Warp

What is Warp?

Warp is an AI-native terminal and "agentic development environment" — not a CLI tool you run inside your existing terminal, but a full terminal application that replaces it, built in Rust for macOS, Linux and Windows. Founded in June 2020 by Zach Lloyd (formerly a principal engineer leading Google Sheets), Warp raised $73M through a 2023 Series B led by Sequoia Capital before pivoting hard into agentic coding. In April 2026 it open-sourced its terminal client under a dual AGPL-3.0/MIT license, with OpenAI signed on as the founding sponsor of the GitHub repository — the repo passed 63.6k stars within months of that release; Oz, the cloud-agent orchestration platform that actually runs and coordinates agent work, was not part of that release and remains closed-source. Its core differentiator versus every other terminal-native agent in this index: Warp doesn't just run its own Warp Agent, it orchestrates other vendors' coding agents — including Claude Code and Codex — side by side inside the same terminal window.

What does Warp do?

Warp's Agent Mode runs multi-step coding plans directly in your shell, translating natural-language requests into commands, edits and test runs you can watch and interrupt. Warp Drive gives a team shared context — saved commands, workflows and notebooks both humans and agents can draw on — and codebase indexing lets the agent reason over a full repository rather than one file at a time. Beyond its own Warp Agent, the terminal can host and coordinate other vendors' coding agents (Claude Code, Codex) in the same session, and its cloud layer, Oz, runs agents asynchronously in the background — including a documented HTTP API with official Python and TypeScript SDKs so a team can trigger and monitor cloud agent runs programmatically, or wire agents to fire from Slack or Linear instead of the terminal itself. Usage on paid tiers is metered in credits pegged to underlying model API rates rather than a flat per-seat fee, and the product supports bringing your own inference across OpenAI, Anthropic, z.ai and other providers rather than locking you to one vendor's models.

How Warp works

1. 1Warp replaces your terminal application, running as a full Rust-built app for macOS, Linux or Windows.
2. 2Agent Mode translates a natural-language request into commands, edits and test runs you can watch and interrupt directly in the shell.
3. 3It hosts and coordinates other vendors' coding agents, including Claude Code and Codex, alongside its own Warp Agent, drawing on codebase indexing and shared Warp Drive context.
4. 4Oz, its cloud layer, runs agents asynchronously in the background, reachable through a documented HTTP API and Python/TypeScript SDKs or triggers from Slack and Linear.

Who is Warp for?

• Developers who already use multiple coding agents, like Claude Code and Codex, and want to run them side by side in one terminal instead of switching applications
• Engineering teams that want SSO, spend caps and shared team context via Warp Drive governing everyone's agent usage
• Teams that want to trigger and monitor cloud agent runs programmatically or from Slack and Linear, via Oz's documented API and SDKs, rather than working only interactively

Key features

• Multi-agent orchestration: Runs Claude Code, Codex and Warp's own Warp Agent side by side in the same terminal, instead of locking you into one vendor's CLI agent.
• Agent Mode: Executes multi-step coding plans directly in the shell — natural-language requests become commands, edits and test runs you watch and can interrupt.
• Oz cloud agents + API/SDKs: Runs agents asynchronously in the cloud with a documented HTTP API and official Python/TypeScript SDKs for triggering and monitoring runs programmatically, plus Slack/Linear triggers.
• Warp Drive: Shared team context — saved commands, workflows and notebooks both humans and agents can draw on across a team.
• Codebase indexing: Indexes a full repository so the agent reasons over the whole codebase rather than one open file, with indexing limits that scale by plan tier.
• Open-source client: The terminal client is dual-licensed AGPL-3.0/MIT since April 2026, with OpenAI as the GitHub repo's founding sponsor — Oz, the cloud-agent orchestration platform, is not part of the open-source release.

What are Warp's use cases?

• Running multiple coding agents side by side: A developer who already uses Claude Code and Codex separately consolidates both into one terminal window instead of switching applications.
• Team-wide agent governance: An engineering team standardizes on Warp Business/Enterprise for SSO, spend caps and shared Warp Drive context across everyone's agent usage.
• Triggering agents outside the terminal: A team wires the Oz API into Slack or Linear so a ticket or message can kick off a cloud agent run without anyone opening a terminal at all.

What does Warp integrate with?

• Claude Code and Codex (orchestrated inside Warp)
• Slack and Linear (trigger agents outside the terminal)
• Oz HTTP API with Python and TypeScript SDKs
• Docker (one-click Warpified subshells for containers)
• MCP servers (client — the Oz CLI takes server config by UUID, inline JSON or file path, reaching tools like GitHub, Linear, Sentry and Notion)

Why use Warp?

• The only listing in this category that orchestrates OTHER vendors' coding agents (Claude Code, Codex) inside itself, rather than being a single-vendor CLI tool.
• Its terminal client is genuinely open source since April 2026 (dual AGPL-3.0/MIT), with 63.6k GitHub stars and OpenAI as the repo's founding sponsor — Oz, the cloud-agent platform, stays closed-source.
• A real, documented API and official SDKs (Python, TypeScript) for triggering and monitoring cloud agent runs programmatically — not just an interactive CLI.
• Model-agnostic paid tiers spanning OpenAI, Anthropic and z.ai, so switching model vendors doesn't mean switching tools.

Pros & cons

Warp pricing

Free — Build $20/mo — Max $200/mo — Business $50/seat/mo — Enterprise custom

• FreeFree / month
• Build$20 / month ($18/mo annual)
• Max$200 / month ($180/mo annual)
• Business$50 / user/month ($45/mo annual)
• EnterpriseCustom

See current pricing on warp.dev ↗Compare Warp alternatives →

Warp review

Warp is the one listing in this category that isn't really competing with Claude Code or Codex CLI so much as hosting them: it's a full terminal replacement whose headline capability is running multiple vendors' coding agents side by side in one place, with team-wide context (Warp Drive), a real API for triggering cloud agent runs programmatically (Oz), and — since April 2026 — a genuinely open-source client backed by 63.6k GitHub stars and OpenAI as founding sponsor. The tradeoff is scope: adopting Warp means switching your terminal application, not just adding a CLI tool, and its paid tiers are metered in credits that can climb fast under heavy daily use — the $200/month Max tier exists precisely because Build's 1,500 credits run out for power users. Pick Warp if you want one AI-native home for every coding agent you use and are willing to make it your default terminal; stick with a standalone CLI agent if you'd rather keep your current terminal untouched.

The one coding agent here that orchestrates the others — Claude Code and Codex run side by side inside it, its terminal client open source since April 2026.

Frequently asked questions