--- title: "Cork vs Orca: fan agents out, or keep them in step · Cork" description: "Cork vs Orca: Orca is a free, open-source app that fans coding agents across parallel worktrees; Cork keeps parallel agents from colliding on code." canonical: "https://corkcli.com/blog/cork-vs-orca" last_updated: "2026-11-14" published: "2026-10-03" author: "Kevin Vera" --- # Cork vs Orca: fan agents out, or keep them in step Cork vs Orca: Orca is a free, open-source app that fans coding agents across parallel worktrees; Cork keeps parallel agents from colliding on code. By Kevin Vera · October 3, 2026 · [Comparisons](https://corkcli.com/blog/c/comparisons) · 7 min read How is Cork different from Orca? Orca is a free, open-source agent development environment from Stably AI that runs coding agents side by side, each in its own git worktree, so you can fan one prompt across several agents, compare the results and merge the winner. Cork does not run agents: it is the [coordination layer](https://corkcli.com/blog/coordination-layer-ai-coding-agents) underneath them, so parallel AI coding agents and the people running them do not overwrite each other on one codebase, and each agent starts with what the others already learned. Orca is built for agents racing on the same task; Cork is built for agents working on different tasks in the same code. They fit together. ## Cork vs Orca at a glance | Topic | Cork | Orca (as of October 2026) | |---|---|---| | What it is | Coordination layer for multiple AI coding agents and their people | Open-source agent development environment (desktop app plus mobile companion) | | Where agents run | Wherever they already run (your machine, terminal, editor) | Locally in Orca, or in remote worktrees over SSH | | Agents covered | Claude Code, Codex and Cursor via hooks; any MCP client via MCP | 27+ CLI agents, including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini, Cursor, GitHub Copilot | | Isolation model | Agents can share one working copy; Cork coordinates edits | One git worktree per task | | What is shared | Briefings, live change notices, notes, agent messages | Diffs with inline comments sent back to agents; GitHub and Linear tasks | | Conflict handling | Write gate, [semantic lint](https://corkcli.com/blog/semantic-lint), landing that rebases and reruns tests | Separation by worktree; compare and merge the winner | | Install | `curl -fsSL https://corkcli.com/install.sh \| sh` | Desktop download (macOS, Windows, Linux); iOS and Android companion | | Pricing | Free (local, and 10 agent hours a month in the cloud); $20 a month per 100 agent hours, pooled | Free and open source (MIT) | ## What is Orca? Orca (onorca.dev) calls itself "the agent development environment." Its site and GitHub README describe running Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, Pi and many other CLI agents side by side, where "every task runs in its own isolated git worktree. No stashing, no branch juggling." A signature workflow is to "fan one prompt across 5 agents, compare, merge the winner." Around that, Orca bundles a GPU-rendered terminal with splits, embedded Chromium with a design mode for inspecting UI, remote worktrees over SSH, inline diff comments that are sent back to the agent, and native GitHub and Linear integration. It runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, with a mobile companion for iOS and Android. You bring your own agent subscriptions. Orca is MIT-licensed, free, and the site says it is backed by Y Combinator and built by Stably AI. ## What is Cork? Cork (corkcli.com, by Lithometric) keeps several AI coding agents, and the people running them, from overwriting each other on one codebase, and hands each agent what the others already learned. It does not run agents or host machines: Claude Code, Codex and Cursor keep running where they already run, and Cork coordinates them. Hooks in Claude Code, Codex and Cursor run the protocol with no extra model calls, and an MCP server (https://mcp.corkcli.com) works with any MCP client. - **Briefing:** each agent is handed the exact signatures, callers and recent changes of the code it is about to touch, so it searches less. - **Live awareness:** when another agent renames or re-signatures code yours depends on, your agent hears it on its next step. - **[Write gate](https://corkcli.com/blog/write-gate):** an edit against code another agent is changing right now is held until your agent has their version. - **Semantic lint:** a teammate's rename or signature change becomes a lint rule your agents are checked against. - **Landing:** `git push` becomes one step that rebases onto teammates' commits, reruns the tests and pushes. - **Messaging and tools:** agents can message each other or whoever is working on a function; MCP tools include get_symbol, blast_radius, recap and remember/recall. In Cork's benchmark (12 Claude Code agents at once on one repository, hard tasks), agents with Cork used 53% fewer tokens than the same agents without it. ## Where Orca stands out - **Best-of-N in one click.** Fanning one prompt across several agents and merging the winner is a first-class workflow. Cork has nothing like it. - **Free and MIT-licensed.