buildcrew vs gstack
| buildcrew | gstack | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | npx buildcrew (interactive setup) | git clone + Bun + ./setup |
| Orchestration | Auto (orchestrator routes to agents) | Manual (/qa, /review, ...) |
| Harness | init + add + custom .md | Manual CLAUDE.md |
| Dependencies | None | Bun, Playwright binary (~58MB) |
| Browser testing | Playwright MCP (required) | Custom Playwright daemon |
| Pipeline docs | Auto-generated chain (01-07) | Per-skill output |
| Agents | 18 (9 opus, 9 sonnet) + 7 Agent Skills | 34 skills |
| Model strategy | Mixed (opus for thinking, sonnet for doing) | Same model for all |
| Second opinion | Built-in (Codex or Claude subagent) | Built-in (Codex) |
| Product thinking | thinker agent (6 forcing questions) | /office-hours skill |
| Architecture review | architect agent (before code) | /plan-eng-review skill |
| Design review | design-reviewer agent (8-dim scoring) | /plan-design-review skill |
| Customization | Edit .md directly, version auto-update | May overwrite on update |
| Multi-agent support | Claude Code (subagents) + Agent Skills tools (Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini CLI) | Claude, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor |
buildcrew strengths
- Auto-orchestration — describe what you need, orchestrator routes to the right agents
- Full lifecycle — think, plan, design, build, test, review, ship, monitor
- Harness engineering — project context baked into every agent
- Pipeline documentation — every decision traceable
- Second opinion — independent review after every mode
- Zero deps — just Markdown files
- Interactive setup — one command, everything configured
gstack strengths
- More skills — 34 vs 7 (buildcrew's 7 skills wrap 13 modes)
- Multi-host — works with Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor
- Chrome cookie import — login as real user for QA
- Community — 60K+ stars, active development
- Design generation — AI-generated visual mockups (GPT Image API)
- Performance benchmarks — Core Web Vitals regression detection
When to use which
- buildcrew — you want one tool that handles everything automatically. Just talk to
@buildcrew. - gstack — you want granular control with explicit
/commands, or you use multiple AI tools beyond Claude Code. - Both — gstack for planning/review decisions, buildcrew for automated execution. They complement each other.