Waycar vs Orca

What Orca is

Orca is a desktop app for running coding agents side by side. It runs on macOS, Windows and Linux. Each task gets its own git worktree, its own agent terminal and its own browser tab. It works with Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Grok and other agent CLIs. Orca is open source under the MIT License. Its site names Stably, Inc. The iPhone app’s App Store seller is Lovecast LLC.

Orca also has a phone app for iPhone and iPad, and an Android app file (APK). The phone app is a remote control for a desktop Orca host. It shows each worktree with its agent and a status: working, done or waiting on input. It can mirror the desktop terminal, and it has a Chat UI with approval cards.

Where the agent runs and how your phone reaches it

The agent runs on your own machine, inside the Orca desktop app or a headless orca serve host. That host must be running and reachable. The docs say closing the desktop app drops a direct or LAN session until you reopen it. Nothing runs on the phone.

You pair the phone in one of three ways: over your LAN, over Tailscale, or through Orca Relay. LAN and Tailscale need no account but need an address the phone can reach. Relay needs an Orca sign-in. We did not find Relay encryption described on the docs site. The App Store listing says pairing is end-to-end encrypted, and the phone’s relay source code wraps relay traffic in an encrypted session. We say only what those two show.

Push notifications go through the maker’s push gateway, then Apple or Google. A contributor’s open feature request in its repository asks to encrypt push content end to end. The maker’s push README says it does not log notification titles or bodies.

Chat UI covers Claude, Codex, Grok, OpenCode, OMP and Pi. The maker calls it experimental. The terminal view is the default.

What Waycar adds to Orca

In Waycar the agent runs on your machine in herdr or tmux, not in the app. Waycar can start an agent on a fresh git worktree, and it opens agents that already run there.

• One list, sorted by who needs you. The Console shows agents from all your machines as Blocked, Done, Working or Idle. Orca’s desktop Agents feed groups agent threads by status. We did not find the same list on the phone.
• Push that your machine encrypts first. You get a notification when an agent is Blocked or Done. Waycar has an optional push relay. Your machine encrypts each notification first, so the relay cannot read what it says. For Live Activities it does see how many agents are in each status.
• Agents in the tools you already use. The agent keeps running in herdr or tmux when the phone drops off, with no Waycar desktop app to keep open. Closed Sessions bring back an agent you quit by mistake, for 30 days. Orca’s v1.4.229 release notes describe a phone action that resumes a chat in a new terminal tab.
• No account. Sessions go from your phone to your machine over mosh or SSH, with no Waycar server in the path of your sessions.

Where Orca is better

• A full desktop environment. Parallel git worktrees, a built-in browser and diff review are part of the app. Waycar is an iPhone and iPad app with no native desktop or web client.
• Any CLI agent. The maker says Orca works with any CLI agent.
• Usage at a glance. Orca shows usage, rate limits and reset countdowns, and can switch agent accounts, on desktop and on the phone.
• Always-on hosts. A background daemon keeps agents running when the Orca window closes. orca serve runs without the desktop window, and the desktop app can open SSH worktrees.
• Android. Orca has an Android app you download today. Waycar’s Android app is coming soon.
• Open source. Orca is MIT licensed, including the Relay server code. Its account and API services are in a private repository. Waycar’s app is closed source.

What each costs

Orca’s desktop app is free, and the maker says you bring your own agent subscriptions. The iOS app lists as Free on the App Store. The Android download shows no price. Enterprise teams are asked to email the maker. We found no pricing page.

Waycar is free for up to 10 Launches in any rolling 30 days, with every feature included. A Launch is starting a new agent or shell from Waycar, resuming a closed agent, or starting an agent by typing its command in a Waycar shell. Opening and watching agents that already run never counts. Waycar Pro removes the limit for $5 a month or $40 a year (US).

Can you use both?

Yes, if your agents run in tmux or herdr on one machine and in Orca on another. Use Orca for worktrees and review at your desk, and Waycar for the tmux and herdr agents. Orca’s phone app only reaches an Orca host, and Waycar needs herdr or tmux on its machine.