Guide
Zoku vs Conductor — a Mac alternative for parallel agents
By Priyanshu Dangi · Jul 31, 2026 · 7 min read · Updated Aug 27, 2026
Zoku vs Conductor, Vibe Kanban, and tmux. When a free launcher is enough, and when a voice-first Mac canvas is the better Conductor alternative.
Conductor is a Mac app that launches coding agents on git worktrees and shows them on a board. If spawn plus a board is the job, use it. Zoku is the Conductor alternative when babysitting is the bottleneck: redirecting mid-run, knowing who is blocked, and talking to Claude or Codex by name from any app.
Short answer
Use tmux if you enjoy the script and never want another app. Use a free launcher if worktree spawn + a kanban or tile view is all you need. Pay for Zoku when babysitting is the bottleneck — redirecting mid-run, knowing who needs you, and talking to agents by name from any app.
Comparison
| Capability | tmux + worktrees | Free launchers | Zoku |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Any (you script it) | Mac (and some Linux) | macOS 14.2+ |
| Parallel agents on worktrees | Yes, if you build it | Yes — core job | Yes — core job |
| Voice from any app | No | No | Yes (⌥⌘, window closed OK) |
| Named, addressable agents | Pane numbers | Usually labels / tiles | Spoken names (Atlas, Sage…) |
| Agent-to-agent spawn / wait | DIY | Rare / limited | Yes — via `zoku` CLI |
| Lifecycle status (“needs you”) | Watch the prompt | Varies; often output-watching | From agent hooks → chime / notch |
| Sessions survive restart | If you engineer it | Varies | Yes — same names and layout |
“Free launchers” here means worktree-first agent runners in the Conductor / Vibe Kanban class. Features vary by project — check their docs for the latest.
tmux + worktrees
For parallelism alone, yes — this works. You cut worktrees, open panes, and live in the shell. The cost shows up later: pane numbers instead of names, status you infer by watching for a prompt, no voice, and nothing survives a messy restart unless you engineered it.
Keep tmux if that is your happy place. Zoku is everything after parallelism.
Conductor, Vibe Kanban, and other free launchers
These solve the honest first problem: launch coding agents on isolated git worktrees and see them in a UI. If that is all you need, use one — genuinely. Several are free or open source.
Where they usually stop:
- No global voice control from other apps
- No agent-to-agent control plane (spawn, message, wait)
- Status that is often “did the output go quiet?” rather than lifecycle hooks
Pay for something else only when babysitting — not spawning — is the bottleneck.
Zoku
Zoku is a native Mac canvas of live agent terminals. Hold ⌥⌘ from any app, speak a command, and spawn or redirect a named agent — even with the window closed. Agents can hire each other through the zoku CLI. Working / Done / Needs you comes from the agents' own hooks.
It is a one-time Lifetime license ($69 early access, regularly $99). It drives the CLIs and subscriptions already on your Mac — no API keys, no second meter. Optional Cloud credits for the hands-free companion are sold inside the app only.
Which should you pick?
- Happy in tmux — stay. Read the git worktrees guide and keep your scripts.
- Need worktree launch + a board — try a free launcher first.
- Losing time finding tabs and polling status — that is Zoku's job. Try the live canvas on the homepage, then see pricing.