Remote companions and relays
Clients that observe or steer a session owned by another machine or product.
| Criterion | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product identity | ||||||||||||
| Source model | Open source↗ | Open source↗ | Unknown | Proprietary↗ | Open source↗ | Open source↗ | Proprietary↗ | Open source↗ | Open source↗ | Open source↗ | Open source↗ | Proprietary↗ |
| Primary workflow object | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ | Remote session↗ |
| Product status | Active↗ | Active↗ | Active↗ | Beta↗ | Active↗ | Active↗ | Active↗ | Active↗ | Active↗ | Active↗ | Active↗ | Active↗ |
| Execution and data boundary | ||||||||||||
| Execution location | Paired machine, Vendor cloud↗ | Local daemon, Paired machine↗ | Paired machine↗ | Paired machine, Vendor cloud↗ | Local daemon, User cloud↗ | Local daemon, User cloud↗ | Ssh host, Container, User cloud↗ | Local daemon, Paired machine, Vendor cloud↗ | Local daemon, Paired machine, Vendor cloud, User cloud↗ | Local daemon, User cloud, Paired machine↗ | Local daemon, Paired machine↗ | Paired machine↗ |
| Client | ||||||||||||
| Web or mobile client | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ |
| Native iOS client | Built in↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Built in↗ | Unknown | Built in↗ |
| Native Android client | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown |
| Browser or PWA client | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Unknown | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Unknown |
| Session ownership | ||||||||||||
| Connects to an existing session | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Built in↗ | Limited↗ | Built in↗ |
| Session host ownership | Existing session on paired machine↗ | Local command or PTY on host Mac↗ | Existing tmux session on paired machine↗ | Existing local CLI or VS Code session↗ | Self-hosted remote editor workspace↗ | Self-hosted Code OSS server↗ | SSH host, container, WSL, or tunnel workspace↗ | Command launched on paired host↗ | Hosted command or tmux attachment↗ | Remote SSH/RDP/VNC/Telnet host↗ | Command or PTY on self-hosted machine↗ | Operator-owned SSH host↗ |
| Interaction | ||||||||||||
| Remote approvals and follow-ups | Built in↗ | Unknown | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Limited↗ | Unknown | Unknown |
| Live terminal input | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Limited↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ |
| Remote input model | Follow-ups, terminal control, and approve/deny↗ | Raw interactive terminal input↗ | Terminal input, prompts, and structured approve/deny↗ | Follow-ups and structured approvals↗ | Full browser IDE, terminal, and file editing↗ | Full browser IDE, terminal, and file editing↗ | Full desktop IDE, terminal, and file editing↗ | Raw collaborative terminal input↗ | SSH terminal input↗ | SSH terminal and remote desktop input↗ | Raw browser terminal input↗ | Native SSH terminal, Command Dial, and SFTP image insertion↗ |
| Security | ||||||||||||
| End-to-end encryption documented | Limited↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Limited↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Built in↗ | Limited↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Limited↗ |
| Relay and hosting boundary | Limited↗ | Built in↗ | Unknown | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ |
| Relay deployment | Hosted encrypted sync relay; self-hostable server↗ | LAN, SSH/VPN, or user-supplied tunnel↗ | Unknown | Anthropic-hosted relay↗ | Direct self-hosted server; user supplies proxy/VPN↗ | Direct self-hosted server↗ | SSH, container transport, WSL, or VS Code tunnel↗ | Hosted relay↗ | Hosted or self-hosted uptermd relay↗ | Self-hosted Termix service↗ | Direct self-hosted WebSocket service↗ | No vendor relay; direct SSH↗ |
| Transport security | End-to-end encrypted session content↗ | Deployment-dependent↗ | Unknown | Outbound HTTPS with scoped credentials↗ | Deployment-dependent TLS or secure tunnel↗ | Deployment-dependent↗ | Selected transport↗ | Argon2-derived AES end-to-end encryption↗ | SSH transport↗ | Protocol and deployment-dependent↗ | Deployment-dependent TLS↗ | SSH transport security↗ |
| Compatibility | ||||||||||||
| Named agent harnesses | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Any CLI or TUI reachable over SSH↗ |
