Claude Code terminal vs Claude Code on the web

Q: Can I use the terminal and the web together?

Yes, and they are designed for it. From the terminal, claude --cloud starts a cloud session for the current repository, and claude --teleport pulls a cloud session back down to your machine with its branch and conversation history.

Short answer: Same AI, different computer. Claude Code on the web copies your repository into a machine Anthropic runs, works there, and hands the result back as a branch or a pull request. It needs your project to be on GitHub. The terminal works on the actual files sitting on your own disk, whatever they are and wherever they came from.

Terminal, with Launchpad

Best for: the files you already have, on the machine you already use

github.com/noambrand/launchpad-cli

Claude Code on the web

Best for: GitHub repositories, long jobs, and starting work from your phone

Anthropic docs: Claude Code on the web

Not the chat window. A different thing entirely.

First, the confusion worth clearing up, because almost every comparison online gets this wrong. Claude Code on the web is not the Claude chat window. It is not the place where you upload a file and copy the answer back out. It is the real Claude Code, running properly, reading a whole project, editing files, running tests, checking its own work. It just does all of that on a computer that is not yours.

When you start a task at claude.ai/code, Anthropic spins up a virtual machine, clones your repository into it, and lets Claude work in there. You watch through the browser. You can close the laptop and it carries on. When it finishes, the work exists as a branch, or a pull request, sitting on GitHub. It does not exist on your computer until you go and fetch it.

That single fact is the whole comparison. Everything else follows from it.

The price of admission is GitHub

To clone your project and to open a pull request at the end, a cloud session needs your code on GitHub. Anthropic is direct about this in its own documentation.

“Repository cloning and pull request creation require GitHub.”

Anthropic's documentation, Claude Code on the web, Limitations.

There is a fallback. If the folder is not connected to GitHub, Claude Code can bundle up your local repository and upload it. But that session cannot push anything back to a remote, and the folder still has to be a git repository with at least one commit. Files you never added to git are not uploaded at all.

So for a developer with a repository already on GitHub, none of this is friction. For everyone else it is a wall. A folder of Word documents is not a repository. A spreadsheet model is not a repository. A website sitting on your desktop that you have never committed anywhere is not a repository. There is simply nothing for a cloud session to clone.

Worth saying plainly

If you are looking for the version of Claude Code that does not require developer knowledge, the web version is not it. It removes the terminal and replaces it with git, GitHub, branches and pull requests. That is a swap, not a saving.

Side-by-side

Criterion	Terminal (with Launchpad)	Claude Code on the web
The AI itself	The official Claude Code	Exactly the same
Where the work happens	Your own computer	A virtual machine run by Anthropic
Opens and edits the files on your PC	✓	✕works on a copy in the cloud
Needs a GitHub account	✕	✓for cloning and pull requests
Needs the folder to be a git repository	✕any folder will do	✓with at least one commit
Works on things that are not code	✓documents, spreadsheets, any folder	✕
Can reach your local database, apps or network	✓	✕network limited by default
Carries on after you close the laptop	✕your machine has to stay on	✓
Start or check a job from your phone	✕	✓
How you get the result	Already on your disk	A branch or pull request you fetch
Several projects at once	A tab for each	Sessions run in parallel
Carries on after the 5 hour limit	✓if you switch it on	✕shares the same account limits
Plugins and the full command set	✓	✕terminal-only commands are missing
Availability	Generally available	Research preview, Pro, Max and Team
What you need	A paid Claude plan	A paid Claude plan and GitHub
Cost of this tool	Free, open source	Free, from Anthropic

They are better together than apart

This is not a choice you have to make once. The two surfaces are built to hand work to each other, and both directions are one command.

Send a job upclaude --cloud "fix the failing tests" starts a cloud session for the repository you are standing in, and you carry on working locally.
Pull a session downclaude --teleport brings a cloud session onto your machine, with its branch checked out and the whole conversation intact.
Steer it from anywhereSend a follow-up to a running cloud session from any machine you are signed in on, or from the Claude mobile app.

The sensible pattern for most people: think and set up locally, push the long grinding job to the cloud, pull it back when you want to look at it properly.

What the launcher adds

Auto-continueWaits out the 5 hour limit, then resumes. Off by default.
Voice alertsA sound when it needs a decision, another when it is done.
Profiles per projectFolder, model, flags and env saved as one click.
Live usage barModel, context, session and weekly limits with countdowns.
A tab per projectOne window, each tab named after its folder.
Sets itself upOne installer puts everything in place. Nothing to configure.

Free, open source, and it runs Anthropic's official Claude Code unmodified.

Frequently asked

Does Claude Code on the web edit the files on my computer?

No. It clones your repository into a virtual machine managed by Anthropic and works on that copy. The result comes back as a branch or a pull request, which you then pull down yourself. The one that does work on your own files behind a graphical interface is the desktop app: terminal vs Claude Code Desktop.

Do I need a GitHub account to use Claude Code on the web?

For normal use, yes. Anthropic's documentation states that repository cloning and pull request creation require GitHub. A local repository can be uploaded as a bundle instead, but that session cannot push its results back to a remote.

Isn't the web version easier for someone who is not a developer?

It removes the terminal but adds git and GitHub. The folder has to be a git repository with at least one commit, and the finished work arrives as a branch you have to fetch. For a first-time user that is a higher wall, not a lower one. If it is the terminal itself you want gone, the honest options are Claude Cowork and Claude Code Desktop.

Can I use the terminal and the web together?

Yes, and they are designed for it. From the terminal, claude --cloud starts a cloud session for the current repository, and claude --teleport pulls a cloud session back down to your machine with its branch and conversation history.

What if my project is not code at all?

Then the web version is not for you. A folder of Word documents, a spreadsheet model, or a website sitting on your desktop is not a git repository, so there is nothing for a cloud session to clone. The terminal opens any folder. Cowork is the other surface built for work that is not code: terminal vs Claude Cowork.

Is my code safe in a cloud session?

Each session runs in its own isolated virtual machine, network access is limited by default, and git credentials and signing keys are kept outside the sandbox. Anthropic sets out the details in its security documentation.

Get it

Download for Windows All download options

vs Claude chat vs Claude Code Desktop vs Claude Cowork vs the VS Code extension Claude Code alone vs with Launchpad Launchpad vs Kivun (RTL)

Every claim about the web version comes from Anthropic's documentation: Claude Code on the web and Get started. The GitHub requirement, the bundle fallback and its 100 MB ceiling, the research preview status, the shared rate limits and the isolated virtual machines are all stated there.