Comparison
Bystep vs Conductor
A Mac app from Melty Labs (YC) that runs several coding agents side by side — Claude Code, Codex and Cursor — each in its own git worktree, with diff review, merge and GitHub/Linear integration. It also offers cloud workspaces. macOS only for now.
What Conductor is
A Mac app from Melty Labs (YC) that runs several coding agents side by side — Claude Code, Codex and Cursor — each in its own git worktree, with diff review, merge and GitHub/Linear integration. It also offers cloud workspaces. macOS only for now.
- Pricing
- Free · Pro $50 · Teams $60/user · Enterprise — as listed on conductor.build/pricing when we checked on 10 Sep 2026. Agents run on your own subscriptions or API keys. Check their page for current numbers.
Competitor facts checked 10 Sep 2026 · Sources: conductor.build/pricing, docs.conductor.build
Feature matrix
Where the two actually differ
Every Bystep item here is live in the product today — not a roadmap promise. Competitor claims we couldn't verify first-hand are marked “as far as we know.”
| Bystep | Conductor | |
|---|---|---|
| PRD generation | Yes | NoStarts from a workspace per task, not from an idea-to-PRD flow |
| Acceptance criteria per task | Yesids like AC-checkout-1, derived from the PRD, editable by hand | NoNo structured acceptance-criteria field per task, as far as we know |
| Verification gate | Yes`task complete` returns 409 without passing evidence or a recorded override | NoYou review the diff and merge yourself; nothing requires evidence before a task counts as done |
| Evidence panel | Yestest output, diff stat, files touched, optional screenshot — stored, not just claimed | NoThe diff is the record — no stored proof page for a non-engineer |
| Works with any coding agent | YesClaude Code, Cursor, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode, Gemini CLI via CLI + MCP | YesClaude Code, Codex and Cursor on your own subscriptions or keys, locally and in its cloud workspaces |
| Import / export formats | YesSpec Kit, OpenSpec, Backlog.md, Task Master, Kiro, Claude Code Tasks, GitHub Issues, Linear | NoIntegrates with GitHub and Linear, but is not a spec/task format hub |
| Client mode / proposal | Yesclient-viewer share page + proposal for the Studio tier | NoBuilt for engineering teams (multiplayer); no client-facing progress or proposal page, as far as we know |
| Cost per feature | Yesper feature, not just per session | NoNot shown per feature, as far as we know |
| Indonesian language & payments | Yesen/id UI, IDR pricing, QRIS/VA | NoEnglish product, USD pricing |
| Open-source CLI | Yes`@bystep/cli` + `@bystep/mcp`, MIT | NoClosed source |
Honest answer
When to choose Conductor instead
- You are an engineer on a Mac and want the most polished way to run several agents side by side, each in its own worktree, reviewing every diff yourself.
- You want cloud workspaces and multiplayer for a dev team, with agents running on your own subscriptions or API keys.
- You don’t need a PRD, acceptance criteria or stored evidence before a task counts as done — Conductor is built for parallel execution by engineers; Bystep is built to prove the result to people who don’t read diffs.
Keep your agents, add the proof
Bystep runs the agents you already use from one plan, then requires evidence before a task counts as done. The result is readable by people who don’t read diffs.