Contop vs Screenbox

Contop is an open-source remote compute agent for controlling a desktop from a phone. It streams the screen in real time, accepts voice or text input, and can carry out tasks autonomously. The agent can run terminal commands, interact with the desktop and Chrome, and read, edit, or search files; the maker lists 33 built-in tools for commands, screen control, file management, and workflow automation. Users can create reusable skills using prompt instructions, YAML workflows, Python tools, or combinations. Listed AI providers are Google Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, and OpenRouter, with per-role model selection. Connections include LAN, Tailscale, and Cloudflare Tunnel, with automatic path selection and fallback. The site says phone-to-desktop traffic is end-to-end encrypted with DTLS and does not pass through third-party servers. Risky commands can be blocked, sandboxed, or held for approval, and session logs record prompts, commands, tools, and results. Android is available via Google Play; iOS is coming soon. Desktop downloads for Windows, macOS, and Linux require Python 3.12 or later.

Screenbox gives AI agents isolated virtual desktops with real browsers and desktop applications. Each desktop includes Chromium with DevTools and extensions, plus tools such as file managers, terminals, and office applications. Agents can use 21 MCP tools across more than 100 actions, including screenshots, OCR, clicks, typing, shell access, file operations, and clipboard control. It connects to MCP clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Cursor through stdio, streamable HTTP, or SSE. A web dashboard supports live viewing, agent management, snapshots, session logs, and a knowledge browser. Users can save and restore desktop states, including files and browser sessions, and clone desktops from templates. Activity can be viewed through RDP or noVNC, with mouse and keyboard control available. Desktops run in Docker containers with memory limits, network isolation, and no bind mounts; the maker cautions that they are not hardened sandboxes. The software is self-hosted and open source under AGPL-3.0. The maker says deployment data stays on the user's infrastructure and the software sends no telemetry to Screenbox or third parties. It requires about 2 GB of RAM per desktop and no GPU; idle desktops pause automatically.