Ralph Workflow vs Claude Code: A Practical Breakdown

Claude Code is Anthropic's official CLI for agentic coding. Ralph Workflow is the free open-source workflow layer that runs on top of Claude Code (and Codex and OpenCode) to make unattended coding runs actually finish with something you can review.

They are not the same product. Here is how they compare in practice.

At a Glance

| Ralph Workflow | Claude Code
What it is | Operating system for autonomous coding: free open-source composable loop framework and AI orchestrator | Anthropic's official CLI for agentic coding
License | AGPL (source) / CC0 (outputs) | Included with Claude subscription
Setup | TOML config files, no cloud required | Varies
Vendor lock-in | None — own your config | Yes
Primary use case | Unattended runs across multiple agents and task phases | Interactive single-agent coding sessions

Key Differences

Claude Code is excellent for interactive, single-agent coding sessions where you are driving the session directly. Ralph Workflow is built for a different use case: running coding work unattended, across multiple agents and task phases, and ending with finished, tested code you can actually review.

Ralph Workflow is the better choice when you want:

A simple loop core that composes into planning, development, verification, and follow-up stages

A strong default workflow you can use as-is without configuration

Cost control via model routing — cheap models where sufficient, expensive ones only where needed

A workflow you own and can extend without replacing the core

Claude Code is the better choice when you want:

Anthropic's official CLI experience

Deep Claude integration with file editing and tool use

An interactive development session you are actively steering

Feature Comparison

Feature | Ralph Workflow | Claude Code
Multi-agent orchestration | ✅ | ⚠️ (via subagents, limited)
Claude Code integration | ✅ | ✅
OpenCode / Codex integration | ✅ | ❌
Cost model routing | ✅ | ❌
Unattended execution | ✅ (built for it) | ⚠️ (possible but not the primary design)
Policy-defined config (TOML) | ✅ | ❌
Checkpoint / resume | ✅ | ⚠️
MCP support | ✅ | ⚠️
Parallel work units | ✅ | ❌
Open source | ✅ | ✅
Self-hosted | ✅ | ⚠️

Why the Workflow Layer Matters More Than the Agent

The conversation about AI coding tools often starts with "which agent is best?" That is the right first question, but it is not the complete question.

The more important question is: what does your workflow owe you at the end of a run?

Claude Code is good at running agents. Ralph Workflow is designed to run agents within a structured loop that enforces a reviewable finish — diff, checks, and a short explicit list of what still needs a human call.

If you have ever come back to a coding agent session and found a confident summary instead of a clear diff, you have felt the gap that a workflow layer is meant to close.

Cost Control

One practical difference that does not get enough attention: Ralph Workflow routes work to different models based on what each phase needs. That means cheap models handle what they can, and expensive models are reserved for where they actually add value.

Claude Code does not have a built-in cost routing layer — it runs on whatever model you have configured for the session.

When You'd Use Both Together

Claude Code is one of the three agent engines Ralph Workflow can drive (alongside Codex and OpenCode). In this configuration, Ralph Workflow doesn't replace Claude Code — it wraps it with a structured execution loop. The workflow handles task framing, checkpoint save/resume boundaries, and the post-run verification that inspects the diff, runs tests, and produces a checklist of what still needs human attention.

The main reason to layer Ralph on top of Claude Code rather than using Claude Code directly: when you want unattended multi-phase runs where the workflow enforces the plan-build-verify cycle instead of leaving it to a single agent's session memory. You get Claude Code's editing strengths with Ralph Workflow's guarantee of a reviewable finish.

Try Ralph Workflow

pipx install ralph-workflow
cd /path/to/your/project
ralph --init
$EDITOR PROMPT.md # write your task
ralph # walk away

Ralph Workflow runs on your own machine. It works with Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode. The default workflow handles planning, development, verification, and follow-up — or you can compose your own.

Install guide → · Quick start → · Primary Codeberg repo → · GitHub mirror: github.com/Ralph-Workflow/Ralph-Workflow