Use the desktop app. It is the same Claude Code as the terminal version, signed in with the same account, working on the same files on your computer. The difference is what you see while it works. In the desktop app, every change appears on screen with accept and reject buttons, your running app opens in a pane next to the chat, and each project sits in a sidebar. In the terminal, all of that is text in a black window. Anthropic’s own documentation says the same thing in developer words: the desktop app for reviewing changes visually and running several sessions in one window, the terminal for scripting and automation, or if you already prefer it. If you have never opened a terminal, that second list is empty. There are still reasons to know what the terminal is for, and they are below.
They are the same builder in different clothes
Both run one engine. The desktop app includes Claude Code, so it needs nothing else on the machine, and the terminal version does not include the app. You can have both, run both on the same project at the same time, and they share the same settings and the same project memory file. Both need a paid Claude plan. Anthropic’s setup page says the free plan does not include Claude Code, whichever door you use.
Both also ask before they change anything, by default. In the desktop app that is a mode called Manual: Claude proposes each edit, you see it, you accept or reject. In the terminal, it prints the change and waits for you to press Enter for yes. Either way, nothing touches your files without you. That is the habit that makes this tool safe for someone who cannot read the code, and it is the same habit in both places.
What the desktop app gives you that the terminal does not
The desktop app is built around seeing. When Claude edits files, a small counter shows how many lines changed. Click it and you get a side-by-side view of each file, old and new, where you can click a line and type a comment, and Claude revises. You do not need to understand the code to notice that it touched a file you did not ask about.
It can run your app for you. Claude starts your app and opens it in a browser pane inside the same window, then checks its own work: it takes screenshots, clicks buttons, fills forms, and fixes what it finds. For someone who verifies by behavior rather than by reading, this is the feature. You look at the app, not the code.
Each session is a separate conversation with its own folder, listed in a sidebar. On a project that uses Git, the tool that keeps saved versions of your files, each session works on its own copy, so two tasks cannot step on each other. You can attach images and PDFs to a message, drag the panes into any layout, and open a terminal inside the app if you ever need one. A usage ring next to the model picker shows how much of your plan’s allowance you have used.
Two limits. On Windows, the Code tab needs Git for Windows installed first, a free download; a Mac usually has it already. And on Linux the app is a beta.
What the terminal gives you that the app does not
The terminal is Claude Code with nothing between you and it. Everything is text: you type, it types back, there is no clicking, and the arrow keys move you around. It has the complete set of commands, a few of which behave differently or not at all inside the app. It runs on any Mac, Windows or Linux machine that meets the requirements, with no beta label. And it is where developers automate things: chaining Claude Code with other tools, running it inside scripts, running teams of agents at once. None of that is on a non-coder’s list this year.
There is one thing about the terminal you should know even if you never use it. The terminal version reads a setting on your computer called ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, and if a key is there from an earlier tool, it uses that key and bills it pay-per-use instead of drawing on your subscription. Anthropic’s help center spells this out. The desktop app does not read that setting. If you have ever pasted an API key on this computer, that alone is a reason to start with the app.
How to decide, by situation
| Your situation | Pick |
|---|---|
| Never opened a terminal, want to see what changes | The desktop app |
| Coming from Lovable, Base44 or Bolt | The desktop app, the nearest thing to the preview you are used to |
| Already comfortable in a terminal | The terminal, or both |
| Want to watch the files change inside a code editor | The VS Code extension, a third door with the same login |
| Working on Linux | The terminal, since the app is a beta there |
| An old API key may be on this computer | The desktop app, or clean the key out first |
The VS Code extension deserves a sentence. VS Code is a free code editor, and Claude Code is available as an extension inside it, found by searching for Claude Code in the editor’s extensions panel. Changes show up inline, in the files themselves. Some people who cannot code like it precisely because they can watch the files appear and grow.
None of this is a permanent choice. A terminal session can be handed to the desktop app with one command, both read the same project, and switching later costs nothing. Pick the door that lets you see, and move if you outgrow it.
If you are installing for the first time, the install guide walks through the desktop app and both terminal routes, step by step, for Windows and Mac. You can learn more, and get the full prompts and the decision tables, in our course, starting from You’ve Outgrown Lovable. The first lesson is free, no card.
In the next ten minutes: if you have a paid Claude plan, open the desktop app, click Code, and pick an empty folder. Type one small request and watch the accept button appear. If that feels like the builder you already know, only with the files on your own computer, you have your answer.