** No paid tier to unlock the core app. - **Rich workspace.** Terminal, browser with design mode, diffs with inline comments, and GitHub and Linear tasks in one window. Cork has no editor, terminal or preview. - **Mobile companion and SSH worktrees.** Watch agents from your phone and run them on remote machines. - **Wide agent support.** 27+ agents plus any CLI agent. ## Where Cork wins - **Different tasks, same code.** Orca's fan-out is ideal when agents compete on one task. When agents work on different tasks that touch the same functions, worktrees only defer the clash to merge time. Cork tells each agent about the others' live changes on its next step. - **Edits against live work are held.** The write gate stops overwrites when agents share code. - **Checked landings.** Rebase onto teammates' commits and rerun tests as part of `git push`; semantic lint flags stale uses of renamed or re-signatured symbols. - **Agents arrive informed.** Briefings cut searching; in Cork's benchmark, agents used 53% fewer tokens. - **[Multiplayer coding agents](https://corkcli.com/blog/multiplayer-coding-agents) across a team.** On the paid plan, agents on teammates' machines see each other. ## Can you use both? Yes. Use Orca to run and compare multiple Claude Code, Codex or other agents; let Cork run underneath through its hooks and MCP server. The pairing matters most once Orca's worktrees hold different tasks rather than competing attempts at one task, because that is when agent merge conflicts and broken callers show up. Cork keeps those agents aware of each other and checks the landing. Cork's hooks are installed for your user account, so they apply to the Claude Code, Codex and Cursor sessions an app like this starts, unless the app replaces your user settings; try it on one repo first. ## Pricing compared **Orca (as of October 2026):** free and open source under the MIT license. You pay for your own agent subscriptions. **Cork:** Cork Free is unlimited agents and repos on one machine, no account, all data on the machine. Cloud Free (with an account) is 10 agent hours a month per account (30 bonus hours the first month), unlimited repos and agents, 30-day history. Beyond that you pay for agent hours, not seats: $20 a month per unit of 100 hours, pooled across the workspace, graduated to $17 (units 11 to 50) and $15 (51 and up), with 15% off a year. Every member is a player, with teammates' machines, prompt-to-code matching by meaning, shared knowledge and 90-day history. Enterprise starts from about 100 units. ## Bottom line Orca is an excellent free cockpit for running many agents and picking the best result. Cork is the layer that keeps agents (and teammates) from breaking each other's work and makes each one start informed. If you run agents on separate tasks in one repo, use Orca to drive them and Cork to coordinate them. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Cork an alternative to Orca? Not a replacement. Orca runs and displays agents; Cork coordinates agents that something else runs. If you need a terminal, browser or diff UI, keep Orca. ### Does Orca stop agents from overwriting each other? Each Orca task gets its own git worktree, so agents do not write to each other's files on disk. When you merge work from different worktrees, changes to the same code can still conflict. ### Does Cork work with agents launched from Orca? Cork installs with one command for every repo on the machine and works through Claude Code, Codex and Cursor hooks plus an MCP server, so it coordinates those agents wherever you launch them. ### Is Orca free? Yes. As of October 2026, Orca is free and open source under the MIT license. ### Does Cork compare agent outputs like Orca? No. Cork does not run or rank agents. It coordinates them and does not provide VMs, sandboxes, an editor, live terminal sharing or app previews. ## Sources Checked October 2026: - - - ## Related reading - [Cork vs Emdash: an agent workbench vs a coordination layer](https://corkcli.com/blog/cork-vs-emdash): Cork vs Emdash: Emdash is an open-source app that runs coding agents in parallel worktrees; Cork keeps those agents from colliding on shared code. - [Cork vs Cursor cloud agents: run agents in VMs, or keep them from colliding](https://corkcli.com/blog/cork-vs-cursor-cloud-agents): Cork vs Cursor cloud agents: Cursor runs agents in isolated cloud VMs that open PRs; Cork keeps parallel agents from overwriting shared code. - [Cork vs Hoplite: cloud agents vs coordinating the agents you have](https://corkcli.com/blog/cork-vs-hoplite): Cork vs Hoplite: Hoplite runs coding agents in isolated cloud environments that open PRs. Cork keeps your local parallel agents from colliding. - [Cork vs Sculptor: an app for parallel agents, or a layer that keeps them from colliding](https://corkcli.com/blog/cork-vs-sculptor): Cork vs Sculptor: Imbue's Sculptor runs coding agents in parallel in isolated workspaces. Cork coordinates parallel agents and teammates on shared code. [All articles](https://corkcli.com/blog.md) · [Cork in Markdown](https://corkcli.com/index.md) · [llms.txt](https://corkcli.com/llms.txt) This page in HTML: https://corkcli.com/blog/cork-vs-orca