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Claude Code on the Web, Desktop, or Terminal: Which One Should You Use?

Claude Code runs in a terminal, a desktop app, VS Code, and in the cloud at claude.ai/code. Where each version runs, what happens when you close your laptop, how --cloud and --teleport move work between them, and the limits of cloud sessions.

"Claude Code" now means several things: a command-line tool, a desktop app, a VS Code extension, and cloud sessions you start from a browser or phone. They share a brain but differ in one important way — where the work runs. That decides what happens when you close your laptop, what the agent can reach, and whether anything is left running afterwards.

Details match Anthropic's documentation as of October 2026.

Two kinds of session: local and cloud

Every Claude Code session is one of two kinds:

Local — Claude runs on your machine. The terminal CLI, the VS Code extension, and the desktop app with Local selected all work this way. Claude edits the files on your disk and runs commands on your computer.

Cloud — Claude runs on infrastructure Anthropic manages, in an isolated virtual machine. You can start one from:

  • the browser at claude.ai/code ("Claude Code on the web"),
  • the Code tab in the Claude mobile app,
  • the desktop app with Cloud selected,
  • your terminal with claude --cloud "your task".

Cloud sessions are available on Pro, Max and Team plans, and for Enterprise users with the right seats.

What happens when you close your laptop?

  • Local session: it stops when your machine sleeps. You can steer a running local session from your phone with Remote Control, but the computer has to stay awake.
  • Cloud session: it keeps going. Check on it from any device and answer its questions when you're back.

That's the main reason to use the cloud: long tasks you want to walk away from.

How cloud sessions work

A cloud session needs your code on GitHub. When it starts, it clones your repository's GitHub remote at the current branch — not your local files — so push your commits first. It runs a setup script if you've configured one, works on a branch, and shows you a diff. You can then open a pull request.

From the terminal:

claude --cloud "Fix the flaky test in auth.spec.ts"

Each --cloud command creates its own session, so you can run several tasks in parallel. To pull a finished cloud session onto your machine and keep working locally:

claude --teleport

Teleport checks out the session's branch and loads its conversation history. (It needs a clean working tree and the same Claude account.) It only goes one way from the CLI — you can't push a running terminal session up to the cloud, though the desktop app has a Continue in menu that can.

The limits of cloud sessions

Cloud sessions are excellent for "go and do this task", but they're not a place for things to live:

  • Environments are temporary. After a period of inactivity, the session's VM is reclaimed. Reopening the session gives you a fresh VM with your conversation restored — but background processes that were running are gone.
  • No running app. There's no persistent server, database or domain attached; the session exists to produce a branch.
  • GitHub only for cloning and pull requests (other hosts can be uploaded as a bundle, but results can't be pushed back).
  • Network access is limited by default to an allowlist of domains, which you can adjust.
  • /clear isn't available; start a new session instead. /compact and /context work.
  • Shared usage limits. Cloud sessions draw on the same plan limits as everything else. There's no separate charge for the VM.

Which should you use?

  • You're at your computer, working interactively: local — the CLI or the VS Code extension.
  • You want a task done while you're away: a cloud session.
  • You want several independent tasks done in parallel: several cloud sessions, or parallel local agents with git worktrees.
  • You want the agent to run your app, its database and background jobs, and have all of that still running tomorrow: neither. That needs a persistent machine — your own server, or a hosted one — with Claude Code running on it. See how to run Claude Code on a remote server.

The summary

  • Local sessions (CLI, IDE, desktop "Local") run on your machine and stop when it sleeps.
  • Cloud sessions (claude.ai/code, mobile, desktop "Cloud", --cloud) run on Anthropic's VMs and keep going when you leave.
  • --cloud sends a task up; --teleport brings a cloud session down.
  • Cloud environments are temporary and built to produce a branch, not to host an app.

EasySpawn is the persistent option: a dedicated cloud server per project where Claude Code, your running app, its database and its domain all live together — reachable from a browser, your phone, or SSH, and still there tomorrow. See how it works or join the waitlist.

Related: Agent Hosting Is Becoming Free. Here's What Isn't. · How to Use Claude Code From Your Phone · Why AI Coding Agents Need Persistent Workspaces · What Is Claude Code? · Claude Code on Windows

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