termdeck
Dispatch lives in the Cowork tab of the Claude Desktop app. It is one persistent conversation that you can message from the Claude mobile app, and the work happens on your desktop computer, with your local files, connectors, plugins and apps. You do not pick a tool: Claude decides. Research, documents and spreadsheets stay in Cowork, while fixing a bug, running tests or opening a pull request becomes a Claude Code session in the Desktop app's Code tab, marked with a Dispatch badge, with a push to your phone when it finishes or needs approval. The computer has to stay awake with the app open, and there is a single thread you cannot split. Anthropic's help center calls it a limited beta for some Pro and Max plans, not available on Team or Enterprise, and now closed to new users while existing users keep it.
Comparison
Claude Dispatch vs Remote Control, and where Termdeck fits.
Dispatch hands a new task from your phone to Claude on your desktop. Remote Control lets you steer a Claude Code session that is already running. Termdeck is a browser board for every coding session on every machine you connect.
Context
What Claude Dispatch is
Context
What Claude Code Remote Control is
Remote Control connects claude.ai/code or the Claude app for iOS and Android to a Claude Code session running on your machine. You switch it on per session with /remote-control (or /rc), start a session with claude --remote-control, or run claude remote-control as a server that hosts several sessions; the Desktop app and the VS Code extension take the slash command too, and a /config setting turns it on for every session. Your machine makes outbound HTTPS requests only, execution stays local, and while it is connected the transcript is stored on Anthropic servers. It needs a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise login through claude.ai; API keys are not supported, and on Team and Enterprise an Owner has to enable it first.
Anthropic's own one-line split: Dispatch is for delegating work while you are away, Remote Control is for steering work in progress from another device.
Side by side
Dispatch vs Remote Control vs Termdeck
| Feature | Dispatch | Remote Control | Termdeck |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Delegating a new task while you are away | Steering a session already in progress | Starting and continuing coding chats on any connected machine |
| What runs the work | Cowork, or a Claude Code session it spawns in Claude Desktop | Your Claude Code CLI, Desktop Code tab or VS Code session | Claude Code, Codex or Grok CLI, engine picked per chat |
| Where you drive it | Claude mobile app, synced with the Desktop app | claude.ai/code and the Claude iOS and Android app | Any browser, plus an installable phone app (PWA) |
| How you turn it on | Pair the mobile app with Desktop from the Cowork side panel | /remote-control, claude --remote-control, claude remote-control, or the auto-connect setting | Install the agent once per machine; nothing per session |
| Conversations | One continuous thread; no way to start or manage more | One remote session per interactive process; server mode hosts up to 32 by default | Every session on every connected machine, terminal-started ones included |
| Approve from your phone | Push when a spawned Code session finishes or needs approval | Push for permission prompts and finishes, set in /config | Web Push that deep-links into the waiting chat |
| Computer state | Awake, with the Desktop app open | On; reconnects by itself after sleep or a network drop | On, with the agent connected (green dot on the machine) |
| Where the transcript lives | Not documented by Anthropic for Dispatch | Stored on Anthropic servers while connected; execution stays local | Read from the CLI's own session files; the master stores chat titles, not transcripts |
| Plans | Some Pro and Max plans, limited beta; not open to new users; not on Team or Enterprise | Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise via claude.ai login; API keys not supported | 14-day free trial, then Starter $9.99/mo or Pro $19.99/mo |
| Platforms | Desktop on macOS, Windows x64, Linux beta (no computer use on Linux) | Wherever Claude Code runs against api.anthropic.com | Agents on macOS, Linux and Windows |
Checked 10 October 2026 against Anthropic's Dispatch help article, the Claude Code Desktop docs and the Remote Control docs. Both Anthropic features change often; tell us if a row is out of date.
Straight answer
Where Dispatch and Remote Control win
Dispatch does things Termdeck does not try to do: it reaches past code into your documents, spreadsheets, connected services such as Slack or Google Drive, and with computer use, the apps on your screen, and it chooses on its own whether a request is a Cowork task or a Claude Code session. Remote Control is the most direct way to pick up one Claude Code session on your phone: a single command, a QR code, the native Claude app with real push, and no third-party software in the path. Both come with the Claude plan you already pay for. If one of those is the whole job, you do not need Termdeck.
The delta
Where Termdeck fits
Every session, nothing to switch on
Dispatch sees its own thread and the sessions it spawned; Remote Control sees the sessions you turned it on for. Termdeck reads the session files each CLI writes on your machines, so chats started in a bare terminal show up next to the ones started in the browser, and either side can resume them.
Three engines, one board
Both Anthropic features end at Claude. Termdeck drives Claude Code, OpenAI Codex and xAI Grok through one sidebar, one transcript view and one approvals surface, with the engine picked per chat.
New work and running work, many machines
Dispatch starts work on one desktop; Remote Control continues it. Termdeck does both from the same screen: pick a machine, a folder and an engine for a new chat, or open one that is already running, on any machine with the agent installed. Several Claude or ChatGPT logins per machine, switchable mid chat when one hits its limit.
Questions
Dispatch vs Remote Control, answered
What is Claude Dispatch?
Dispatch is a feature of Claude Cowork in the Claude Desktop app. It gives you one persistent conversation with Claude that you can message from the Claude mobile app, while the work runs on your desktop computer with your local files, connectors, plugins and apps. Development tasks can become Claude Code sessions in the Desktop app's Code tab.
What is the difference between Claude Dispatch and Remote Control?
Dispatch starts new work: you message a task from your phone and Claude decides how to handle it on your desktop, spawning a Claude Code session when the task is development work. Remote Control continues work that already exists: it connects a running Claude Code session on your machine to claude.ai/code or the Claude app so you can steer it from another device.
Does Claude Dispatch work when your computer is off?
No. Dispatch runs tasks on your desktop, so the computer has to be awake and the Claude Desktop app open while Claude works. Anthropic's help center points to a cloud session instead if you want Claude to keep working while the computer is off.
Which Claude plans include Dispatch?
Pro and Max only. Anthropic's Claude Code docs say Dispatch is not available on Team or Enterprise plans, and the help center calls it a limited beta that only some Pro and Max plans have. The help center also says Dispatch is not available to new users; existing users can keep using it for now.
How do you start Claude Code Remote Control?
Run claude remote-control for server mode, claude --remote-control to open an interactive session that is also reachable remotely, or type /remote-control inside a session that is already running. The Desktop app's Code tab and the VS Code extension take /remote-control too. You then open the session at claude.ai/code or in the Claude app, or scan the QR code.
Can Termdeck replace Dispatch or Remote Control?
For coding sessions, it covers the same ground from a different angle: it starts new chats and continues existing ones on any connected machine, from a browser or an installed phone app, for Claude Code, Codex and Grok. It does not do Cowork's knowledge work, connectors or computer use, so for those Dispatch remains the tool.
Keep reading
Related
Claude Code Remote Control alternative
Remote Control on its own, row by row against Termdeck, with what each one does better.
Termdeck vs Happy Coder
The open-source phone client for Claude Code and Codex, and how it differs from a fleet board.
Mobile and notifications in Termdeck
Installing Termdeck as a phone app, turning on push, and approving a waiting tool call from the lock screen.
Also see Run Claude Code from your phone and all comparisons.