge-the-winner workflow
  • • WebGL terminal splits, VS Code-style editor, and embedded Chromium browser with Design Mode

Baton - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓Free, open source (MIT), no telemetry, nothing leaves the machine
  • ✓Sub-second updates via FSEvents; negligible CPU/battery cost
  • ✓Handles both Claude Code and Codex in one unified view
  • ✓Click-to-jump saves the biggest actual cost of multi-agent work: finding the right window
  • ✓One-line install with an isolated venv — clean uninstall too

Cons

  • ✗macOS only; no Linux or Windows menu bar equivalent
  • ✗Requires Python 3.9+ on the host (3.11+ for Codex automation tracking)
  • ✗Only tracks Claude Code and Codex — other coding agents (Cursor, Cline, Aider) not supported
  • ✗No push notifications to phone / other devices; menu bar only
  • ✗Read-only by design — cannot send input back to sessions

Orca by Stably - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓Run any CLI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, and more) side-by-side. This directly supports the primary workflow.
  • ✓Isolated git worktrees per agent with fan-out prompts and merge-the-winner workflow.
  • ✓WebGL terminal splits, VS Code-style editor, and embedded Chromium browser with Design Mode.
  • ✓Native GitHub and Linear task workflows plus AI-diff annotation.

Cons

  • ✗Plan prices can omit usage overages, model-provider charges, implementation work, taxes, or required seats.
  • ✗Features and limits can change by plan, billing interval, region, and release; verify current documentation.
  • ✗No native MCP support is documented in this record, so agent workflows may require API work or another integration layer.
  • ✗A representative pilot is necessary because a feature list does not establish reliability or operational fit.

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Review BatonReview Orca by Stably