Amp

At a glance

Amp is worth evaluating if you want a coding agent that can edit a project, run commands and leave you changes to review, including while your laptop is closed. Its web workflow runs each conversation on a cloud machine called an orb; its CLI can instead work on your machine or a connected runner. The potential benefit is a prepared development environment that persists between messages. You still need to judge the resulting code, control credentials and choose how changes reach your repository.

Good fit

Developers who can give a bounded implementation task and review the diff and test results, particularly when the project’s dependencies and services benefit from a prepared environment. An orb can clone a repository, run setup and resume scripts, and preserve files when paused. That makes ongoing remote work possible without keeping the developer’s own machine awake. The documented browser path requires no local installation; local CLI use is a separate choice with access to the machine where it runs.

Consider something else when

You need an offline assistant, cannot send project context to external services, or expect generated changes to be ready without review. Self-hosting an orb does not mean self-hosting the entire Amp service. Also check the project’s Ship Behavior before connecting write access: the documented default commits, rebases, tests and pushes to the base branch. Select Push to Branch or define a custom flow when changes must receive separate review. A cloud machine reduces interference with your laptop; it does not make every command or connected credential harmless.

Start here

For a documented trial, sign in on the web, start New Thread with New Orb and No Project, and request a small script using synthetic input with an explicit expected result. This avoids exposing an existing repository while you assess the interaction. Review the generated files, command output and result before granting repository access. For a real project, configure its owner, credentials, setup scripts and shipping behavior first. No Amp account, orb, model request, repository connection or script execution was created for this source-only review.

Cost and requirements

The pricing pages checked 31 October 2026 show a free Hobby tier, but model usage and Amp-hosted compute have separate billing arrangements. Bringing a subscription or API key changes who supplies and bills model usage; it does not remove the cost of cloud compute. The orb-size guide lists a 4-CPU, 8-GB machine at US$0.33 per hour at the standard rate, billed by the minute. Paid-tier allowances and size multipliers can change the effective cost. A paused orb costs nothing, but merely opening its thread or an authorized portal request can wake it and resume billing. Orb Saver Mode prevents a thread view alone from waking it; archiving the thread pauses it. Confirm your selected tier, routing and usage controls before a long task.

Limits to know

The security reference says thread data can include complete files read as context, tool output and attachments. Cloud orbs also contain the cloned repository. Pausing retains the filesystem; deleting a thread deletes its orb, while thread-data removal can take up to 30 days. Project snapshots and enterprise-owned threads have additional retention rules. Minimal Data Retention governs eligible model-provider inference, not Amp’s thread archive; customer-managed keys and personal subscriptions have their own provider terms. Secret redaction is described as best-effort. These are documented policies, not an independent security assessment. Research did not test code quality, latency, billing, editor integration, portability or any running agent.

Related work

• Bitbucket: another Git host supported by the documented orb workflow (complement)

Still unclear

• Exact paid-tier agent allowances and the checkout total for a selected model-routing and orb-size combination were not established.
• A complete export and restoration procedure for threads, orb filesystems, project configuration and credentials was not tested.