Leon vs Claude Squad.
Checked 2026-10-07. Sources below.
Claude Squad and tmux site: github.com/smtg-ai/claude-squad
Claude Squad is a terminal app that puts each agent in its own tmux session and git worktree, with a TUI dashboard. It is light, keyboard-driven and free. Leon covers the same isolation with a native window: session tree, splits, persistent layout, usage and searchable history. Choose Claude Squad if you never leave tmux. Choose Leon if you want the same fleet with a GUI, a relay and history you can search in milliseconds.
The table.
Leon: Rust, GPU-rendered UI, 23 to 27 MB download, macOS, Linux, Windows, Apache-2.0, open source.
| LEON | CLAUDE SQUAD AND TMUX | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Native workspace for running coding agents in parallel. Rust, GPU-rendered, a 23 to 27 MB download. | Terminal app in Go with a Bubble Tea TUI. One tmux session plus one git worktree per agent, managed from a dashboard. |
| Agent support | 43 built-in terminal agents plus custom agents. History search for Claude Code, Codex and opencode. | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Aider and other terminal agents. Any agent that runs in a terminal fits the same pane model. |
| Isolation | One tree for every session: projects, worktrees and machines side by side. Resume, no dupes, history, lights. | tmux for process persistence plus git worktrees for file isolation. Agents survive disconnects. Cleanup is manual git worktree pruning. |
| Terminals | Real terminals, split your way, with buffer and live output. | It is terminals: tmux panes you attach, detach and reattach. No splits beyond tmux, no GUI tree. |
| Review flow | Review loop is planned, not shipped. Today you review in the terminal and with git, as usual. | Review changes before applying, then checkout before pushing. No diff viewer, browser or inline comments. Diffs happen in git. |
| Remote | Add a server over SSH, or share a machine with a ten-symbol code. Relay at relay.getleon.dev is online. End-to-end encrypted. | Survives disconnects on one machine. Multi-machine means SSH plus tmux, assembled by hand. No relay, no phone app. |
| Speed and footprint | 1-2 ms history search over about 14,700 messages; about 5 ms re-import with nothing new; about 6 s test suite. Measured on one M1 Pro. Your machine will differ. The download is 23 to 27 MB as of 0.9.0. | Very light: Go binary plus tmux. No published search or footprint numbers (as of Oct 2026). |
| Platforms | macOS, Linux and Windows. | Wherever tmux, git and Go run. Needs tmux and gh installed. GUI and mobile are out of scope by design. |
| Licence and price | Apache-2.0, open source. Free. Bring your own agent subscriptions. | Free and open source. Bring your own agent subscriptions. |
Beyond the table.
Where Leon is stronger
- Native window with a session tree instead of tmux panes to memorise.
- Searchable history in milliseconds, usage in the footer, notifications.
- Remote over SSH or a ten-symbol code with a relay. No tmux prefix gymnastics.
Where Claude Squad and tmux is stronger
- Smallest footprint here: a TUI over tools you already run.
- Keyboard-first and scriptable. Fits tmux muscle memory exactly.
- Free, open and honest about scope: isolation, not environment.
Honest limits of Leon here
- Larger install than a TUI. Needs a desktop window.
- Less scriptable than raw tmux for terminal purists.
- Review still leans on git, same as Claude Squad, until the review loop ships.
Choose honestly.
[ CHOOSE LEON ]
- You like the tmux plus worktree model but want a GUI tree and search.
- You supervise agents across machines without assembling SSH plus tmux by hand.
- You want usage, notifications and history in one place.
[ CHOOSE CLAUDE SQUAD AND TMUX ]
- You live in tmux and want agents in the same panes as everything else.
- You want the lightest possible orchestrator with no GUI at all.
- You script fleets from shell and prefer composable CLI parts.
Switching takes minutes.
Both tools run the same repos and the same agent CLIs.
- Same worktrees and branches. Leon reads the repos Claude Squad already manages.
- Drop the tmux session names. Leon sessions resume by project and worktree instead.
- Keep tmux for shells. Move agent supervision to the tree.
Questions.
Is Leon heavier than Claude Squad?
Yes, by design. Claude Squad is a TUI over tmux. Leon is a native window, a 23 to 27 MB download, with history search and remote. Both stay far below an IDE.
Do I need tmux for Leon?
No. Leon owns persistence itself: sessions keep running, layouts restore, reconnect replays what you missed.
Can I keep using plain git worktrees?
Yes. Both tools are thin over git worktrees. Mix them freely on the same repo.
Leon facts: the app README, CHANGELOG and brand book, via COPY.md. Leon is independent and unaffiliated with Claude Squad and tmux. Third-party names and marks identify compatibility and remain their owners' trademarks.
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