| Understands agent state and approvals | Built in↗ | Limited↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Limited↗ | Unknown |
| Attention | ||||||||||||
| Push or attention notifications | Built in↗ | Unknown | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Built in↗ | Unknown | Not available↗ |
| Continuity | ||||||||||||
| Session history or recording | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Built in↗ | Unknown | Unknown |
| Session durability boundary | Survives client disconnect while host session runs↗ | Browser reconnect + recorded PTY; host process must remain↗ | Owned by tmux; survives browser and client exit↗ | Survives remote client disconnect; local session must remain↗ | Server workspace survives browser close↗ | Server workspace survives browser close↗ | Remote workspace persists; IDE connection can reconnect↗ | Host command must remain running↗ | Host command or tmux attachment must remain↗ | Saved connection and shared-session history↗ | Host command must remain running↗ | Provided by tmux or herdr on the host↗ |
| Open-source project | ||||||||||||
| Repository metric scopeWhat the joined repository represents for this product column. | Product repository↗ | Product repository↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | code-server checked-in source; shallow checkout excludes the uninitialized VS Code submodule.↗ | Full Code OSS fork; contributor count covers this fork rather than all upstream VS Code authors.↗ | Not tracked | Product repository↗ | Product repository↗ | Whole Termix monorepo, including server and desktop/mobile/web clients.↗ | Product repository↗ | Not tracked |
| Latest verified release | None published↗ | v1.0.0-beta.18 · prerelease↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | v4.133.0↗ | openvscode-server-v1.109.5↗ | Not tracked | v0.4.1↗ | v0.24.0↗ | release-2.7.1-tag↗ | 1.7.7↗ | Not tracked |
| Release date | Not applicable↗ | 2026-07-11↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 2026-08-17↗ | 2026-02-20↗ | Not tracked | 2025-02-12↗ | 2026-05-06↗ | 2026-08-23↗ | 2024-03-30↗ | Not tracked |
| Repository license | MIT↗ | MIT↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | MIT↗ | MIT↗ | Not tracked | MIT↗ | Apache-2.0↗ | Apache-2.0↗ | MIT↗ | Not tracked |
| Repository stars | 23.5K↗ | 4.6K↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 79K↗ | 6.2K↗ | Not tracked | 7.6K↗ | 1.3K↗ | 14.9K↗ | 12.2K↗ | Not tracked |
| Repository forks | 2K↗ | 331↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 6.8K↗ | 596↗ | Not tracked | 300↗ | 80↗ | 687↗ | 1.2K↗ | Not tracked |
| Open repository issues | 967↗ | 0↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 151↗ | 140↗ | Not tracked | 26↗ | 53↗ | 9↗ | 113↗ | Not tracked |
| Contributor entries | 77↗ | 60↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 298↗ | 2.9K↗ | Not tracked | 5↗ | 23↗ | 11↗ | 70↗ | Not tracked |
| Source lines at measured refPinned to a verified stable release, a clearly labelled prerelease, or an exact default-branch commit. | 184.9K↗ | 169.8K↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 11.9K↗ | 1.6M↗ | Not tracked | 9K↗ | 14.2K↗ | 329.7K↗ | 19.2K↗ | Not tracked |
| Primary language | TypeScript 95.67%↗ | TypeScript 50.14%↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | TypeScript 81.72%↗ | TypeScript 95.57%↗ | Not tracked | Rust 45.36%↗ | Go 87.67%↗ | TypeScript 97.49%↗ | C 56.07%↗ | Not tracked |
| Repository size | 202.9 MB↗ | 1008.2 MB↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 53.7 MB↗ | 1.1 GB↗ | Not tracked | 1,012 KB↗ | 171.8 MB↗ | 61.5 MB↗ | 20.1 MB↗ | Not tracked |
| Repository last push | 2026-08-24↗ | 2026-08-05↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 2026-08-20↗ | 2026-03-26↗ | Not tracked | 2025-06-19↗ | 2026-08-03↗ | 2026-08-24↗ | 2026-08-12↗ | Not tracked |
| Repository status | Active repository↗ | Active repository↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | Active repository↗ | Active repository↗ | Not tracked | Active repository↗ | Active repository↗ | Active repository↗ | Active repository↗ | Not tracked |
| Repository data refreshed | 2026-08-24↗ | 2026-08-24↗ | Not tracked | Not tracked | 2026-08-24↗ | 2026-08-24↗ | Not tracked | 2026-08-24↗ | 2026-08-24↗ | 2026-08-24↗ | 2026-08-24↗ | Not tracked |
No comparison rows match this view.