vs Anthropic first-party
Maude vs Claude Code Remote Control
Remote Control is Anthropic's own way to steer Claude Code from your phone, and it costs nothing on top of your plan. Here's what it does now, where it stops, and when an app that runs every agent on your own server is the better fit.
Quick answer
Remote Control is Anthropic's free, official way to drive a Claude Code session from the Claude app. It's included with Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, and the session runs on your machine, which has to stay on with the claude process running. Maude runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Grok Build and Antigravity on a server you own, installs itself over SSH, and offers auto and bypass modes from the phone. If you only use Claude and your machine is always on, use Remote Control.
If you want Claude Code on your phone, start with the free option. Anthropic's Remote Control connects the Claude app (iOS and Android) or claude.ai/code in a browser to a Claude Code session running on your own machine. It's part of the Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, it has native push notifications, and a server mode runs many sessions from one process. For a lot of people that's the whole answer.
Maude answers a different question: running coding agents, Claude Code and four others, on a server you own, around the clock, with nothing installed by hand. The sections below go through where each one fits.
What Remote Control does
You start a session on your computer with claude remote-control (server mode), or run /remote-control inside a session that's already open. Then you pick it up from the Code tab of the Claude app, from a browser, or by scanning the QR code the terminal shows. Claude keeps running locally the whole time, so your files, MCP servers and tools stay where they are. Photos and files you attach on the phone reach the local session. Model and effort changes from the phone apply to it as well. See Anthropic's Remote Control documentation.
On plans: Remote Control is available on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, and API keys aren't supported. On Team and Enterprise an Owner has to switch it on in the admin settings first. There's also an optional Trusted Devices setting (in beta). It requires each device to be verified before it can view or steer a Remote Control session.
Where it runs
This is the main constraint, and Anthropic states it plainly: the phone is a window into a local session, so "your computer has to stay on and the claude process has to keep running." If your laptop sleeps or the network drops, Claude Code reconnects when the machine comes back. If you close the terminal or stop the process, the session goes offline until you bring it back.
You can run it on a server: the docs suggest starting it inside tmux or screen so it survives an SSH disconnect. You still install Claude Code, start the process and keep it alive yourself. In server mode, an extended network outage of roughly ten minutes makes the claude remote-control process exit, and you start it again.
Maude starts from the server. You add a Linux or macOS machine by address, a pasted ssh … command or a QR code. The app then deploys its own daemon over SSH and installs each agent at a tested, pinned version, and it keeps both updated. Sessions belong to that daemon, so they keep running when the app is closed. Our guide to running Claude Code on a VPS covers choosing and preparing a box.
Notifications and approvals
Remote Control now has native push. In /config you turn on Push when Claude decides (typically when a long task finishes), Push when actions required (permission prompts and questions), or both. Permission prompts and AskUserQuestion questions stay open until you answer them.
Maude sends push notifications with Allow and Deny actions, and you can switch categories on and off. The app's inbox gathers errors, sessions ready for review and anything that needs attention, and you answer permission prompts inline. Both handle the basic case of being told when the agent needs you. Maude collects it across every server and agent in one place. Our guide to approving agent permissions from your phone compares the options.
Permission modes from the phone
Anthropic's mobile documentation says: "cloud sessions offer Accept edits, Plan, and Auto in the mode dropdown, and Remote Control sessions offer Manual, Accept edits, and Plan. You can't select Bypass permissions from the app in either case, and you can't select Auto for a Remote Control session." That's a safe default, but a long run will stop and wait for you.
In Maude you pick the permission mode per session from the modes the agent supports, including auto and bypass. Claude refuses bypass as root, so that mode needs a non-root user, and the app has a button that creates one. Only use bypass on a machine you'd be willing to rebuild; our guide to running Claude Code with full permissions safely explains how to set that up.
Multiple sessions
Outside server mode, each Claude Code process carries one remote session. Server mode (claude remote-control) serves many from one process: --capacity sets the maximum, 32 by default. --spawn worktree gives each on-demand session its own git worktree.
Maude runs several sessions at once across several servers, with git worktrees, and lists them all in one app. Each session has a Files tab, a Git tab (review the diff hunk by hunk, commit, push, open a PR through gh when it's installed) and a real terminal.
Other agents
Remote Control is for Claude Code. OpenAI's equivalent for Codex lives in the ChatGPT app and needs a host running the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS or Windows. We compare it in Maude vs Codex Remote.
Maude drives Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Grok Build and Antigravity from one app, each signed in with your own account or key. When a session is idle you can hand it to another agent. That agent gets a brief with the plan, the files touched, the git state and the recent conversation.
Side by side
| Claude Code Remote Control | Maude | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Anthropic (official) | Pilot Dev (independent) |
| Price | Included with Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise | $2.99/week after a 3-day trial or $29.99/year after a 7-day trial, plus your agent plans and a server |
| Agents | Claude Code | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Grok Build, Antigravity |
| Where the session runs | Wherever you start claude: laptop, desktop, or a server inside tmux | A Linux or macOS server you reach over SSH |
| Setup | Install Claude Code, run one command, scan a QR code | Add the server; the app deploys its daemon and pinned agents itself |
| If you close the terminal | Session goes offline until you bring it back | Sessions belong to a daemon on the server and keep running |
| Several sessions | Server mode, up to 32 by default (--capacity) | Several at once, across servers |
| Push notifications | Yes, two /config toggles | Yes, with Allow/Deny actions |
| Modes from the phone | Manual, Accept edits, Plan (no Auto, no Bypass) | Whatever the agent supports, including auto and bypass |
| Files, git, terminal | Attachments and @ file paths | Files, Git (diff, commit, push, PR) and Terminal tabs |
| Clients | Claude app on iOS/Android, plus any browser | iOS, iPadOS and Android apps |
| Access control | Optional Trusted Devices (beta) | Per-server key; the relay only sees ciphertext |
Remote Control details checked against Anthropic's docs on 1 October 2026. It changes often, so check there for the current state.
Price
Remote Control costs nothing beyond the Claude plan you already pay for. Maude is $2.99 a week or $29.99 a year, with a free trial (3 days on the weekly plan, 7 on the yearly). It covers the app only, so you still need each agent's own subscription or API key and a server to run on. Those three costs are a fair reason to choose Remote Control if it already does what you need. See Maude's pricing.
Verdict
Pick Remote Control if you only use Claude and your machine is always on. It's free, official, gets new Claude Code features first, and works in a browser too. Its server mode handles many sessions.
Pick Maude if you use more than one agent, want sessions on a server that keep going with no terminal of yours open, want auto or bypass from the phone, or want files, git and a terminal next to the chat without installing anything by hand.
Use both if that suits you: Remote Control for the session on your desk, Maude for long runs on a server.
Where Maude is the worse choice: it's paid, the server is yours to look after, and it's a third-party app, so it follows Claude Code's changes rather than shipping them on day one. If your work is on GitHub and you'd rather not run any machine at all, look at Claude Code on the web instead.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Code Remote Control free?
Does Remote Control work if my laptop sleeps?
claude process running. If the laptop sleeps or loses the network, Claude Code reconnects when it comes back. If you close the terminal, the session goes offline until you bring it back.Can I use Remote Control on a VPS?
Does Remote Control support Codex or other agents?
Can I select bypass permissions from the Claude app?
What changed
- — Rewritten for Maude 2 (five agents, self-deploying daemon, relay, inbox, files/git/terminal) and new pricing. Updated Remote Control: Team and Enterprise plans, native push, server mode with
--capacity, Trusted Devices. - — First published.
