Conductor and Lanes are close cousins. Both are native Mac apps that run Claude Code and Codex in parallel, each agent in its own git worktree. The real difference is how much workspace sits around the agents.
This page is about what that workspace contains, and when you would not want it.
At a glance
| Dimension | Lanes | Conductor |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel agents in worktrees | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Your existing CLI subscription, interactive CLI surface | Depends on how it drives the agent |
| Work model | Issue board: plan, implement, review, done | Parallel workspaces you launch and review |
| Task sources | Built-in issues plus GitHub and Linear import | Your prompts and repos |
| Automation | Lanes Desktop MCP server; an agent can spawn sessions | Focused on launching and reviewing agents |
| Model providers | Per-session provider profiles, plus managed Ollama for local models | Whatever the CLI itself is configured to use |
| Platform | macOS | macOS |
| Docs | Lanes Desktop docs | conductor.build |
Where Lanes fits
Lanes is for treating parallel agents as a pipeline. Work starts as issues, moves through plan, implement, review, and done, and can be pulled from GitHub or Linear and pushed back as pull requests. Lanes Desktop MCP lets an agent manage the board and dispatch more sessions. If you want structure and integrations around your fleet, that is Lanes.
The issue board is the spine: columns from Backlog to Done, multi-select bulk actions, and tabs that filter by project or by worktree. GitHub integration imports open issues through OAuth (pull requests are filtered out) and lets you comment results back; Linear integration does the same for tickets, including search by issue key. The Lanes Desktop MCP server, a research preview, exposes 30 tools over SSE on localhost port 5353, so an agent can read the board, create issues, and dispatch sessions on its own.
Where Conductor fits
Conductor is a clean, focused runner for launching a few parallel agents and reviewing their diffs. If your need is mainly "run several agents and merge the good changes," Conductor does that with very little ceremony. Be honest about your week when choosing: a board, ticket integrations, and an MCP surface earn their keep when agent work is a standing part of it, and they are overhead when you occasionally want three agents on three fixes.
How Lanes does it
- Issues drive sessions. An issue's instructions become the agent's initial prompt, in Plan mode for an approach first or Implement mode to start the work. Since v0.41 one issue can host several named sessions sharing its worktree, so plan, implement, and review each keep their own transcript and metrics. See working with sessions.
- Worktrees are managed end to end. Per-issue strategies (None, Create, Select), automatic creation under
.worktrees/off the base branch, dirty-state warnings before anything uncommitted is removed, and cleanup when the issue completes. Test Worktree and Complete & Merge wrap up the branch. See worktree management. - Sessions stay on your plan. Each one is the official CLI in a real terminal, which is interactive use from the provider's side, so it draws from your existing subscription rather than a separate meter.
- Or off your plan entirely, per session. A Gateway profile points a session at a provider you host or buy, applied as process environment at launch rather than proxied. Local LLMs manages Ollama end to end: install, start, pull, and a context window sized so a real agent prompt fits instead of being silently truncated.
Choose Lanes if
- You want an issue board and a full plan-to-ship loop around your agents.
- You want GitHub and Linear tickets to flow in and results to flow back.
- You want programmatic orchestration through an MCP server.
- You want several named sessions per issue, so planning and review keep separate transcripts.
- You want to run some sessions on a local model, and manage it from the same app.
Choose Conductor if
- You want the simplest possible parallel runner.
- A board and integrations are more than you need.
Close cousins are cheap to trial: both lean on git worktrees, so your repo needs nothing special to try either.
Further reading
- Quick start: install Lanes and run your first session in about two minutes.
- The issue board: columns, bulk actions, and board tabs.
- Lanes Desktop MCP: the tool surface agents use to drive Lanes.
- Worktree management: isolation, dirty-state warnings, and cleanup.
- Run coding agents on a local model: managed Ollama and why context size decides.
See Lanes Desktop or read the quick start.