Uncircle alternatives: 3 free & open-source picks
Curated, verified, and actually free. No trials, no crippled tiers. Star counts and last-activity dates checked by hand, not scraped and forgotten.
A native Mac workspace for terminals, browsers and agent notifications; repos remain folders.
licenseGPL-3.0+
runson your machine
installDrag the signed macOS app from its DMG into Applications, or install the Homebrew cask
enginesAny terminal-based coding agent installed on the Mac, including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Kiro, and Aider
dataConfiguration, workspace state, and terminal scrollback live on the Mac; the optional iOS companion connects over the user's local network or Tailscale rather than a vendor relay
the catch vs Uncirclecmux is an excellent terminal workspace, but it does not provide Uncircle’s declarative per-project stack, one-click parallel startup, process health view, and automatic restart.
setupmacOS only; each coding-agent CLI and its account or API credentials must be installed separately
facts verified 2026-08-10
Repos, terminals, previews and remote files in one window; agents are just commands.
licenseApache-2.0
runson your machine
installInstall the signed desktop package for macOS, Windows, or Linux
enginesOpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, Perplexity, custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints, local Ollama/LM Studio/vLLM, and Claude Code integration
dataWorkspace and terminal configuration live under the user's local Wave configuration directory; files stay local or on connected SSH hosts, while AI prompts go to the selected provider unless a local backend is used
the catch vs UncircleWave combines terminals, files, and previews, but it lacks Uncircle’s checked-in project stack definitions, status dashboard, and automatic process restart.
setupThe terminal installs normally; AI features require a provider API key or a separately running local model, and remote files require SSH credentials
facts verified 2026-08-10
A visual desktop for several coding agents; repos and terminals stay in the same room.
licenseMIT
runson your machine
installInstall the signed macOS DMG, Windows installer, or Linux AppImage and point it at already installed coding-agent CLIs
enginesCodex and Claude Code, with OpenCode and GitHub Copilot support described as alpha
dataProjects and planning artifacts are local-first and stored as ordinary files, including Markdown; optional sync and mobile access use Nimbalyst services
the catch vs UncircleNimbalyst orchestrates coding agents but does not supervise the surrounding dev servers, workers, databases, and restartable project processes that Uncircle treats as first-class.
setupRequires at least one supported coding-agent CLI to be installed and authenticated separately
facts verified 2026-08-10
last updated 2026-08-10 · no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
| tool | license | running it | platforms | stars | active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cmux | GPL-3.0+ | one-click install | macos | 25,700 | 2026-08 |
| Wave Terminal | Apache-2.0 | one-click install | macos, windows, linux | 21,900 | 2026-08 |
| Nimbalyst | MIT | one-click install | macos, windows, linux, ios, android | 1,408 | 2026-08 |
It is $19 once with a free tier that covers 3 projects, so the honest calculus is not subscription math · it is whether an evening of vibe coding beats a lifetime license. People pay for the parts that are tedious to get right: clean shutdown of whole process trees, restart backoff that does not flap, native notifications when an agent finishes or crashes, and updates they never think about.
Is there a free alternative to Uncircle?
Yes: cmux, Wave Terminal, Nimbalyst. Every tool on this page is either open source or genuinely free to use long-term: no trials, no crippled tiers.
Should I just build my own Uncircle?
Our verdict is PARCIAL. The core loop · read a yml of processes from the repo, run them, stream logs into terminals, show status dots · is a genuine one-sitting build with node-pty and xterm.js, and mprocs already gives you most of it in a TUI for free. What does not one-shot is everything around it: a native window with tray and notifications, killing whole process trees without orphans on three OSes, crash auto-restart that does not flap, and signed auto-updating builds. And since the paid tier is $19 once rather than a subscription, the usual death-list math barely applies. If you'd rather build, the exact one-shot prompt is free at puedovibecodearlo.app/uncircle.
