# HB Code and Paseo > HB Code and Paseo side by side: license, price, platforms, agents, sign-in, and phone access. Paseo facts come from its maker's own pages. Paseo is a free and open-source app that runs many coding agents at once on your own machines, from your desk and from your phone. HB Code is a desktop app for Mac and Windows by helpful bits GmbH. It runs Claude Code and Codex on your own computer, and its iPhone and Android apps open the same sessions. ## The main difference Paseo is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0, and its maker states no telemetry and no forced login. HB Code isn't open source, and a phone needs HB Code Pro after a 10-day connected preview. Paseo states that all traffic between your phone and its daemon is end-to-end encrypted and that its relay can't read your messages. HB Code's phone connection goes through HB Code's relay server over TLS and isn't end-to-end encrypted. Paseo runs the agent CLIs that you installed. HB Code includes a runtime for Claude Code and for Codex in the app, and it runs these two agents only. ## Side by side | Topic | HB Code | Paseo | | --- | --- | --- | | License and source | Not open source. The source isn't public. | Open source under the Apache License 2.0. The repository is public. | | Price | The desktop app needs no payment. A phone gets a 10-day connected preview and then needs HB Code Pro from the App Store or Google Play. | Free. Paseo Hub, a separate optional service, has a hosted Free plan and a Pro plan at $15 per seat per month. | | Desktop | macOS 12 or later on Apple silicon, and Windows 10 version 1809 or later on x64. No Linux app. | macOS 13 or newer on Apple silicon and Intel, Windows on x64 and ARM64, and Linux as AppImage, DEB, or RPM. | | Phone and web | iPhone with iOS 18 or later and Android 8.0 or later. No web app. | iOS and Android apps, and a web app. | | Coding agents | Claude Code and Codex. | Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode, Pi, Antigravity, and Muse Code, as its README lists them, and more agents through ACP. | | Agent sign-in and billing | Claude Code is the unchanged executable of Anthropic's Claude Agent SDK. Codex is HB Code's own build of OpenAI's open-source Codex app-server. Both run on your own Claude and ChatGPT sign-in, and HB Code includes neither plan. | It runs the official claude and codex CLIs with your existing installation and account. Claude Code usage counts against your Claude plan limits. | | Account with the maker | None for work on the desktop. Remote access and the phone apps need an HB Code account. | The maker states no forced login for the apps. The hosted Paseo Hub needs an account. | | Where the agent works | In your project folders on your own computer. HB Code creates no worktrees and lists the ones that the repository has. No cloud. | Where its daemon runs: your laptop, a Mac Mini, a VPS, or a Docker container. A git worktree can give each agent a separate directory and branch. | | How the phone reaches the desktop | Through HB Code's relay server over TLS. The connection isn't end-to-end encrypted. The server passes the content and doesn't store it. | Through the Paseo relay, which is off on new installations, or directly with Tailscale. The maker states end-to-end encryption and that the relay can't read your code, prompts, or agent conversations. | | Accounts and usage limits | Several Claude accounts and ChatGPT subscriptions. Settings › Agents lists each one with its limit windows, and the phone apps show the same windows. | Several profiles of one provider, each with its own credentials and models. | | Usage analytics in the app | No analytics or crash-report SDK in the desktop app or the phone apps. The desktop app sends one daily usage signal, with a random ID not linked to your account, only if you allow it. With remote access on, the server keeps device status data. | The maker states none: no analytics, telemetry, advertising identifiers, or crash reports. | ## Paseo: when it fits better - You want a free app that is open source under the Apache License 2.0. - You want the connection between your phone and your computer to be end-to-end encrypted. - You use Copilot, OpenCode, Pi, or other agents next to Claude Code and Codex. - You work on Linux, an Intel Mac, or Windows on ARM64, or you run agents on a VPS or in a Docker container. ## HB Code: when it fits better - You want each Claude account and each ChatGPT subscription listed with its limit windows, on the desktop and on the phone. - You want the agent to make speech audio or a short explainer video of its work. Both need your own Gemini API key. - You want the agent to work in your own Chrome through the Browser Bridge extension. ## Sources - https://paseo.sh - https://paseo.sh/download - https://paseo.sh/hub - https://paseo.sh/privacy - https://paseo.sh/docs/security - https://paseo.sh/docs/connectivity - https://paseo.sh/docs/worktrees - https://paseo.sh/docs/claude-code - https://paseo.sh/docs/codex - https://paseo.sh/docs/custom-providers - https://paseo.sh/docs/hub/hosted - https://github.com/getpaseo/paseo/blob/main/README.md - https://github.com/getpaseo/paseo/blob/main/LICENSE We read these pages on October 9, 2026. Prices and features can change after that date. If a statement on this page is wrong or out of date, tell us and we'll correct it. [Write to support](https://www.hbcode.ai/support) ## More comparisons - [Compare HB Code and T3 Code](https://www.hbcode.ai/alternatives/t3-code.md) - [Compare HB Code and Conductor](https://www.hbcode.ai/alternatives/conductor.md) - [Compare HB Code and Happy](https://www.hbcode.ai/alternatives/happy.md) - [Compare HB Code and Nimbalyst](https://www.hbcode.ai/alternatives/nimbalyst.md) - [Compare HB Code and the ChatGPT desktop app](https://www.hbcode.ai/alternatives/codex-app.md) - [Compare HB Code and Claude Desktop](https://www.hbcode.ai/alternatives/claude-desktop.md) - [All comparisons](https://www.hbcode.ai/alternatives.md) ## Guides - [How to check usage limits and use more than one account](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-usage-limits.md) - [How to check what Claude Code or Codex did](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-ui.md) - [How to run several Claude Code and Codex sessions](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-sessions.md) - [How to use Claude Code or Codex on your phone](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-mobile.md) - [How to see what the subagents of Claude Code do](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-subagents.md) - [How to try Claude Code and Codex on the same task](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-vs-codex.md) - [How to run Codex in a desktop app on Mac and Windows](https://www.hbcode.ai/codex-desktop-app.md) - [Download HB Code](https://www.hbcode.ai/downloads)