TermLink vs Claude Code Remote Control
Claude Code Remote Control reaches a Claude Code session running on your own machine, from a phone or a browser. TermLink reaches the terminal that session is running inside, which is what lets the same window also hold Codex CLI, Cursor Agent, or a plain shell.
Last checked: August 23, 2026, against Anthropic's own documentation. They ship quickly, so read theirs before you decide rather than trusting a comparison page, including this one.
What they have in common
More than you might expect, and it is worth saying first so the rest of this page is useful. Both keep the agent running on your own machine. Both connect outward, so neither one needs an inbound port. Both keep your local filesystem, tools, and project config in play. And both handle more than one session at a time.
That last one is worth being blunt about, because it gets repeated wrongly. Remote Control has a server mode that runs concurrent sessions, with a default capacity of 32 and an option to give each session its own git worktree. If you have read somewhere that it is one repo or one session at a time, that is not what their documentation says.
So the choice is not about capacity. It is about what you get a window onto.
Which one is right for you?
Remote Control gives you the Claude Code conversation. TermLink gives you the shell that Claude Code is running inside.
Claude Code Remote Control fits when
- • Claude Code is the agent you use
- • What you need to reach is the conversation, not the shell around it
- • You want the shortest path from Anthropic's own tooling
- • You would rather have one vendor for the agent and the remote access
TermLink fits when
- • You run Codex CLI or Cursor Agent alongside Claude Code
- • You want the real terminal, so the same window runs your tests and reads your logs
- • You would rather your terminal output was not kept anywhere
- • You want one list across machines showing what every agent last said
One practical gate worth knowing before you weigh anything else: Remote Control is documented as needing a paid Claude subscription, and API keys are not supported. If the agent you most want to reach is not Claude Code, that decides it for you.
What is stored, and where
This is a real difference and it is easy to check. While Remote Control is connected, the session transcript — your messages, Claude's responses, and tool activity — is stored on Anthropic servers, which is what keeps the conversation in sync across your devices and lets it reconnect after a drop.
TermLink routes terminal bytes through the relay in memory and does not write them to disk. Nothing about your session output is kept on our side. That is a trade rather than a win: it is also why TermLink hands you the screen repainted by your own machine instead of a conversation history it could replay.
What the relay can and cannot see is set out on the security page, including the parts that are not encrypted end to end.
What about several machines, or several sessions?
Both handle several. Remote Control's server mode runs concurrent sessions — a default capacity of 32, with an option to give each one its own git worktree — and its cross-session messaging reaches sessions on other machines. TermLink caps concurrent sessions lower: two on Free, eight on Pro.
So if the question is only how many, that is not a reason to move. The difference is what the list is made of. TermLink lists machines and the terminals on them, and each card carries that session's latest line — whether that line came from Claude Code, from Codex CLI, from a test run, or from a deploy that failed while you were out. Nothing in the list has to be an agent.
What that looks like day to day is on managing multiple Claude Code sessions.
What does TermLink do differently?
Three things, and they all follow from one decision. TermLink relays a terminal rather than an agent.
Other agents. Because it is a terminal, Codex CLI and Cursor Agent work the way Claude Code does, including Auto-Yes, which reads each one's own approval prompt. Claude Code is the one we support most closely. See a session manager for AI coding agents.
A full shell. The session is the terminal your agent lives in, so the same window runs your test suite, tails a log, or checks out a branch. Nothing about it is agent-shaped, and a session that is not running an agent at all works the same.
Auto-Yes. A per-session toggle that confirms permission prompts so a long run does not sit blocked while you are away — how it works, and when to leave it off.
Do I have to choose one?
No. They are not mutually exclusive — Remote Control is part of Claude Code, and TermLink is a terminal you reach that machine through. Nothing stops you using whichever is closer to hand for a given task.
In practice people settle on one out of habit rather than necessity. Worth asking which one actually matches how your week goes.
If you are weighing something else entirely — running the agent on hosted infrastructure instead of your own machine — that is a different question, and it is on TermLink vs Omni by xpander.
How does TermLink connect without SSH or a VPN?
Your machine dials out to the TermLink relay. It never accepts an inbound connection, so there is no port to open, no key to distribute, and no VPN to dial into.
This is also why it works on a laptop that moves between networks — there is no address for anyone to reach. More in how a remote terminal works without SSH or a VPN.
What does TermLink cost?
There is a free plan. Free and Pro differ in one number — how many sessions run at the same time. Free gives you two, Pro gives you eight at $9 a month.
The cap counts sessions, not viewers: you can watch them from as many browsers and phones as you like.
Why there is no feature checklist on this page
Because it would be out of date before it was useful. Claude Code changes fast, and a comparison table full of ticks and crosses for someone else's product is wrong within weeks — usually in the direction that flatters whoever wrote it.
What we can tell you accurately is what TermLink does. For what Claude Code Remote Control does today, read Anthropic's documentation — it is the only source that is current by definition.
Register the machine your code lives on and open its session from anywhere. Free plan, no card.