CompareSwarm vs Paseo
Swarm vs Paseo
Both run on your own machines and both work with your ChatGPT or Claude plan. Pick Paseo if you want a polished desktop and phone app that drives Claude Code, Codex and other agent CLIs side by side. Pick Swarm if you want a headless platform your AI or your code drives: its own coding, research, design and media agents, workflows with review steps, and secrets agents only see as stand-ins.
Side by side
| Swarm | Paseo | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Self-hosted, headless AI agent platform | An agentic development environment for desktop, mobile, web and CLI |
| License | Open source, Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Where it runs | A headless service on your own Ubuntu 24.04 x86-64 machines (no macOS yet) | A daemon on your machine; apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android; headless with the CLI |
| Interfaces | MCP tools for your AI, TypeScript SDK, HTTP API, CLI (swarmctl). No GUI beyond a setup page | Desktop, mobile and web apps, CLI, MCP server, TypeScript client over WebSocket |
| Agents | Its own coder, finder, designer and reviewer, plus image, video and sound agents | Drives agent CLIs: Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode and others; no agent of its own |
| Your ChatGPT or Claude plan | ChatGPT plan, Claude plan through Claude Code, or API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter, Fireworks) | Yes, through Claude Code and Codex sign-in |
| Several machines | Yes: one fleet MCP server over your Tailscale network | Yes: remote daemons over its relay, Tailscale or a VPN |
| Isolation | Each job on its own branch; optional container per project; folder environments in their own container | A git worktree per agent; agents run with your user's credentials |
| Secrets | Typed in once; agents see stand-ins, the real value goes only to allowed hosts and is scrubbed from responses | Does not store provider keys; nothing hides secrets from the agent |
| Automation | Schedules (cron or interval), trigger tokens for your app or CI, workflows with reviewer, send-back and script steps | Cron schedules; GitHub, Slack and Discord triggers through Paseo Hub |
| Media generation | Images, video and sound | None found |
| Price | Free. Models on your own plan or key | App free; Hub Free 50 runs a month, Hub Pro $15 per seat a month |
Pick Paseo when
- You want to watch and steer agents in a desktop or phone app, with an editor, terminals and diffs in one window.
- You already use several agent CLIs (Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode) and want them behind one interface.
- You work on a Mac or Windows machine.
Pick Swarm when
- Your AI or your own code should drive the work: Swarm is headless, built to be called over MCP, the SDK, the HTTP API or the CLI.
- You want agents beyond coding: research and audits, UI designs, images, video and sound.
- Agents need API keys you do not want them to hold: Swarm gives them stand-ins.
- Finished jobs should be reviewed, sent back or delivered by a workflow before they reach you.
Checked 24 October 2026 on github.com/getpaseo/paseo, paseo.sh/docs, paseo.sh/hub. Products change quickly; tell us at contact if something here is out of date.
Questions
Is Swarm a Paseo alternative?
For running agents on your own machines, yes. Paseo is an app for driving agent CLIs; Swarm is a headless platform with its own agents that your AI or your code drives.
Do both work with a ChatGPT or Claude plan?
Yes. Paseo uses the Claude Code and Codex sign-ins; Swarm connects your ChatGPT plan directly and your Claude plan through Claude Code.
Does Swarm have a desktop app?
No. Swarm is headless: you talk to your AI, and it talks to Swarm. A setup page is the only screen.
Can I use both?
Yes. They solve different parts of the job and can run on the same machine.
Updated 24 October 2026