Robion vs. Herdr
Herdr is a terminal multiplexer that knows what agents are: a server holds the PTYs, a client attaches from any terminal or over SSH, and a sidebar shows working, blocked, done and idle for 20+ agent CLIs. Robion shares one idea with it — a pane host that survives the client — and builds a desktop cockpit on top of it for one agent, Claude Code.
Compiled from the other product’s public documentation, README and reviews as of 23 September 2026, not from hands-on use; Robion as of version 0.20.16. Corrections are welcome in the issue tracker. Send a correction ↗
- Herdr
- Open source (Apache 2.0), one Rust binary without Electron, macOS and Linux with a Windows client. Runs inside iTerm2, Kitty, WezTerm or Ghostty with tmux-style keys, detach and reattach, plain SSH to remote boxes, a socket API agents use to open panes and start other agents, plugins with a marketplace, zero telemetry and no account. Aimed at people who work on a remote box and want no GUI.
- Robion
- Free, proprietary, an Electron app on macOS plus a headless Linux server and a terminal TUI over the same pane host. Claude Code only, driven by its hooks: panels next to the terminal, worktrees and merge, a phone that answers permissions, automations, a Steward and a workshop for makers. Anonymous usage counts to PostHog, switched off in settings.
What Herdr has and Robion does not
- The terminal as home
- Runs in your own terminal with tmux keys, over plain SSH without installing anything on the client, as a thin remote client. Robion’s TUI (robion-cli tui) and attach need the Robion server and its pane host on the box.
- Any agent
- 20+ CLIs — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini, OpenCode — and several agents in one workspace. Robion is Claude Code only.
- Lightness
- One Rust binary, no Electron, no telemetry, no account. Robion is Electron plus a Node server, with opt-out telemetry.
- Plugins and a marketplace
- Local executable plugins with manifest actions and event hooks, shared over GitHub. Robion has its own agent plugin and the Maker Pack.
- More UI languages
- Japanese and Chinese besides English. Robion speaks English and Czech.
What Robion has and Herdr does not
- Everything beyond the terminal
- Diff, review, a GIT section with commit and push, worktrees with update, merge and tidy, a web preview, an editor, logs, statistics, cost, notifications. Herdr has the pane and the sidebar.
- Agent state from hooks, not from the screen
- Robion reads Claude Code’s hooks: permission, question, error, unread result, subagents, background shells, forks, a session moving into a worktree. Herdr reads Claude Code’s screen and keeps “blocked” deliberately strict; it has hooks for a few other agents.
- A phone that decides
- End-to-end encrypted push, allow or deny from the lock screen, question cards, plan approval, photos into the prompt, changes and merge. Herdr’s official phone app is a console; approvals from the phone come from a third-party relay.
- Worktrees, merge, isolation
- A worktree per task with claude --worktree, update, merge with four strategies and pre-checks, tidy, a sandbox toggle per task. Reviews of Herdr note that file isolation is absent and worktrees are yours to manage; it does not sandbox agents.
- Automations, Inbox, Steward, board
- Rules with no model in the path, a planner from a briefing, an Inbox of decisions, a board the planner reads. Herdr’s orchestration is a socket agents open panes over; nothing plans or limits.
- A workshop and hardware
- 3D models, Gerber, DXF, DRC and ERC, a live customizer, a design record with gates, a stream deck. Out of Herdr’s scope.
Who should pick which
Pick Herdr if you live in a terminal on a remote box, run several different agent CLIs, want one binary with no telemetry, or want to extend it with plugins.
Pick Robion if you want what comes after the terminal — review, worktrees and merge in one window, a phone that answers permissions, work that starts by itself from tickets and the clock, a planner, or a workshop for physical things — and you are on Claude Code with a Mac (or a Linux server driven from the phone and the TUI).
Both keep the agents alive when the client goes away; the difference is what sits on top of that.