termdeck
Remote-SSH is Microsoft's way to use VS Code on a machine you reach over SSH. It installs VS Code Server on the remote host, and extensions run there, next to the code, so the window on your laptop behaves as if the project were local. Remote Tunnels do the same without SSH: the remote machine and your client sign in with the same GitHub or Microsoft account, and you can open the machine in any browser at vscode.dev. Claude Code comes to VS Code as Anthropic's extension, which needs VS Code 1.94.0 or later and a paid Claude plan or a Console account, and shares its conversation history with the CLI.
Comparison
Termdeck vs VS Code Remote-SSH: the editor or the agents.
VS Code Remote-SSH and Remote Tunnels put your whole editor on a remote machine, one window per box. Termdeck puts every Claude Code, Codex and Grok session on every machine you connect into one browser tab, and onto your phone.
Context
What VS Code Remote is
Side by side
VS Code Remote vs Termdeck, feature by feature
| VS Code Remote | Termdeck | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | The full editor, running against the remote machine | A control surface for coding agents, not an editor |
| How it connects | SSH from your VS Code client, or a tunnel signed in with GitHub or Microsoft | An agent on each machine dials out; it listens for nothing |
| In a browser | Yes, through a tunnel at vscode.dev | Yes, at termdeck.io |
| On a phone | vscode.dev on a tablet, with browser limitations | Installable app built for a phone, with push |
| Agent CLIs | Whatever you run in its terminal or extensions | Claude Code, Codex, and Grok; engine picked per chat |
| Machines at once | One remote per window; tunnels cap at 10 per account | Every connected machine in one sidebar |
| Edit and debug code | Yes, the whole editor and debugger | No; a read-only file explorer and rendered diffs |
| Price | Microsoft's docs list no price for Remote-SSH or tunnels | 14-day free trial, then $9.99/mo |
Verified 29 September 2026 against Microsoft's Remote-SSH, Remote Tunnels and VS Code Server docs and Anthropic's Claude Code for VS Code page. Anthropic's page does not document the extension over Remote-SSH or tunnels, so no row claims it either way, and a notifications row is absent because the VS Code Remote docs do not cover alerting you when an agent is blocked. Tell us if a row is out of date.
Straight answer
Where VS Code Remote wins
If you are sitting at a keyboard and want to write the code yourself, VS Code Remote is the better tool, and it is not close. You get the whole editor on the remote machine: search, refactoring, the debugger, your extensions, a terminal, and Anthropic's Claude Code panel with inline diffs next to the file you are changing. It runs on Linux, macOS and Windows hosts, and tunnels reach a machine with no SSH setup at all. If your day is one project on one box and you drive the agent from the editor, pick VS Code Remote, and Termdeck adds little you need.
The delta
Where Termdeck wins
Built for away from the desk
An editor on a phone is still an editor on a phone. Termdeck is the agent's conversation, sized for a small screen: read the transcript, allow or deny a tool call, send the next prompt, and get a push notification the moment a run is waiting on you.
Every machine, one tab
A Remote window is one machine. Termdeck lists every session on every connected machine in one sidebar, the laptop, the desktop and the build server together, with an Approvals page that gathers every waiting request across all of them.
Three engines, no editor setup
Claude Code, OpenAI Codex and xAI Grok run in the same transcript view with the same approval cards, picked per chat. Nothing to install on the device in your hand, and once a project folder is added, the sessions you started in a terminal there show up too.
Questions
Termdeck vs VS Code Remote, answered
Can I run Claude Code on a remote server from VS Code?
Remote-SSH installs VS Code Server on the remote machine and runs your workspace there, so a terminal in that window runs the claude CLI on the server. Anthropic's VS Code extension page does not document Remote-SSH or tunnels as of 29 September 2026, so check it on your setup before you rely on the extension panel over a remote connection.
What is the difference between Remote-SSH and Remote Tunnels?
Remote-SSH connects your local VS Code to a host over SSH. Remote Tunnels need no SSH setup: both ends sign in with the same GitHub or Microsoft account, and you can open the machine in a browser at vscode.dev. Microsoft's docs allow 10 registered tunnels per account.
Can I use VS Code Remote from a phone or tablet?
Through a tunnel, yes: Microsoft names an iPad, a tablet and a Chromebook as places to use vscode.dev, with limitations in the browser. It is still a full editor on a small screen. Termdeck is sized for a phone and pushes when an agent needs you.
Do I have to choose one?
No. Termdeck reads the same Claude Code session files the CLI and the extension share, so you can edit and debug in VS Code at the desk and watch, approve and continue the same agents from Termdeck when you are away from it.
Keep reading
Related
Termdeck vs tmux
The terminal route to a remote agent: what a multiplexer keeps alive, and what it cannot show you.
Manage Claude Code on multiple machines
The laptop, the desktop and the build server in one sidebar, set up one machine at a time.
Claude Code web UI alternatives
Seven ways to run Claude Code from a browser, the IDE route among them, compared side by side.