---
title: "Desktop apps compared"
description: "First-party desktop apps bundle a vendor's own agent with a GUI: side by side sessions, visual diffs, scheduled tasks. They reuse the subscription the agent already needs, so they rarely add a bill."
canonical_url: "https://whichcoding.tools/layers/app"
---
# Desktop apps

> First-party desktop apps bundle a vendor's own agent with a GUI: side by side sessions, visual diffs, scheduled tasks. They reuse the subscription the agent already needs, so they rarely add a bill.

## Desktop apps (3)

- [ChatGPT Desktop](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/chatgpt-desktop) (Free tier): OpenAI's desktop app with Chat, Work and Codex views. Codex runs parallel threads in worktrees, with scheduled tasks and Computer Use, on a ChatGPT login or an API key.
- [Claude Desktop](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/claude-desktop) (From $20/mo): Anthropic's desktop app with Chat, Cowork and Code tabs. The Code tab runs Claude Code sessions side by side with visual diffs and scheduled tasks. Linux is in beta.
- [LM Studio](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/lm-studio) (Free tier): Desktop app for downloading and running local LLMs offline, with the Bionic agent for coding, documents and computer control using local or cloud open models.

## Also available as a desktop app (8)

Products whose primary form is something else but ship one of these too.

- [Command Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/command-code) (From $1/mo): Terminal coding agent and desktop app that learns a developer's coding taste and gives access to open and frontier models.
- [Dyad](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/dyad) (Free tier): Open source app builder that runs as a desktop app instead of a cloud service. Free with your own keys, Pro adds bundled AI credits, code stays in local git.
- [Factory](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/factory) (From $20/mo): Factory's Droid agent runs from the terminal, a desktop app, the web and Slack, on your machine or managed Droid Computers, with models from several vendors and BYOK.
- [Google Antigravity](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/google-antigravity) (Free tier): Google's agentic development platform. A desktop app, a VS Code based IDE, a CLI and editor extensions share one harness. Free, with higher limits on Google AI Pro and Ultra.
- [goose](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/goose) (Free): Open source agent from Block under the Agentic AI Foundation. CLI and desktop app, MCP extensions, runs with your own keys or your Claude and ChatGPT subscriptions over ACP.
- [MiniMax Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/minimax-code) (From $20/mo): MiniMax's open source terminal coding agent, with ACP and headless modes. A closed-source desktop companion app adds Agent Team, memory and scheduled tasks.
- [OpenCode](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/opencode) (Free tier): Open source terminal coding agent from Anomaly, with a desktop app in beta and a VS Code extension. Works with any provider through your own keys, plus the hosted Zen and Go plans.
- [Qwen Code](https://whichcoding.tools/tools/qwen-code) (Free tier): Open source terminal coding agent from the Qwen Team. Works with Qwen, DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi and MiniMax models, plus VS Code (beta), Zed and JetBrains integrations.

## Related

[Open in the finder](https://whichcoding.tools/?where=app)

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