Orca vs Phoenix.vu: Features, Pricing & Which Is Better (2026)

A side-by-side comparison of Orca and Phoenix.vu — features, pricing, and ideal use cases — to help you decide which AI tool fits your workflow.

Orca

Stably AI

Free

Desktop AI orchestrator that runs Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, and Pi side by side in parallel git worktrees, all tracked in one place.

Parallel Agent Worktrees: Fan one prompt across up to five agents, each in its own isolated git worktree — compare results and merge the winner.
Multi-Agent Support: Run Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, and Pi side by side, all tracked in one unified interface.
Mobile Companion App: Monitor and steer your agents from iOS or Android — get notified when an agent finishes and send follow-ups from anywhere.
Ghostty-Class Terminals: WebGL-rendered terminal splits with infinite panes and scrollback that survives restarts.
Design Mode Browser: Click any UI element in the embedded Chromium window to send its HTML, CSS, and a cropped screenshot straight into your agent's prompt.
Cross-Platform Desktop: Native builds for macOS, Windows, and Linux so the orchestrator runs alongside your existing dev environment.
Unified Prompt & History Tracking: Every prompt, tool call, and terminal action across all agents is captured in one place for easy review.
Steer from Anywhere: Follow-up prompts from the mobile companion keep long-running agent runs moving even when you step away from the desk.

Prompt Bake-Off: Send the same feature request to Codex, Claude Code, and OpenCode simultaneously and merge whichever branch wins.
Long-Running Refactors: Kick off multi-hour agent runs in isolated worktrees and check in from your phone as they progress.
Design-to-Code Handoff: Click a live UI element in Design Mode and hand its markup and a screenshot to the agent for pixel-accurate implementation.
Parallel Bug Reproduction: Try multiple diagnostic approaches at once — each agent operates on its own worktree without collision.
Terminal-Heavy Workflows: Use Ghostty-class terminal splits to keep build watchers, servers, and agent output visible side by side.
Team Handoffs: Track every agent action in one place so the next engineer can pick up context without replaying a chat log.

Freemium

An AI coding agent for Xcode that writes Swift, runs builds, fixes build errors automatically and shows diffs, while source code stays on your Mac.

Automatic Build Error Repair: Runs the Xcode build, identifies compile errors, applies fixes and re-validates the result through an iterative repair loop until the project compiles.
Side-by-Side Xcode Workflow: Sits next to Xcode with real-time build monitoring, diff review and inline approvals so you never leave the IDE to consult an AI.
Codebase Understanding Before Coding: Reads and understands the project structure before writing anything, so generated Swift fits the existing architecture rather than being pasted in blind.
Diff Review Before Apply: Every proposed change is shown as a reviewable diff that you approve or reject, so the agent never silently rewrites files.
Persistent Project Memory: Retains its understanding of your project across development sessions instead of relearning the codebase every time you start.
Local Source Code Storage: Source code stays on the Mac under a privacy-first architecture, with only inference context sent off-device.
Swift and SwiftUI Native: Built for the Apple ecosystem with deep Swift and SwiftUI understanding and native Xcode workflows rather than generic language support.
Usage-Based Credits: Pay per AI request with exact credit costs shown before and after every task, with no seats or subscription commitment.

Feature Implementation: Describe a new screen or capability in plain English and have the agent write the Swift, build it and hand back a reviewable diff.
Build Failure Triage: Hand a failing Xcode build to the agent and let it iterate through compile errors until the project builds again.
Legacy UIKit Modernization: Refactor older Apple codebases toward SwiftUI and current Swift idioms with the agent validating each step against a real build.
Privacy-Constrained Teams: Adopt an AI coding agent at organizations that cannot upload source to the cloud, since the code stays on the developer's Mac.
Occasional Contract Work: Pay only for the requests you actually make, which suits indie and contract Apple developers who do not want a monthly seat.
Code Change Auditing: Use the mandatory diff review step to keep tight control over exactly how AI modifies an app before release.