Is there an official Claude Code desktop app?

Yes. In Anthropic’s Claude desktop app, Claude Code is the Code tab, on Mac, Windows and Linux (Linux in beta). You do not need to install the command-line tool separately.

Is there a Codex desktop app for Windows or Linux?

Yes. OpenAI’s Codex is now part of the ChatGPT desktop app. On Windows it comes from the Microsoft Store; on Linux it is in preview for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Arch.

Which desktop apps run Claude Code and Codex side by side?

Conductor (Mac only), Nimbalyst, Zed and Tesseract run both. In VS Code or Cursor you can install Anthropic’s and OpenAI’s own extensions for both.

Is there a free Claude Code desktop app?

Tesseract is free: it runs Claude Code on your own Claude plan or an Anthropic API key, and charges nothing itself. Zed, Nimbalyst and opcode are open-source apps that run Claude Code too.

Compared

Desktop apps for Claude Code and Codex, compared.

The apps people use to run Claude Code and Codex outside the terminal, side by side. Every fact about another app comes from its maker’s own pages, checked on November 10, 2026.

Is there an official Claude Code desktop app?: Yes. In Anthropic’s Claude desktop app, Claude Code is the Code tab, on Mac, Windows and Linux (Linux in beta). You do not need to install the command-line tool separately.
Is there a Codex desktop app for Windows or Linux?: Yes. OpenAI’s Codex is now part of the ChatGPT desktop app. On Windows it comes from the Microsoft Store; on Linux it is in preview for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Arch.
Which desktop apps run Claude Code and Codex side by side?: Conductor (Mac only), Nimbalyst, Zed and Tesseract run both. In VS Code or Cursor you can install Anthropic’s and OpenAI’s own extensions for both.
Is there a free Claude Code desktop app?: Tesseract is free: it runs Claude Code on your own Claude plan or an Anthropic API key, and charges nothing itself. Zed, Nimbalyst and opcode are open-source apps that run Claude Code too.

Side by side

Where they run, and which agents.

— means not found on the maker’s own pages as of November 10, 2026. “Partly” says what the limit is.

App MacWindowsLinuxClaude CodeCodex Other agents Open source

TesseractEightcell Labs ✓✓✓✓✓ 12 more, such as Gemini CLI, OpenCode and Cursor’s agent —

Claude desktop appAnthropic ✓✓PartlyIn beta, Ubuntu and Debian✓— — —

ChatGPT desktop app (Codex)OpenAI ✓✓From the Microsoft StorePartlyIn preview: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Arch—✓ — —

CursorAnysphere ✓✓✓PartlyThrough Anthropic’s extension; its own agent can use Claude modelsPartlyThrough OpenAI’s extension; its own agent can use GPT models Its own agent —

ZedZed Industries ✓✓✓✓As “Claude Agent”, through the Agent Client Protocol✓ Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Copilot and more GPL-3.0

ConductorMelty Labs ✓——✓✓ OpenCode and Cursor —

NimbalystNimbalyst ✓✓✓✓✓ OpenCode and GitHub Copilot, in alpha MIT

opcodewinfunc ✓PartlyBuilt from source; no Windows download yet✓✓— Custom agents built on Claude Code AGPL-3.0

Pick by what you need

Where each one is stronger.

Tesseract

A desktop app that runs Claude Code, Codex and 12 more coding agents beside a code editor, a terminal and a live preview, and makes documents, decks and websites too.

What it adds: A different agent in each conversation, with editors for documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, photos and video in the same app.

Claude Code in Tesseract →

Claude desktop app

Anthropic’s Claude app, where Claude Code is the Code tab, with no separate install of the command-line tool.

Stronger at: Made by Anthropic itself, with the same Claude Code as the command line, and cloud sessions that keep going when your computer is off.

code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop · code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop-linux · code.claude.com/docs/en/overview

ChatGPT desktop app (Codex)

OpenAI’s ChatGPT app, which now holds the former Codex app: choose Codex in it to run OpenAI’s coding agent.

Stronger at: Made by OpenAI itself, and Codex Cloud runs coding tasks in parallel on OpenAI’s servers.

learn.chatgpt.com/docs/app · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/windows/windows-app · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/linux/linux-app

Cursor

An AI code editor with its own agent, which can use Claude and GPT models among others.

Stronger at: A full code editor first, with a wide choice of models and cloud agents you can start from your phone or Slack.

cursor.com/docs/models · cursor.com/download · code.claude.com/docs/en/vs-code · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/codex/ide

Zed

A code editor that runs outside agents through the open Agent Client Protocol.

Stronger at: An open-source code editor in which each outside agent keeps its own sign-in.

zed.dev/docs/ai/external-agents · zed.dev/download · github.com/zed-industries/zed

Conductor

A Mac app for running many coding agents at once, each in its own copy of your project.

Stronger at: Built around many agents working in parallel, each in its own Git worktree, then reviewing and merging their work.

conductor.build · conductor.build/docs/installation · conductor.build/docs/guides/providers

Nimbalyst

An open-source workspace that runs Codex and Claude Code side by side; it replaced Crystal.

Stronger at: Open source, with tasks, docs, diagrams and mockups around the agents in one visual workspace.

nimbalyst.com · github.com/Nimbalyst/nimbalyst

opcode

An open-source desktop app and toolkit for Claude Code.

Stronger at: Open source, with your own custom Claude Code agents and agents that run in the background.

github.com/winfunc/opcode · github.com/winfunc/opcode/releases

Pricing →

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