Docs · Comparison
magpie, CC Switch and Claude Code Router compared
magpie, CC Switch and Claude Code Router (CCR) all help you run AI coding agents on the providers and models you choose. They overlap, and each is good at something. This page puts them side by side, using each project’s own README for the other two and magpie’s source for magpie.
CC Switch
A desktop app (Tauri 2) that manages twelve tools, from Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI to OpenCode, OpenClaw, Hermes, Pi and Kimi Code. It switches a tool’s provider by writing only the key fields of its config, backing it up first, and keeps MCP servers, skills and prompts for every tool in one place. An optional local routing mode converts API formats and fails over through a queue. It ships over 90 provider presets.
Claude Code Router
A local model gateway and control plane at 127.0.0.1:3456. Agents such as Claude Code, Codex, Kimi CLI, Kilo Code, OpenCode and Pi get one stable endpoint through an agent profile, and routing rules decide where each request goes: conditions on headers and bodies, rewrites, retries, credential pools and ordered fallbacks. It adds tools to models (vision, web search, MCP, browser automation) and logs every request with its cost. Desktop app, npm CLI with a web UI, or Docker.
magpie
A menu bar (tray) app with a window, a TUI and a CLI. It points each agent at a local gateway at 127.0.0.1:3425 that speaks OpenAI Chat Completions, OpenAI Responses, Anthropic Messages and Gemini and translates between them, so any agent can use any model, including a Claude, ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot or Gemini sign-in. Several keys and sign-ins can stand behind one model, with failover before the agent sees an error.
Side by side
| magpie | CC Switch as of its README, Nov 2026 | Claude Code Router as of its README, Nov 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agents | Over 20, among them Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Pi, Goose, Crush, GitHub Copilot CLI, VS Code, Kimi Code, Hermes Agent and Snow CLI | 12: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Gemini CLI, Grok Build, OpenCode, OpenClaw, Hermes, Pi, MiniMax Code, Kimi Code, Oh My Pi | Claude Code, Claude Design, Codex, Grok CLI, Kimi CLI, Kilo Code, OpenCode, Pi, ZCode, WorkBuddy, and compatible API clients |
| How it switches | Edits the one setting it changes in each agent’s config and points the agent at its local gateway | Direct: rewrites the key fields of the tool’s config. Routing (optional): a local proxy, default port 15721 | Local gateway; an agent profile connects the agent to it |
| Protocol translation | OpenAI Chat Completions, OpenAI Responses, Anthropic Messages and Gemini, both directions | In Routing mode, for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Grok Build | Providers in OpenAI Chat / Responses, Anthropic Messages or Gemini format behind one endpoint |
| Subscription sign-ins | Claude Pro/Max, ChatGPT Plus/Pro, GitHub Copilot, Gemini Code Assist, Antigravity | Accounts (Beta): GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, xAI (Grok), Kimi Code | Not stated (providers can import a local login where supported) |
| Routing and failover | Several keys and sign-ins behind one model; picks by intent, order, round robin, least used or quota; rests rate-limited accounts and fails over | Failover queue per tool with a circuit breaker (Routing mode); Aggregation puts several providers’ models in one list | Conditions on headers and bodies, prefixes, rewrites, retries, credential pools, key rotation, ordered fallback models |
| GUI and CLI | Menu bar / tray app with a window, TUI, CLI; Docker | Desktop app with a tray menu; CLI not stated | Desktop app; npm CLI with a browser UI; Docker |
| Platforms | macOS (signed and notarised), Windows, Linux | Windows 10+, macOS 12+ (signed and notarized), Linux (glibc 2.35+, WebKitGTK 4.1) | Windows, Linux (AppImage), macOS (Apple Silicon, Intel); signing not stated |
| License | MIT | MIT | MIT |
The CC Switch and Claude Code Router columns say only what their READMEs said in November 2026; where a README doesn’t say, the cell says “not stated”. Both projects move quickly, so check their pages for what has changed since.
Which one fits
- CC Switch fits when you mostly switch each tool between providers by hand and want its config left close to how you wrote it, with MCP servers, skills and prompts managed for every tool from one app. Its provider presets are the largest of the three, and it reaches tools the others don’t list, such as Claude Desktop, OpenClaw and Oh My Pi.
- Claude Code Router fits when you want a gateway you can program: rules on headers and bodies, request rewrites, credential pools, client keys with their own quotas, and a log of every request with its cost. It also adds tools such as web search and browser automation to models that lack them, and runs headless from npm or Docker.
- magpie fits when you use several agents and want each on a different model, Codex on DeepSeek and Claude Code on Kimi, say, or a Claude or ChatGPT subscription in another agent. Every agent goes through one translating gateway, and one model can be served by several accounts that take turns and fail over.
They can sit side by side. magpie’s gateway is an OpenAI-, Anthropic- and Gemini-compatible endpoint, so a tool that takes a custom base URL can use it as a provider.
FAQ
What is a CC Switch alternative?
magpie and Claude Code Router both cover part of what CC Switch does. magpie switches the model of each agent and runs every agent through one translating gateway with subscription sign-ins and failover; Claude Code Router is a programmable local gateway with routing rules and request logs.
What is a claude-code-router alternative?
CC Switch, if you mostly want to switch each tool’s provider and keep its config as written; magpie, if you want a translating gateway for many agents with Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini sign-ins and accounts that fail over.
CC Switch vs claude-code-router: what is the difference?
By their READMEs, CC Switch is a desktop manager that rewrites each tool’s config and offers an optional local routing proxy, while Claude Code Router is a local gateway at 127.0.0.1:3456 that agents connect to through profiles and that routes each request by rules.
Does magpie rewrite my agent’s config like CC Switch?
It edits only the one setting it changes in each agent’s config file, keeping comments and order, and points the agent at its gateway at 127.0.0.1:3425. Picking the agent’s own model again puts the old value back.
Is magpie a proxy like claude-code-router?
Yes, magpie runs a local gateway too. It speaks OpenAI Chat Completions, OpenAI Responses, Anthropic Messages and Gemini and translates between them, so Codex, which speaks only Responses, and Claude Code, which speaks only Messages, can use any provider’s model.
Are all three free and open source?
Yes. magpie, CC Switch and Claude Code Router are each released under the MIT license.
Guides: Models in Claude Code, Models in Codex, Subscriptions in any agent. Ask on Discord if you get stuck.