# Poly vs HumanLayer for a team sharing a coding agent session

The closest match to Poly: shared sessions with teammate approvals. HumanLayer builds it for engineering teams on their own compute; Poly builds it for anyone with a browser.

Published 2026-10-03 by Richard Kaminsky and Mitchell Lipyansky, the co-founders of Poly. Canonical: https://usepoly.co/poly-vs-humanlayer
Poly is a multiplayer AI coding workspace: a shared room where your team works with one AI agent, together. Free to start: https://usepoly.co/

**HumanLayer and Poly both let teammates prompt a live coding-agent session, approve its actions and see who sent each message. HumanLayer (YC F24) calls itself "the multiplayer control plane for your software factory": a team app with tasks, plans, diff review and pull requests that runs Claude Code, Codex and other agents on a daemon on your own machine or cloud, and since August 2026 a running session can be shared with teammates for a set time. Poly (usepoly.co) is a browser room built around one AI, with nothing to install: every member prompts in one timeline, approves each change before it happens and gets a receipt per turn.** HumanLayer suits engineering teams that run several agents through planning and review. Poly suits a small group, including people who don't code, steering one build together.

*Poly and HumanLayer, from public documentation, October 2026.*

|  | Poly | HumanLayer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Surface | Browser room: timeline, cards, preview | Desktop, web and mobile app: tasks, plans, diffs |
| Several people steer one session | Yes, always, any member | Yes, when shared, for a set time |
| Teammates approve actions | Yes, per change, any member | Yes, in a shared session |
| Where the agent runs | Poly's per-turn sandboxes | A daemon on your machine or cloud |
| Agents | Claude Code and Codex | Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Fireworks |
| Models | Included: Claude, GPT, Grok, Kimi, Muse | Your own subscriptions |
| Price | Free start; $20 or $50 per AI user | Free up to 3 members; Pro $100 per user |

## What HumanLayer does

HumanLayer is a coding-agent app for teams, with tasks, plans, diff review and pull requests. Agents (Claude Code, Codex, Copilot and Fireworks, on your own subscriptions) run on a local daemon or on remote and cloud daemons, with desktop apps for Mac, Linux and Windows plus web and mobile. Its [release notes](https://docs.humanlayer.com/release-notes) show the multiplayer work arriving in steps: on August 17, 2026, sharing a running session with teammates for a set time, so they can prompt, interrupt and resolve approvals, with every message showing who sent it (admins switch it on); on September 12, co-writing a prompt with live cursors and presence, and read-only viewing; on September 29, handing a session between Claude Code and Codex. Cost is attributed to whoever runs the session.

## Where HumanLayer is stronger

- **Engineering workflow.** Tasks, plans, diff review and pull requests in one app, built for teams running several agents.
- **Your own environment.** Sessions run on your machines or cloud, on the subscriptions you already have, with no markup on tokens.
- **Co-writing prompts.** Live cursors on a shared prompt before it is sent.
- **Moving between agents.** A session can pass from Claude Code to Codex.

## Where Poly is stronger

- **Nothing to set up.** HumanLayer runs agents through a daemon you install, with GitHub connected. A Poly room needs only a browser.
- **Shared by default.** A Poly room is shared with its members all the time. A HumanLayer session is shared for a set time, once an admin has switched sharing on.
- **Built for people who don't code.** Poly's surface is a timeline, plain-language cards and a live preview of the app.
- **A chat the AI can't read.** Poly's group chat, threads and polls are hidden from the agent.
- **Models included.** Claude, GPT, Grok, Kimi and Muse, with no subscription to bring.
- **Price.** Poly is $20 or $50 a month per person who runs the AI, and everyone else is free. HumanLayer lists real-time collaboration under Pro, at $100 per user a month.

## Pricing, side by side

HumanLayer: Starter free for up to three members and 200 sessions a month; Pro $100 per user a month; Enterprise custom ([pricing](https://www.humanlayer.com/pricing)). Poly: free to start; $20 or $50 a month for each person who runs the AI, models included. A five-person team where two people prompt pays Poly $40 a month; five HumanLayer Pro seats are $500, before each person's agent subscription.

## Which should you pick?

- **An engineering team that runs several agents through tasks, plans, diff review and pull requests, on its own machines:** HumanLayer.
- **A team of three or fewer engineers who want shared sessions on their own subscriptions:** HumanLayer's free tier is worth a look.
- **A small group, including people who don't code, steering one build together in a browser with approvals and receipts:** Poly.
- **You want the models included and nothing to install:** Poly.

More options are in [Multiplayer AI tools](/multiplayer-ai-tools).

## Common questions

**Which is closer to a shared Claude Code session?**

Both run the real Claude Code. HumanLayer shares a session running on your own daemon, for a set time; Poly runs Claude Code in a hosted sandbox inside a room that is always shared with its members.

**Does HumanLayer charge for tokens?**

No. Agents run on your own Claude, Codex or other subscriptions, and HumanLayer charges per user: free for up to three members, $100 per user a month on Pro. Poly includes the models and charges $20 or $50 a month per person who runs the AI.

**Do I need to install anything?**

HumanLayer runs agents through a daemon on your own machine or cloud, with desktop, web and mobile apps around it. Poly needs only a browser.

More guides: https://usepoly.co/guides · Security: https://usepoly.co/security · Pricing: https://usepoly.co/pricing