EmdashvsOrca
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Emdash
General Action · Agent harness
OSS
Panel
6.43 spec wins
- Reliability
- 5.5
- Usefulness
- 6.7
- Cost
- 7.5
- Longevity
- 6.0
“Runs multiple agents in parallel Git worktrees, because one agent breaking your repo isn't enough.”
Orca
Stably AI · Agent harness
OSS
Panel
6.32 spec wins
- Reliability
- 5.8
- Usefulness
- 6.5
- Cost
- 6.7
- Longevity
- 6.0
“The Android app is at version 0.0.47, so it has shipped forty-seven times without anyone committing to version one.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Emdash | Orca |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Runs | local | local |
| Platforms | macos, windows, linux | macos, windows, linux |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | No | No |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | No |
| Git operations | Yes | Yes |
| Browser control | No | Yes |
| Sandboxed execution | No | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | No | No |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | via managed agents (Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Gemini, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, OpenCode, Amp, Pi, Hermes Agent, Goose and others) | |
| Bring your own model | Yes | No |
| Local models | No | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | free | free |
| Starts at | n/a | $0/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | No |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 5,894 | 83,326 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Emdash | Orca | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.5 | 7.0 | Emdash — Pick Emdash if you want a free, visual way to run multiple CLI agents in parallel without them interfering with each other. |
| El Crítico | 6.8 | 5.3 | Emdash — Emdash isolates agent tasks in Git worktrees but lacks a proper sandbox, exposing the host system to agent actions. |
| El Profesor | 6.3 | 6.0 | Emdash — Emdash is a well-defined agent harness that uses Git worktrees for task isolation, but its lack of sandboxing means agents execute with user-level permissions. |
| La Inversora | 5.5 | 5.5 | no preference |
| La Jefa | 5.3 | 6.0 | Orca — Anonymous usage data is collected with an opt-out, there is no SSO, no plan and no vendor contact beyond a GitHub repo; approved with conditions as a personal tool. |
| El Hacker | 7.3 | 7.8 | Orca — MIT, brew cask and an AUR package, and a CLI with orca worktree create, snapshot, click and fill so I can script the window; no MCP, no model settings. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.