COMPARE
Your laptop keeps the setup close. Hosted platforms hand operation to a provider. Aether moves agent runs to a Linux server you operate, where your whole team can watch and steer them. Choose the responsibilities you want to keep.
TRADEOFFS
Here, “your laptop” means an agent running locally. Hosted platforms are a category, not one product: check a provider's current documentation before choosing.
On narrow screens, each row stacks the three options, Aether last.
| What changes | Your laptop | Hosted platforms | Aether |
|---|---|---|---|
| Execution host | Your computer runs the agent. | Provider-operated compute. Available environments vary. | A Linux server you operate runs the agent in Docker. |
| Laptop sleep | Local execution pauses when the computer sleeps. | Remote execution need not depend on your laptop. Session limits vary. | Disconnect without stopping the run. Your server must stay on. |
| Agent choice | Use agents that support your local environment. | Agent and model choices depend on the provider. | Claude Code, Codex and many more agent CLIs, or a custom agent of your own, chosen per run. Aether installs one when you ask and you log in on the server. |
| Working together | Git and collaboration tools you choose. | Live access, permissions and review workflows vary. | Everyone on the server can watch any live run. One person controls it at a time and a teammate can ask to take over. Viewer, collaborator and admin roles set who may steer. |
| Environment / isolation | Your local environment, plus any sandbox you configure. | Sandbox boundaries and configuration vary by provider. | A container and git worktree per run, plus its own headless browser once opened. The container is the boundary; agents run as root by default. |
| Returned code | Already in your local checkout; review and commit with your tools. | Branches, pull requests and export options vary. | Every run ends as a branch. Push it and open a pull request from the app, or pull it into your clone; neither merges it into your base branch. |
| Accounts / credentials / data | Local credentials and the data policies of your chosen agent and model provider. | Account requirements, credential handling and data retention vary. Check the provider's terms. | Credentials live in server-side member homes mounted into runs. Agent providers still receive the data their CLIs send. Optional edge details below. |
| Operator / cost | You maintain the computer and pay your chosen agent or model provider. | The provider operates the service. Plans, limits and included model usage vary. | You maintain the server, Docker, updates and backups, and cover compute plus agent or model costs. |
ACCOUNT SHARING
A run on a shared account belongs to the launcher and runs in the launcher's environment. The owner's account supplies the agent's login file, read-write, plus quota and cost attribution. One agent CLI is an exception and shares the owner's whole agent directory; the security guide names it. Revoking a share blocks future launches and reopens, not runs already using it, and does not recall a login the run copied. Read the security boundary.
EDGE METADATA
The optional publisher-operated edge stores identity and connection metadata, but cannot read end-to-end encrypted session content. That is not the same as no data reaching the publisher. Read docs/privacy.md.
HOSTING
There is no hosted Aether workspace. The optional edge is available today as a sign-in and relay service; your server still runs the agents. Read about the edge.
FIT
LOCAL
HOSTED
SELF-HOSTED