Why not just use Claude Desktop or the ChatGPT app?
Turret gets described as Claude Desktop or the ChatGPT desktop app on steroids. Both of those apps now run several agents, work in your folders and run on a schedule. Each runs its own company's models. Turret runs Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and DeepSeek side by side, and lets them hand work to each other.
Every cell for the other two apps comes from that company's own pages, checked on 7 October 2026. The sources are at the foot of the page. If a cell is out of date, write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.
The table
| Question | Claude Desktop | ChatGPT desktop app | Turret |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engines | Anthropic's Claude models [A1] | OpenAI's GPT models [B1] | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and DeepSeek, picked per session |
| Several at once, working together | Several Code tab sessions in parallel, each can have its own git worktree. Claude can read your other Code tab sessions and send messages between them [A2] | Parallel chats. Codex chats run on your computer, in a worktree, or in the cloud. Subagents work in parallel inside a task [B2] | Several sessions at once. Sessions start, message and read each other, across engines. Each can have its own worktree |
| Your own folders | Code tab sessions and Cowork work in folders on your computer while the app is open [A3] | ChatGPT reads and changes files in a folder you choose. Codex chats can run on your computer [B3] | Every session works in a folder on your computer. Productivity mode puts the files and an editor beside the conversation |
| On a schedule | Code tab scheduled tasks run while the app is open and the computer is awake. Cowork scheduled tasks and routines run in Anthropic's cloud [A4] | Scheduled tasks run on your computer while the app runs, or in the cloud. Paid plans only [B4] | Automations run on your computer while Turret is running. A run missed while it was closed can catch up once. Turret schedules nothing in a cloud |
| From a phone or a chat app | Claude apps for iPhone and Android. Remote Control drives a desktop Code session from the phone. Claude Code in Slack runs in Anthropic's cloud [A5] | ChatGPT apps for iPhone and Android. A paired phone starts, steers and approves chats on your computer. @ChatGPT in Slack and Teams once an admin sets it up [B5] | Telegram and Slack start, steer and approve sessions on your desktop. Paired desktops reach each other's sessions. An Android app is coming |
| Computer use | macOS and Windows. A research preview on the Pro and Max plans [A6] | macOS and Windows, in supported regions, limited on every plan [B6] | macOS, Windows and Linux (GNOME on Wayland, or X11). Off until you switch it on |
| Platforms | macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows (x64 and Arm64), Linux in beta [A7] | macOS 14 or later, Windows from the Microsoft Store (x64 and Arm64), Linux in preview [B7] | macOS on Apple silicon, Windows x64, Linux x64. The Windows and Linux builds are unsigned |
| Price | A free plan for chat. The Code tab and Cowork need a paid plan, and computer use needs Pro or Max [A8] | A free plan, and paid plans from Go upward. Scheduled tasks and phone control need a paid plan [B8] | Free to download, with no price set yet. Each engine runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan, or an API key |
| Who makes it | Anthropic [A9] | OpenAI [B9] | One person in Australia |
| Where it's ahead of Turret | Web search, memory, Projects, Artifacts, voice and connectors. Apps in the App Store and on Google Play. Team and Enterprise plans with single sign-on and admin controls [A10] | Image generation, voice, deep research, memory, projects and custom GPTs. Apps in the App Store and on Google Play, and the Microsoft Store on Windows. Business and Enterprise plans with single sign-on and admin controls [B10] | — |
Where Turret is ahead
- Runs Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and DeepSeek in one sidebar, and lets a Claude Code session hand work to a Codex one.
- Starts and steers sessions from Telegram.
- Pairs your own desktops, so each reaches the other's sessions, over Tailscale from any network.
- Designs parts in CAD mode, and runs your own game a tick at a time in Game mode.
Where Turret is behind
- One person builds it and answers for it.
- No phone app in an app store yet.
- The Windows and Linux builds are unsigned, so Windows shows a warning the first time.
- Setup still needs a few technical steps.
Sources
Checked on 7 October 2026. The OpenAI help centre and pricing pages refused a direct fetch on that date and were read through a page-reader proxy that returns the vendor's own text.
Claude Desktop
- A1. code.claude.com/docs/en/model-config · claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/overview
- A2. code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop · claude.com/docs/cowork/overview
- A3. code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop · support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190
- A4. code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop-scheduled-tasks · support.claude.com/en/articles/13854387
- A5. code.claude.com/docs/en/platforms · code.claude.com/docs/en/remote-control · support.claude.com/en/articles/13947068
- A6. code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop · support.claude.com/en/articles/14128542
- A7. code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop · code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop-linux
- A8. claude.com/pricing · code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop · support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190
- A9. code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop-linux
- A10. claude.com/pricing · code.claude.com/docs/en/remote-control · code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop
ChatGPT desktop app
- B1. learn.chatgpt.com/docs/models
- B2. learn.chatgpt.com/docs/windows/windows-app · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/environments/git-worktrees · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/agent-configuration/subagents
- B3. learn.chatgpt.com/docs/quickstart · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/environments/modes
- B4. learn.chatgpt.com/docs/automations · chatgpt.com/pricing (read through a page-reader proxy)
- B5. learn.chatgpt.com/docs/remote-connections · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/mobile · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/third-party/slack
- B6. learn.chatgpt.com/docs/computer-use · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing
- B7. help.openai.com/en/articles/9395554 (read through a page-reader proxy) · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/enterprise/windows-deployment · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/linux/linux-app
- B8. chatgpt.com/pricing (read through a page-reader proxy) · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing
- B9. help.openai.com/en/articles/20001276 (read through a page-reader proxy)
- B10. chatgpt.com/pricing (read through a page-reader proxy) · learn.chatgpt.com/docs/remote-connections
Not verified on 7 October 2026
- Whether the ChatGPT desktop app can run another company's hosted models. Its config file accepts custom model providers, but no page says the app runs them, so the Engines cell leaves it out.
- Whether one ChatGPT chat can message another the user started. No page describes it, so the cell leaves it out.
- The minimum Windows version for the ChatGPT app.
- Anthropic's pages disagree on where Cowork runs: the help centre says the cloud, and the organisation overview describes a local virtual machine. The cell names only the scheduled tasks, which the help centre says run in the cloud, and that page changed on the day it was checked.