BuildGist vs Conductor

Kayvan Zahiri · October 16, 2026

Conductor and BuildGist do different jobs. Conductor is a Mac app for running several coding agents in parallel, each task in its own isolated workspace, then reviewing the diff and merging. BuildGist is a Mac app that explains each meaningful Claude Code, Cursor and Codex run in plain English, flags concerns, and carries the task over when you switch agents. If you want more agents at once, look at Conductor. If you want to understand what a run did and keep the task when you switch, that is BuildGist.

What Conductor is

From Conductor's site, pricing page and documentation, read on October 16, 2026:

It runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode in parallel.
Each task gets its own workspace, with its own branch, files and diff. Its documentation describes isolated workspaces and Git worktrees.
When the work is ready, it helps you review the diff, open a pull request, merge, and archive the workspace.
It has a desktop app for the Mac, an iOS app, and an API.
The Free plan runs multiple agents in local workspaces on your Mac, with your own subscriptions and keys. Pro is $50 a month and adds cloud workspaces, live collaboration with other Pro users, the API and the mobile app. Teams is $60 a month per user. Check their pricing page, as prices change.

What BuildGist is

It works with the Claude Code, Cursor and Codex you already use, in your project folder. It does not run agents for you.
After each meaningful run, it puts a plain-English explanation in your Inbox: what changed, what it means and what to check, with concerns flagged. It works from uncommitted work. Small changes stay quiet.
When you start a new chat in another agent in the same project, a card offers the earlier task. Choose Continue and the new chat starts with that task's context, or Start fresh to skip it.
It needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 12 or later. BuildGist Pro is $12 a month after a 7-day trial, with no card.

Where Conductor is the better choice

If the problem is throughput, Conductor is built for it and BuildGist is not. Running three tasks at once in one folder means agents editing the same files. BuildGist does not create worktrees, branches or pull requests. Separate worktrees keep them apart. A review and pull request flow in the same app, cloud workspaces that keep running when your laptop closes, and teammates prompting in the same workspace are all things BuildGist does not do.

Plain Git can get you part of the way for free. git worktree add gives each task its own folder and branch, and you open an agent in each. What Conductor adds is the management around that.

Where BuildGist fits

If the problem is understanding, BuildGist is built for it. You run one agent at a time, switch between Claude Code, Cursor and Codex as limits and strengths dictate, and want to know what each run did without reading every hunk. The explanation is a first read. It is written by AI, so check important behavior against the code and tests, and read the diff before you merge. The review steps are in how to review AI-generated code before you merge.

Switching agents halfway through one task is the other half. The diff is in the folder for every agent, and the reasons are not. Continue, or a note you paste, is how the next agent learns them. That is in how to keep context across Claude Code, Cursor and Codex.

Using both

They are not exclusive, but this page does not claim BuildGist explains runs that happen inside Conductor's own workspaces. BuildGist works with Claude Code, Cursor and Codex in a Git project on your Mac. Before you rely on it for agents another app starts, check that their runs reach your Inbox.

Free options first

Neither app is required. git status and git diff show what any run changed, a worktree per task keeps parallel runs apart, and a short note carries a task between agents. When the diff is enough on its own is in BuildGist or the git diff. Pay for a tool when the manual way costs you more time than it saves.

What you need

A Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 12 or later.
Claude Code, Cursor or Codex.
A Git project. No commit, push, remote or GitHub repository is needed.
A GitHub account, to sign in. BuildGist does not access your GitHub repositories.

Codex needs you to approve BuildGist once, in Codex. BuildGist shows the steps. Setup is in Getting started.

To explain a run, your computer sends BuildGist what that run needs, and BuildGist passes it to Anthropic. BuildGist does not keep this material. It does not send your whole repository, files the run did not change, or files named like secrets, such as .env files and keys. It keeps the explanation and short cited excerpts of changed code, at most 12 lines each. Secret masking is best-effort. Privacy has the full list.

Every account gets 7 days of BuildGist Pro free, with no card. The 7 days start at your first explanation or Continue handoff. Nobody is charged when the trial ends. After that, BuildGist Pro is $12 per month, plus any applicable tax shown at checkout. See pricing.

Try BuildGist

Apple silicon, macOS 12 or later. United States, 18 or older.

Questions: kayvanandre@gmail.com.