MXterm vs Gas Town: a multi-agent command-line system or a desktop workspace

What Gas Town says it is

Gas Town's README describes it as a "Multi-agent orchestration system for Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and other AI agents with persistent work tracking" (github.com/gastownhall/gastown, read 28 October 2026). It describes a workspace manager built from Towns, Rigs, a Mayor coordinator, workers, hooks and a work ledger called Beads.

On worktrees, the README says of its hooks: "Git worktree-based persistent storage for agent work. Survives crashes and restarts." (github.com/gastownhall/gastown, read 28 October 2026.) That sentence describes hooks, so this page does not read it as a statement about every Gas Town task.

The installation guide documents Homebrew on macOS, native Go installs on Linux and Windows, and Docker Compose. Go is needed for the native installs, not Homebrew or Docker. The guide lists Git, Dolt and Beads as requirements; the README requires tmux 3.0+ for gt up and tmux-backed roles, but says minimal mode can omit tmux (github.com/gastownhall/gastown/blob/main/docs/INSTALLING.md and the README, read 28 October 2026). For Windows, the README says: "For full tmux-backed workflows on Windows, use WSL or another Linux environment" and "Native Windows shells are best treated as minimal CLI-only environments." (github.com/gastownhall/gastown, README, read 28 October 2026.)

What MXterm is

MXterm Pro is a native desktop app for macOS and Windows that puts your real terminals, your AI coding agents and your SSH servers in one workspace. It runs the CLIs you install, such as Claude Code and Codex. Each agent can work on its own branch in its own worktree. For a walkthrough, see running Claude Code in MXterm and isolating AI agents with git worktrees.

Side by side

On the licence row: MXterm's own licence terms are on its pages and are not covered here; this page makes no claim about them. The two columns describe different things, so they are not feature-for-feature. A blank or short cell in one column does not mean the other tool lacks the thing; it means that page of that tool was not read for it.

Stay with Gas Town if

• You want a command-line system for coordinating coding agents with persistent work tracking, as its README describes.
• You want a Mayor coordinator, workers and a Beads work ledger, as its README describes.
• You are comfortable with its listed requirements, including Git, Dolt and Beads, plus tmux for gt up and tmux-backed roles.
• You work on macOS or Linux, or on Windows through WSL, as its guide describes.
• You want an MIT-licensed project, as its LICENSE file states.

Choose MXterm if

• You want a native desktop app with real terminal panes, and a plain shell in a split pane beside an agent.
• You want SSH hosts and an SFTP panel in the same window as your agents.
• You want, for Claude Code and Codex, to see which agent is working, waiting or done, and to answer their questions from a card on your desktop.
• You want agents in one room: in the Control Room they message each other and you are the Moderator. Messages wait while you type.
• You use Windows without WSL (Windows support is new).

To try MXterm, use the download page. To compare with another tool, see MXterm vs Agent Deck and MXterm vs cmux.