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AQ vs Backbencher

A side-by-side comparison built from both listings. Blank cells mean the company has not given that detail; we never guess.

AQ compared with Backbencher
DetailAQ logo AQBackbencher logo Backbencher
What it doesMultiplayer coding harness for teams to chat, build and run bots with every AI coding agent Local code intelligence that shows its evidence
StageStartup Not given
FoundedNot given Not given
Based inNot given Not given
Pricing modelFreemium Free
PricingFree: A personal sandbox with chat, build and bots, every agent CLI, and integrations included, no credits. Pro: $50 per user per month (early-access promotional pricing; standard price is $200), billed monthly, with unlimited seats, team sharing, your own cloud or dedicated machine, $10 of AQ credi Not given
Key features
  • Chat with agents about code, data and tools with answers as tables, charts and pages
  • Isolated worktrees per task with live preview and pull request review
  • Standing bots that wake on schedule or event with monthly spend caps
  • Crews with independent agent review
  • Live multiplayer terminals and previews shared with the team
  • Support for 11 coding agents: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Kimi Code, Grok, Antigravity, Devin, Muse Code, OpenCode, Command Code and Pi
  • Integrations with Linear, GitHub, Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, Granola, Sentry, Mercury, Vanta and Stripe
  • Memory shared across agents searchable by the whole team
  • API, webhooks and MCP server for automation and third-party tools
  • Run on private AQ-managed sandbox, dedicated machine, or your own cloud infrastructure
  • Supports 50 languages with 53 registry IDs
  • 16 SQLite tables for symbols, source bounds, imports and relationships
  • 16 MCP agent tools for code analysis
  • AST-based code indexing
  • Incremental re-indexing with automatic freshness tracking
  • Call-graph analysis
  • Respects .gitignore and .bbignore files
  • Shows file, line and evidence for every answer
  • Local storage with no cloud required
  • Optional embedding provider integration for semantic search
What makes it different
  • No setup required: start free in a sandbox AQ creates, or move to your own cloud with one click
  • Keep subscriptions unmetered: your team's Claude, OpenAI and Cursor accounts are never marked up
  • Shared live workspace: the whole team sees the same terminal and preview, not a replay
  • Independent agent review: a second agent reviews code without seeing the builder's work
  • All agents in one place: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and 8 more, each signed in with your accounts
  • Every answer includes file location, line number and the relationship walked to get there
  • Fully local operation with no cloud requirements
  • Open source under MIT license
  • Free to use with no paid plans or cost
Free planNot given Not given
Open sourceNot given Not given
PlatformsNot given Not given
Public APINot given Not given
Community votes00
DR (Domain Rating by Ahrefs)15 +1 (up) since last checkNot checked yet
Trust Flow (Majestic)50
Citation Flow (Majestic)330
Referring domains (Majestic)850

4 details filled in for both companies.

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