Claude Code vs ellul
The agent, and the place the agent lives.
Claude Code is the agent. Ellul is the computer the agent runs on. You can run Claude Code locally, or you can run it on Ellul: same agent, different home.
Updated
The fundamental difference
Claude Code is one of the strongest coding agents in 2026. We default to it. The question is not Claude Code or Ellul. It's where you want Claude Code to live. On your laptop, where it stops when the lid closes? Or on Ellul, where it runs through the night?
Where Claude Code is strong
The agent itself. Anthropic's agent quality is exceptional: Claude Opus 4.7 leads Terminal-Bench 2.0 (~69%) and SWE-bench Verified in the high 80s, with strong code review and multi-step planning. Their CLI experience is clean. Their MCP integration is the deepest in the industry. Their permissions model is the most thoughtful per-action gating any local agent has.
Where ellul is stronger
Claude Code on your laptop has an unsolvable problem: it stops when you close the lid. Anthropic's 'Remote Control' feature relays input from another device, but the session still lives on your laptop. Ellul moves the session itself onto a persistent workstation. Same agent. New home.
Feature comparison
| Capability | Claude Code | ellul | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the agent runs | Your laptop (or relay via Remote Control) | Persistent cloud workstation | |
| Survives laptop closingSessions end when laptop sleeps. | no | yes | |
| Per-action permission gating | Yes, in-process | FIDO2 passkey, server-enforced | |
| Cannot bypass gate (gate enforced outside agent)Claude Code's gate runs in the agent process; Ellul's gate runs separately. | no | yes | |
| Run Claude Code | yes | Yes (default) | |
| Run Codex / Cursor CLI / OpenCode | no | yes | |
| Parallel sessions | One per machine | Multiple per user | |
| MCP server access | Local MCP servers | Local + persistent server-side MCP | |
| Where credentials live | Your laptop | Server vault, gated injection |
Pricing
| Tier | Claude Code | ellul |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic subscription | Pro $20/mo, Max $100 or $200/mo | BYOK (bring your Claude Pro/Max) |
| Workstation | n/a | $20/mo Hobby or $50/mo Pro |
| Total monthly (Pro)You're paying for the workstation, not for the agent. | $20 (Claude Pro alone) | $70 ($20 Claude Pro + $50 Ellul Pro) |
Verdict
Same agent, different home. Use Claude Code on Ellul when the laptop's lid is the problem.
Anthropic ships a great agent. We ship the workstation that lets it run while you sleep. Bring your own Claude subscription. Ellul charges only for the computer.
When to use each
Use Claude Code when
- You're trying Claude Code for the first time and want to feel the agent quality without committing to a workstation.
- Your work is fast and bounded: short cycles where the agent shouldn't outlive your editor.
- You don't need to touch production credentials.
Use ellul when
- You want Claude Code to keep working after you close your laptop.
- You want to run two or three Claude Code sessions in parallel without ports clashing.
- You want git push and deploy to be safe, gated by a passkey, with credentials never in the agent's process.
- You want to switch between Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and Cursor without changing your workstation.
Common questions
Can I bring my own Claude Pro/Max subscription to Ellul?
Yes. Ellul is BYOK (bring your own key). Your Claude subscription is yours; Ellul charges only for the workstation.
Does Anthropic's 'Remote Control' replace Ellul?
No. Remote Control lets you send messages from another device into a Claude Code session. The session itself still lives on your laptop, and stops when your laptop sleeps. Ellul moves the session onto a server that never sleeps.
How is Ellul's gate different from Claude Code's permissions?
Claude Code's permissions are enforced inside the agent process. Strong by software-engineering standards, but bypassable in principle by anyone with code-edit access to the agent. Ellul's gate is enforced by a separate process the agent cannot read, attach to, or signal. The agent literally cannot exfiltrate credentials at the OS level, not just by convention.
Will Anthropic ship a cloud Claude Code?
They ship Claude Managed Agents on platform.claude.com, a managed agent product tied to Anthropic's cloud and model. Ellul is model-agnostic: same workstation runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode. Different scope.
What about MCP servers?
Ellul runs MCP servers either locally inside the workstation or as long-lived server-side processes. Local MCPs that need GPU or persistent state actually work, because the workstation isn't being torn down every time you close the lid.
Related solutions
Topics
Try it
Move your agent off your laptop.
Hobby is $20/month. Pro is $50/month. Bring any agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode.