Leon vs Orca.
Checked 2026-10-07. Sources below.
Orca site: www.onorca.dev/
Orca is the fuller environment: worktrees, editor, Chromium with Design Mode, GitHub and Linear, phone app and CLI. Leon is the smaller native workspace: Rust, a 23 to 27 MB download, fast history and terminals, parallel sessions across projects, worktrees and machines. Choose Orca if you want editor, browser and review in one window. Choose Leon if you want the fastest small tool that stays out of the way.
The table.
Leon: Rust, GPU-rendered UI, 23 to 27 MB download, macOS, Linux, Windows, Apache-2.0, open source.
| LEON | ORCA | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Native workspace for running coding agents in parallel. Rust, GPU-rendered, a 23 to 27 MB download. | Agent development environment: worktrees, terminals, diffs, browser and CLI in one app. MIT licence, free and open source, as listed on onorca.dev (as of Oct 2026). |
| Agent support | 43 built-in terminal agents plus custom agents. History search for Claude Code, Codex and opencode. | Claude Code, Codex, Cursor CLI and about 40 other CLI agents preconfigured, plus any CLI agent in a terminal, as listed on onorca.dev (as of Oct 2026). Deeper integration covers Claude Code, Codex and Cursor CLI. |
| Isolation | One tree for every session: projects, worktrees and machines side by side. Resume, no dupes, history, lights. | One git worktree per task, each with its own terminal, diff, browser tab and issue. Shared node_modules via APFS clone or symlink. .worktreeinclude support. |
| Terminals | Real terminals, split your way, with buffer and live output. | GPU-rendered terminal with splits, as listed on onorca.dev (as of Oct 2026). |
| Review flow | Review loop is planned, not shipped. Today you review in the terminal and with git, as usual. | Diff viewer with staged, unstaged and untracked changes, hunk and line staging, line-anchored markdown comments sent back to the agent, per-line AI attribution. GitHub and Linear integrations. |
| 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. | SSH worktrees, self-hosted Orca servers and cloud VMs. iOS and Android companion apps pair by one-time code over LAN or Orca relay. Orchestration and scheduled runs documented. |
| 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. | Not listed on their homepage (as of Oct 2026). Orca ships a new release roughly every other day and carries an editor, a browser and remote runtimes, so expect a larger install than a native workspace. |
| Platforms | macOS, Linux and Windows. | macOS, Windows and Linux, plus iOS and Android companions, as listed on onorca.dev (as of Oct 2026). |
| Licence and price | Apache-2.0, open source. Free. Bring your own agent subscriptions. | Free and open source under MIT, as listed on onorca.dev (as of Oct 2026). Bring your own agent subscriptions. Enterprise page exists for teams. |
Beyond the table.
Where Leon is stronger
- Small and fast: native Rust, a 23 to 27 MB download, 1-2 ms history search.
- One tree across projects, worktrees and machines, with SSH and a code-based relay.
- Apache-2.0 with no account needed for the core workspace.
Where Orca is stronger
- Whole environment in one window: editor, Chromium with Design Mode, diffs, CLI.
- Line-anchored diff comments sent back to the agent, plus AI attribution.
- Phone apps and scheduled orchestration for agents that run while you are away.
Honest limits of Leon here
- No embedded browser or Design Mode. Preview happens in your own browser.
- Review loop and orchestration are planned, not shipped.
- No phone companion and no GitHub or Linear panel yet.
Choose honestly.
[ CHOOSE LEON ]
- You run several agents across several repos and want one fast tree to watch them.
- You live in the terminal and want a light file editor beside it, not a second IDE.
- You want Apache-2.0 tooling with a small binary and measured speed numbers.
[ CHOOSE ORCA ]
- You want editor, terminal, browser, diffs and issues without leaving one app.
- You review visual UI with agents and want Design Mode captures.
- You steer agents from your phone in the evening.
Switching takes minutes.
Both tools run the same repos and the same agent CLIs.
- Everything is real git: worktrees, branches and checkouts carry over untouched.
- Agent subscriptions carry over. Both tools run the CLIs you already pay for.
- History for Claude Code, Codex and opencode becomes searchable in Leon. Other agents launch in real terminals.
- No importer to run. Point Leon at the same repos and keep working.
Questions.
Is Leon an Orca fork?
No. Leon is an independent app by Zavu. It shares the ADE idea, one worktree per task, because that is where the category settled, not because of shared code.
Which is faster?
Leon publishes its own numbers: 1-2 ms history search, measured on one M1 Pro, and a 23 to 27 MB download as of 0.9.0. Orca does not list footprint or search numbers on its homepage (as of Oct 2026), so compare installed size and cold start on your own machine.
Can I use both?
Yes. They operate on the same git repos and the same agent CLIs. Many developers keep Orca for visual review and Leon for fast terminal supervision.
Leon facts: the app README, CHANGELOG and brand book, via COPY.md. Leon is independent and unaffiliated with Orca. Third-party names and marks identify compatibility and remain their owners' trademarks.
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