BackgrindBackgrind vs the session managers
Conductor, Nimbalyst, and Claude Squad are session managers: they organize parallel Claude Code (and Codex) sessions inside your dev workflow — worktrees, diffs, boards. Backgrind is a different category: an always-on-top overlay that keeps your agents with you when you leave the dev workflow — floating over a browser, docs, or a borderless-fullscreen game, pinging you only when an agent needs a decision. This page compares them fairly, including the things Backgrind doesn't do.
All third-party facts verified against vendor sites & READMEs · as of July 2026
Two different jobs
A session manager answers: "I have five agent tasks — how do I keep their branches, diffs, and merges from colliding?" Conductor does it with one git worktree per workspace on macOS, Nimbalyst adds a kanban board and an iOS app, Claude Squad does it in a terminal with tmux. All three are good at that job, and Backgrind doesn't try to replace it: it has no per-session git-worktree isolation and no kanban board.
Backgrind answers a different question: "my agents run for 10 minutes at a time — why am I staring at a terminal?" It wraps your real CLI in an always-on-top window with click-through ghost mode, ambient approve/deny toasts, a policy engine that learns your approvals, a Fleet board across every session, the Fusion council for multi-model second opinions, an optional hosted model (Grindy), and Live mode for your phone. Because session managers own the git side and Backgrind owns the ambient side, they can genuinely complement each other.
The feature table
| Backgrind | Conductor | Nimbalyst | Claude Squad | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | macOS + Windows | macOS only | macOS, Windows, Linux (+ iOS app) | Terminal (tmux — macOS/Linux) |
| Price / open source | Free demo · Plus $9/mo · Pro $29/mo; closed source | Free app; bring your own Claude/Codex subscription | Free for individuals; MIT-licensed apps; optional paid sync | Free, open source (AGPL-3.0) |
| Overlay over other apps | Always-on-top over any app, incl. borderless-fullscreen games | Regular desktop app | Regular desktop app | Lives in your terminal |
| Game-safe click-through | Ghost mode — clicks pass through; toasts still tappable | |||
| Parallel sessions | Tabs + Fleet board (3 on Plus, unlimited on Pro) | Parallel workspaces | Parallel sessions on a board | Parallel tmux instances |
| Git-worktree isolation | Sessions pin to folders; pair with your own worktrees | One worktree per workspace | Optional worktrees per session | One worktree per task |
| Kanban / visual board | Fleet is a live status grid, not kanban | Workspace sidebar | Session Kanban + visual editors | TUI list |
| Phone access | Live mode — phone/browser, E2E-encrypted, approve from your pocket | iOS companion app (sessions, diffs, approvals) | ||
| Multi-model council | Fusion council — your CLIs (read-only) + OpenRouter models, one judged verdict | |||
| Hosted model option | Grindy (Pro) — no API key needed | BYO subscription only | BYO auth only | BYO CLIs only |
| Notification style | Ambient toasts over whatever you're in + phone pings | In-app, at your desk | In-app board + iOS | TUI status in the terminal |
"—" = not offered or not advertised by the vendor as of July 2026. Sources: conductor.build, nimbalyst.com, github.com/smtg-ai/claude-squad. Spotted something stale? Email us and we'll fix it.
The head-to-heads
Let the agents grind.
Backgrind floats your real CLI over whatever you're doing and taps you only when an agent needs a decision. Free in-app demo — no sign-up to try it.
Download Backgrind See the live demo