Cosyra vs Amp: AI Coding Agent on Your Phone (2026)

Short answer. Cosyra vs Amp is not agent-vs-agent; it's two different shapes. Amp is Sourcegraph's proprietary, credit-billed coding agent that runs as a terminal CLI on macOS, Linux, and Windows-via-WSL, with no phone runtime (its mobile surface only remote-controls a desktop-run thread). Cosyra is a BYOK mobile cloud terminal: a per-user Ubuntu 24.04 container with Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI pre-installed, reached from native iOS and Android apps. Pick Amp if you want routed frontier models with nothing to configure and you code at a desk. Pick Cosyra if you want an agent that runs on an actual phone, with no machine to keep awake.

There's a detail that makes this closer than it looks: Amp installs and runs inside a Cosyra-shaped container. We pulled the @ampcode/cli package and ran it ourselves in a clean Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64 box on 2026-07-16 — npm install -g @ampcode/cli, and amp was at /usr/bin/amp. So the runtime isn't the wall between these two. The wall is the billing and control model, and where the process actually lives. We wrote this on the couch, phone in hand, no laptop open, which is the exact case Amp's mobile surface can't cover on its own.

This post was written by the Cosyra team. We compared Cosyra against Amp based on hands-on testing of both — reading ampcode.com/manual and ampcode.com/chronicle first-hand, pulling the @ampcode/cli metadata from the npm registry, checking gh api repos/sourcegraph/amp (404, no public repo), and installing and running the Amp CLI in our own container. Pricing, platform support, and versions verified 2026-07-16.

How do Cosyra and Amp compare feature by feature?

Cosyra is a cloud Ubuntu container reached from native iOS and Android apps with AI agents pre-installed; Amp is a proprietary CLI that runs on a desktop-class machine you supply, with a phone surface that only watches a running thread. Cosyra is BYOK on a flat plan; Amp is credit-billed and routes the model for you. The table below lines them up on thirteen attributes, verified 2026-07-16.

What actually separates these two?

Two axes do all the work here, and they're independent of each other. The first is billing and control: Amp is credit-billed and picks the model for you, while Cosyra is BYOK and hands you a shell to run whatever you like. The second is where the process runs: Amp's CLI executes on a desktop-class machine, while a Cosyra container is the machine, reached from a phone. Amp is strong on the first axis for people who don't want to touch keys. Cosyra owns the second axis for people who don't want a laptop in the loop. Neither axis is "better" in the abstract; they're different jobs.

We installed Amp: where does it actually run?

Here's the piece you can't copy-paste from another blog. Amp's manual lists macOS, Linux, and Windows-via-WSL, with no phone build, so "Amp on a phone" means one of two things: watch a desktop thread from a browser, or put the CLI on a Linux machine your phone reaches. We tested the second path on 2026-07-16 in a clean ubuntu:24.04 (linux/amd64) container, the same x86_64 base Cosyra runs.

The install resolves the @ampcode/cli-linux-x64 build against a standard glibc userland and drops the binary at /usr/bin/amp. The version string, 0.0.1784191383-g8cf3f7, is epoch-derived and had been published three hours before we ran it, which is why we don't pin a semver for Amp anywhere on this page: it rebuilds daily. This is the same clean-container path we documented in Run Amp CLI on your phone, and it behaves like any other npm-published agent CLI once the platform gate passes.

So the container isn't the differentiator. Amp runs in it. What you're choosing between is Amp's routed-credit model on a machine you keep open, versus a BYOK box that is the machine and lives in your pocket. On a train with no laptop, that second shape is the only one that answers.

Where does Amp beat Cosyra?

Amp beats Cosyra on zero-setup routed models, a genuinely free daily allowance, model-quality routing, and Sourcegraph's large-codebase pedigree. We ship a managed cloud terminal and we still think Amp is an excellent agent for the right person. Here's where it's the better pick, with the receipts.

• Zero key or account juggling. Amp routes frontier models out of the box; there's no provider account to create and no key to paste. For someone who doesn't want to manage API keys at all, that is genuinely less friction than BYOK, and it's a real advantage Cosyra doesn't match — we hand you a key prompt, Amp hands you a working agent.
• A real free daily allowance. Per ampcode.com/chronicle, Amp offers $10/day across any mode, ad-free since 2026-03-30. That's a lower barrier to first use than a trial-then-subscription, and it renews every day. If you want to try an agent for free indefinitely at low volume, Amp's model fits better than ours.
• Model-quality routing. Amp actively selects deep, smart, and rush models per task, per its manual. Cosyra hands you a shell and you run whatever CLI and model you like, which is more control and more setup. If you'd rather the tool decide, Amp decides well.
• Sourcegraph's code-search DNA. Large-codebase context and navigation is Sourcegraph's historical strength, and Amp inherits it. On a sprawling monorepo that pedigree shows.
• Cross-surface continuity for desk users. Start on the desktop CLI, glance at or steer progress from a phone browser. If you already keep a machine awake, that hand-off is a legitimately useful mobile story, just a different one from ours.

