LobsterAIvsSymphony
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
LobsterAI
NetEase Youdao · Agent harness
OSSMCP
Panel
4.84 spec wins
- Reliability
- 3.8
- Usefulness
- 5.2
- Cost
- 5.7
- Longevity
- 4.7
“This desktop agent can execute terminal commands and edit local files without a sandbox.”
Symphony
OpenAI · Agent harness
OSS
Panel
4.83 spec wins
- Reliability
- 4.7
- Usefulness
- 4.8
- Cost
- 5.5
- Longevity
- 4.0
“The release binary is symphony-v0.0.1, so the version number doubles as the maintenance plan.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | LobsterAI | Symphony |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Runs | local | local |
| Platforms | macos, windows | macos, linux |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | No |
| MCP server | Yes | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | No |
| Git operations | No | Yes |
| Browser control | Yes | No |
| Sandboxed execution | No | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | No | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Codex (OpenAI) | |
| Bring your own model | No | No |
| Local models | No | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | free | free |
| Starts at | n/a | $0/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | No | No |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| GitHub stars | 6,084 | 27,502 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | LobsterAI | Symphony | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 5.5 | 4.8 | LobsterAI — A free, local desktop agent for office tasks, but its lack of a sandbox and unclear model backend make it a risky choice for anything sensitive. |
| El Crítico | 5.8 | 3.5 | LobsterAI — A desktop agent that operates without a sandbox is a dealbreaker for any environment that values security. |
| El Profesor | 3.5 | 5.5 | Symphony — WORKFLOW.md is YAML front matter over a Markdown prompt; a workspace per issue, max_concurrent_agents defaulting to 10 and max_turns to 20, restarts on stall, PRs with proof of work. |
| La Inversora | 4.5 | 4.5 | no preference |
| La Jefa | 5.3 | 4.3 | LobsterAI — This is a desktop application for individuals, not a managed solution for teams. |
| El Hacker | 4.5 | 6.0 | Symphony — Apache-2.0 Elixir, one codex.command key to swap the agent, hooks.after_create to prepare a workspace, no MCP, no local models, and a README that tells me to fork it. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.