What Claude Squad is
Claude Squad is an AGPL-3.0 terminal app, installed with Homebrew, that “manages multiple Claude Code, Codex, Gemini (and other local agents including Aider) in separate workspaces”. It uses tmux for an isolated terminal per agent and git worktrees so each session is on its own branch. Everything it describes happens on one machine, driven from one terminal.
What Chain is
Chain is a Mac app and CLI where a repo becomes a co-work with a code. Every member’s agents, on their own Macs, share one board of claims, tasks and log lines. A pre-tool hook stops an agent writing to a path another agent holds. When an agent finishes, Chain runs the tests, merges, pushes and releases the claims.
Side by side
| Chain | Claude Squad | |
|---|---|---|
| Form | Mac app with a menu bar, plus the chain CLI | Terminal UI; needs tmux and gh |
| Agents | Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenClaw, any MCP agent | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Aider, any command via -p |
| Isolation | A git worktree per agent | A git worktree and tmux session per agent |
| Stops two agents editing the same file | Yes: claims enforced by a hook | No: separate branches only |
| Teammates on other Macs | Yes, by sharing a code | No stated support; local only |
| Merging | Automatic when tests pass; pauses on conflict | You merge each branch yourself |
| License and price | Free for two people per co-work; €12 per member per month | Open source, AGPL-3.0 |
Claude Squad details are from its GitHub README as of October 2026.
Pick Claude Squad if
You are one developer, you want to fan a task out across a few agents from a terminal, and you are happy to merge the branches by hand afterwards. It is free and small.
Pick Chain if
Someone else also runs agents on the repo, or you want finished work tested and merged without a manual step. You can still start every agent from a terminal with chain open claude; see the CLI reference.