Where does Cosyra beat Amp?

Cosyra beats Amp on running on an actual phone, BYOK and provider choice, a persistent cloud workspace that follows you across devices, and not needing you to keep a machine awake. The trade-off for "routed models with no setup" is that the CLI runs on a desktop, and the phone only watches it. We'd rather be the machine for you.

It runs on a phone, and Amp has no client that does

This is the load-bearing difference. Amp's CLI runtime is macOS, Linux, and Windows-via-WSL only; its mobile surface remote-controls a thread whose CLI executes on a desktop you left awake. Our native Google Play and App Store apps put a real Ubuntu terminal in your hand, and that terminal can run Amp's own CLI. If you want to code from a phone with nothing else on, that's the gap.

BYOK and provider choice, not credits Amp routes

Cosyra is bring-your-own-key: you paste your Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google key and pay the provider directly, with no per-token credit purchase and no model routing you can't override. Amp is the opposite axis. You buy Amp credits and Amp picks the model. Both are valid, and if you want to run a specific model at provider cost with your own key, that's a thing Amp doesn't offer and we do.

No desktop to keep awake

An Amp thread you steer from your phone still runs on a machine that has to stay powered and online. That machine is your responsibility. Our container is the always-on Linux machine, in the cloud, reached from a native app with nothing running at home. The agent keeps working whether your laptop is shut or in another city.

Persistent workspace across devices, no machine to supply

A Cosyra container persists in the cloud and is the same container whether you reach it from an iPhone, an Android tablet, or a laptop browser. Drop your phone, buy a new one, log in, and your repo, your shell history, and your half-finished session are still there. Amp's state lives on the desktop you installed it on; move machines and you're setting it up again.

An opinion Amp's crowd will push back on

We think "the agent should run on a real desktop and you can peek from your phone" has the mobile story backwards. Most agent work now is the agent doing multi-file edits and running commands while you approve steps, and that job doesn't need a desktop-class keyboard in front of you; it needs the box to be reachable and awake. A lot of excellent engineers will disagree and keep their CLI on a workstation, and for a heavy interactive refactor at a desk they're right. But for kicking off and steering an agent from a phone in a waiting room, "the CLI runs on the desktop you left at home" isn't mobile, it's a leash. That's the exact reason we built Cosyra as a container with a native app instead of a remote-control panel.

Who should pick Amp instead of Cosyra?

Pick Amp instead of Cosyra if you're at a capable desktop, you want routed frontier models with no key setup, you want a genuinely free daily allowance, or you're working a large codebase where Sourcegraph's context pedigree pays off. For those profiles Amp is the better tool, and we'd tell you so.

Try Amp first if you are one of these profiles

• Desk-bound and key-averse. You code at a desk and you don't want to create provider accounts or manage keys. Amp's routed-credit model with a $10/day free tier is the lowest-friction way to a working agent, and a phone isn't your primary surface. That's the right answer for you.
• Large-codebase navigator. You work a big monorepo where finding the right context is half the battle. Sourcegraph built its company on exactly that, and Amp inherits it. If code search and context are your bottleneck, start with Amp.
• Low-volume free-tier user. You want to use an agent for free, indefinitely, at modest daily volume. Amp's daily allowance renews; our free path is a signup hour plus a 7-day trial, then a subscription. For steady light use, Amp's shape costs you less.

We use terminal-based agents at our desks too, and we use Cosyra when we want an agent on a phone with no laptop to keep open. They aren't mutually exclusive, and since Amp installs inside a Cosyra container, the line between them is thinner than it looks.

How do you try Cosyra if you're coming from Amp?

You try Cosyra from an Amp background in about two minutes: install from the App Store or Google Play, sign in, and you land in a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64 container instead of a CLI on a laptop you keep open. Four agents are already on the PATH, and if you want Amp specifically, it's one npm install -g @ampcode/cli away, now in the cloud and reached from the phone. The session below is what we run on a fresh install.

The big unlock for most people coming from Amp: there's no desktop to keep awake anymore. The container is the always-on machine, it hibernates when idle and resumes where you left off, and you reach it the same way from any device — and Amp runs inside it just like the four agents we pre-install. If you want the pillar view of the category, see the mobile coding terminal guide.

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