How to choose an app for your coding agents

To choose an AI coding agent app, ask eight questions before you read a feature list: which agents it runs, whose plan pays, where the agents run, how it keeps parallel work apart, what it does at a usage limit, what its servers can read, whether you can follow along from a phone, and what it costs.

We keep sourced lists of the apps themselves in the best Claude Code apps and tools for parallel agents. We also make one of them, Shuriken, so the last section gives our own answers; the eight questions work on any app.

1. Which agents does it run?#

Some apps start only Claude Code (the claude command). Others also run Codex (npm install -g @openai/codex, then codex), Gemini CLI (npm install -g @google/gemini-cli, then gemini), OpenCode and more, side by side. If you pay for both Claude and ChatGPT, an app that runs one agent leaves half your plans outside it.

Then check the depth. "Supports Codex" can mean a full chat with approvals, history and a diff, or a terminal tab with codex typed into it.

2. Whose plan pays for the tokens?#

There are three ways an app can pay for the model:

• Your own subscription: the app signs the agent in with your Claude or ChatGPT plan.
• Your own API key: you pay the provider per token.
• The app's plan: the app resells model usage and bills you for it.

Each one is priced differently. Heavy users usually want their subscription to do the work, and API key vs subscription has the numbers for Claude Code. Watch for one trap on the way: Anthropic's help page says that if an ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set, Claude Code uses that key "instead of your Claude subscription", with API charges as the result. An app that sets the variable for you moves your bill without saying so.

3. Where do the agents run?#

On your computer, on a server you own, or on the app maker's cloud. A cloud runner keeps going while your laptop sleeps, but your code and credentials sit on their machines. A local runner keeps everything at home, and the computer has to stay on and awake for the work to continue. Ask which one the app uses, and whether you can mix the two.

4. How does it keep parallel work apart?#

Two agents in one folder overwrite each other's files. Anthropic's worktree docs give each session a separate git worktree so "changes don't collide": claude --worktree feature-auth creates .claude/worktrees/feature-auth/ on a new branch, worktree-feature-auth. An app should do that step for you on every chat, and then help you get the branch back as a merge, a pull request, or at least a clear diff.

5. What happens when you hit a usage limit?#

Three agents on one Claude plan reach its 5-hour or weekly limit three times as fast as one. Ask what the app does at that moment: stop, wait for the reset, ask you, or carry on with another source you own. Also ask where it shows what is left before you start the next job. Claude Code's own answer is /usage, which shows "session cost, plan usage limits, and activity stats". The clock itself is explained in the 5-hour limit.

6. What can the app's servers see?#

Every app that syncs between devices has servers. Ask what passes through them: your code, chat history, sign-ins, API keys. Is it end-to-end encrypted, or readable by the company? The answer is usually on a security page, and an app without one has told you something too.

7. Can you follow the work from your phone?#

Agents ask questions and finish jobs while you're away from the desk. A phone view, plus a notification when an agent needs you, decides whether a two-hour run takes two hours or six. Claude Code has a built-in version: claude remote-control (or /rc inside a session) puts a local session on claude.ai/code and the Claude app, and Anthropic's docs say it needs a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan: API keys are not supported.

8. What does it cost, and what's free?#

Look past the headline price. Is there a free plan or only a trial? What does the free plan cap: agents, devices, accounts? And does the price include model usage, or do your own plans pay for that?

How Shuriken answers these#

We make Shuriken, so weigh this part with that in mind.

1. Agents: 67 coding agents, Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI among them, each with the sign-ins you already have.
2. Plans: your agents use your own plans and keys. Shuriken never bills model usage.
3. Where: on your own computers and servers.
4. Parallel work: every chat except a project's Main chat gets its own worktree and branch.
5. Limits: when an account reaches 99% (the default switch point), your chats move to another source you own and keep going. API keys take over only if you turn on "Switch to API keys", and a $25 spend cap per fallback run is on by default.
6. Servers: the cloud links your devices and relays end-to-end encrypted messages. It runs no agents and stores no code. The security page lists the exceptions.
7. Phone: the web app at app.shuriken.sh. Native iOS and Android apps are planned for November 2026.
8. Cost: Free covers two sources and two linked devices, with no card. Pro is on the pricing page.