openclicky vs GuideLayer
openclicky and clicky point your cursor. GuideLayer teaches, remembers, runs agents, and keeps your data on your Mac.
Reviewed July 21, 2026. GuideLayer publishes this page; we mark our own product clearly and stick to facts we can re-check on each vendor's site.
GuideLayer builds on MIT-licensed open-source foundations: openclicky (Jason Kneen) and clicky (Farza). We credit that lineage in our licenses.
What shipped on top is a different product. openclicky and clicky point a cursor at a button, a real, useful thing on its own. GuideLayer is a commercial ability layer: an assistance ladder from Hint to Handle, verified Result Packets, an Ability Map that compounds, and a Privacy Center, not the same idea with paint on it. See screen-aware AI assistant for how in-context guidance works today.
If you're evaluating openclicky or clicky today, here's what changed. Compare with Simular AI alternative if teaching ability versus full automation is the fork you're weighing.
How it compares
openclicky / clicky
Points a cursor at a button.
GuideLayer
Lifts the control with a Focus Lift, cues the margin, verifies your action, and deposits the result on your Ability Map.
openclicky / clicky
Wires one agent CLI in as the brain.
GuideLayer
Routes across Claude, Codex, realtime voice, and open-weight models depending on the task.
openclicky / clicky
Privacy is whatever you configure yourself.
GuideLayer
Capture on ask, encrypted memory, Privacy Center, one-switch incognito by default.
openclicky / clicky
Open builder tool for people who want to tinker.
GuideLayer
Signed, notarized Mac app for people who want it to work without maintaining a fork.
What actually works
An assistance ladder
Hint, Guide, Check, Extend, and Handle when you gate it in. openclicky pointed at one level; GuideLayer lets you choose.
Ability Map
Verified steps land as evidence you can see next quarter. openclicky didn't persist what you'd learned.
Outcome Workbench
Background agents on your Codex subscription for async work beyond pointing at a button.
Production Mac app
Signed, notarized, Apple Silicon native. Not a repo you compile and babysit yourself.
Workflow examples
You liked openclicky's pointing
The cursor-on-button idea worked for you. You want more built around it.
- 01GuideLayer keeps screen-aware pointing with accessibility-tree precision.
- 02Adds verification, an Ability Map, and an Outcome Workbench on top.
- 03Privacy Center replaces DIY configuration.
You want to stay in the open-source lane
You'd rather fork and build than install a commercial app.
- 01openclicky and clicky remain solid starting points for that.
- 02GuideLayer is the productized path if you want support and a notarized build instead.
- 03Both can coexist in the same ecosystem.
Team rollout
Open tools are great for one person's machine. Teams need consistent installs and a shared record of ability.
- 01Deploy GuideLayer as a standard signed Mac app.
- 02Run tutor sessions on the live software your team uses.
- 03Share exports without everyone maintaining a separate fork.
openclicky and clicky are solid open tools, and we say that as people who ship on top of them. GuideLayer is the commercial layer for verified guidance, compounding ability, and a Privacy Center you don't have to build yourself, full compare hub for other peers.
Related guides
Try GuideLayer on your Mac
Stuck in an app? Download for Apple Silicon. GuideLayer points to the control you need. Connect the AI you already use.