Git worktrees stop agents from overwriting each other's files. They don't stop duplicate work, unverified results, ungoverned risk, or lost context across sessions. Okto Nexus covers the rest: identity, ownership, verification, memory, approvals, and a full audit trail.
Conductor answers where an agent's code lives. Nexus answers who owns it, who checked it, and who approved it.
Native macOS app from Melty Labs. Runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode in parallel, each in its own isolated git worktree or cloud sandbox.
Local first coordination hub. Installs with pip, runs as a local hub every agent connects to over MCP.
handoff_claim: one winner, no duplicate workpip install "okto-nexus[serve]"
Conductor makes sure agents can't overwrite each other's files. Nexus makes sure they know who owns what, someone independent checked it, a human signed off on anything risky, and it's all on the record.
handoff_create()handoff_claim()memory_put()memory_search()handoff_complete()
Conductor's checks are real, but optional. Nexus enforces them structurally.
Nothing stops the merge if the check is skipped.
The action does not execute until a person says yes.
15 capabilities, classified by how each product actually handles them.
| Capability | Okto Nexus | Conductor |
|---|---|---|
| Coordination & governance | ||
| Agent to agent coordination | Native Durable identities + 7 routing strategies (direct, capability, role, tag, broadcast, mixed, fallback). |
Not supported No messaging between workspaces; human coordinates manually. |
| Single owner task claims | Native
|
Not supported Human assigns tasks manually; duplicate starts possible. |
| Verification and separation of duties | Native Completed work enters |
Partial Review action + Diff Viewer comments, but reviewer isn't enforced as separate. |
| Task dependencies | Native (opt in)
|
Not supported No dependency concept; sequencing is manual. |
| Governance and human approval | Native Versioned policies (deny, quota, limits, |
Partial Checks tab surfaces CI/comments, but doesn't block a skipped merge. |
| Durable cross-session memory | Native (opt in)
|
Not supported Workspace chat can archive, but no cross-workspace recall. |
| Communication standardization | Native Versioned presets set tone, structure, and verbosity per role. |
Not supported Each agent talks however its own model defaults to. |
| Audit trail and replay | Native Immutable, monotonic event log; CLI NDJSON replay export. |
Partial Git history + PR comments, no export of agent/coordination events. |
| Presence and session tracking | Native Heartbeat-based presence within a configurable window. |
Partial Workspace shows running/idle; no explicit presence model. |
| Execution & review | ||
| Observability dashboard | Native Agent graph, message threads, 6-column handoff Kanban, event timeline, health metrics. |
Native Diff Viewer + Checks tab for git status, CI, deployments, comments. |
| Human to human live collaboration | Partial Shared dashboard for oversight, not live co-editing. |
Native Multiplayer: shared workspace, live presence, joint prompting (Pro+). |
| Extensibility | Native 7 opt-in feature flags + 12 versioned MCP reference resources. |
Partial 4 bundled runtimes + beta REST/MCP API, no policy system. |
| Deployment, pricing & enterprise | ||
| Deployment model | Local-first, cross platform SQLite/WAL, pip or pipx, Elastic License 2.0. |
macOS only Cloud sandboxes on Vercel microVMs. Closed source. |
| Pricing | Free today No paid tier. Not resellable as a hosted/multi tenant service. |
Free tier + paid Pro $50/mo, Teams $60/mo per user, custom Enterprise. |
| Enterprise readiness | Partial Policies, guardrails, and audit log exist; built for single tenant use. |
Partial SSO/SCIM/SLA exist, but no policy engine underneath. |
Numbers pinned to Nexus release 0.1.4 and Conductor's pricing page as of August 2026, reconfirm both before publishing.
Several agents touch the same codebase at once and need physical isolation. Conductor's worktree and diff/PR flow are built for that.
Duplicate fixes, unverified results, unapproved risk, or lost decisions start showing up. Conductor has no visibility between workspaces, only inside one.
Isolate execution with Conductor's worktrees; let Nexus own identity, verification, and approval on top. No official integration exists today.
Worktrees solve one problem: two agents can't edit the same file at once. Conductor solves that cleanly, but not what shows up once a team scales past two or three agents.
Neither could see the other already claimed it. handoff_claim's atomic claim catches it first.
Nobody independent checked it. The VERIFYING state requires a separate verifier.
A deploy or write executes with no human aware. Human-in-the-loop approval pauses it first.
Made two sessions ago, now untraceable. Durable memory and the event log keep it retrievable.
Alongside. Conductor handles where agents run and how files stay separate. Nexus handles who owns the work, who verified it, and who approved it.
Yes, on the connection side: MCP snippets cover Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and Cline. Conductor is macOS only; Nexus runs anywhere Python 3.11+ runs, including Linux and Windows.
Not quite. Conductor is closed source with a public changelog repo. Nexus is source available under the Elastic License 2.0: open to read, run, and modify, with no reselling it as a hosted service.
No, and it's not trying to. Nexus tracks identity, ownership, verification, memory, and approvals. For diff and PR review, use Conductor or your existing GitHub workflow.
Enforcement. Conductor's checks are things a human has to remember to look at; nothing blocks a skipped merge. Nexus's VERIFYING state and require_approval policies are gates the system enforces, not habits.
Nexus is free to run locally, no paid tier. Conductor: free tier, then $50/mo Pro, $60/mo per user Teams, custom Enterprise.
Free to run locally, no account required, works with the coding agent you already have.
Conductor and Melty Labs are trademarks of their owner, referenced here for comparison only. No affiliation with or endorsement by Melty Labs is implied.