Coral vs Claude Code Remote Control: every agent
Remote Control puts one Claude Code session on your phone. Coral covers every agent in any terminal, with one-key answers in your notch and Face ID on iPhone.
Updated
Pick Coral if you run more than one agent, or more than one kind. Claude Code Remote Control is Anthropic’s own way to open a Claude Code session on your phone, and it covers Claude Code only, switched on per session. Coral watches every agent you run, in any terminal, with nothing to turn on: Claude Code, Codex, Copilot CLI, OpenCode and Grok CLI show up in your Mac’s notch and on your iPhone, where you answer with one key or a Face ID tap.
As of October 2026, here’s how they compare.
Summary
| Claude Code Remote Control | Coral | |
|---|---|---|
| Agents | Claude Code only | Claude Code, Codex (CLI and app), Copilot CLI, OpenCode, Grok CLI |
| Sessions in any terminal, nothing to turn on | You run /remote-control in each session, or turn on auto-connect in /config | Yes, hooks installed once |
| Answer from your Mac’s notch | No | Yes, one key (1, 2 or 3), ⌘Z takes it back |
| Face ID on each phone answer | Optional Trusted Devices (beta): Face ID or a passkey when your sign-in is over 18 hours old | Yes, signed with a Secure Enclave key |
| Your transcript on a server | Stored on Anthropic’s servers while connected | No; the relay holds only encrypted messages, deleted on delivery |
| Claude Code on an API key | Not supported | Works, with real dollars on the done card |
| When your Mac sleeps | The session reconnects when it wakes | Your iPhone says “Mac asleep since 10:42” |
| Price | Included with a Claude Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan | Free, with no time limit; Pro $8 a month yearly or $12 monthly |
Why developers pick Coral
- Every agent, not just Claude Code. Codex (the CLI or the Codex app), the GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenCode and Grok CLI sessions sit in the same list as Claude Code. Remote Control can’t see them.
- Nothing to switch on. Coral connects each agent once with its own hooks. Every session you start after that, in tmux, Ghostty, iTerm2, Terminal, WezTerm, kitty or your editor, appears on its own. You never type a command to make a session reachable.
- Answers on the Mac, too. When an agent asks, the question shows up in your notch. Press 1, 2 or 3, and ⌘Z takes it back within two seconds. The one that has waited longest comes first. Remote Control is for your phone or a browser. See Features.
- Built for many agents at once. Agents group by project and by Needs you, Done, Working and Idle, across every kind of agent. A push tells you which agent needs you.
- Face ID on every answer. On iPhone, answers and messages are signed with a key in the Secure Enclave that Face ID protects. Your Mac accepts each one once, within 2 minutes. Messages are end-to-end encrypted, and the relay deletes each one once delivered, so no transcript sits on a server. See Privacy and security.
- Your servers in the same notch. With Pro, agents on Linux servers, other Macs over SSH and dev containers show up next to your local ones, and Linux servers can reach your iPhone while your Mac sleeps. See Servers.
Coral also works where Remote Control can’t: a Claude Code session on an API key shows up like any other, since Coral watches the agent, not your login. Apple Watch shows Coral’s alerts, and usage tells you when a limit runs out at your current pace.
One thing to know: on Coral Free, what you send from your iPhone waits on your Mac until you press Return there. Pro sends it straight to the agent. Prices are on Pricing.
Where Remote Control fits
- One long Claude conversation from the couch. You get the whole session on your phone: attach files, switch the model, run slash commands like
/compact, read the diff. - Already in your plan. It ships inside Claude Code, with nothing else to install.
- Any platform. It runs wherever Claude Code runs, and you connect from iOS, Android or any browser. Coral needs a Mac and an iPhone.
How to start it
# Server mode: waits for connections, press space for a QR code
claude remote-control
# A normal interactive session that is also reachable remotely
claude --remote-control "hawkins api"Inside a running session, type /remote-control (short: /rc). It needs a claude.ai login on a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan, and the claude process has to keep running: close the terminal and the session goes offline. Details are in Anthropic’s docs.
Which should you pick
- Run Claude Code next to Codex, Copilot CLI, OpenCode or Grok CLI: Coral.
- Run several agents and need to know which one is waiting: Coral.
- Don’t want to switch anything on per session: Coral.
- Sit at the Mac and want prompts answered without switching windows: Coral.
- Want Face ID on every answer and no transcript on a server: Coral.
- Run Claude Code on an API key: Coral.
- Have one Claude Code session and want to chat with it at length from Android or a browser: Remote Control.
You can also use both. Coral reads your agents through hooks and doesn’t care how a session was started. If both send pushes, turn off Push when actions required in Claude Code’s /config and let Coral handle the alerts, so each prompt buzzes once.
More on the phone side in Claude Code on iPhone and Claude Code notifications.
Questions
Does Remote Control work with Codex or other agents?
No, it’s a Claude Code feature. For Codex, Copilot CLI, OpenCode or Grok CLI next to Claude Code, you need a tool that watches all of them, like Coral.
Can I answer permission prompts from my phone?
With Remote Control, yes, from the Claude app or a browser. With Coral, you tap the answer on your iPhone and confirm with Face ID, for every agent. See Claude Code permission prompts.
Is Claude Code Remote Control free?
It’s included in Claude Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans at no extra cost. It doesn’t work with an API key. Coral Free costs nothing and works with any login.
Does Remote Control work when my laptop is asleep?
No. Your computer and the claude process have to stay running, and the session reconnects when the laptop wakes. Coral tells your iPhone when your Mac is asleep, and Stay Awake (Pro) keeps it up while agents work.
How do I start Claude Code Remote Control?
Run claude remote-control in your project, or claude --remote-control for an interactive session. Inside a running session, type /remote-control or /rc, then scan the QR code with the Claude app.