Maestro Deck vs Maestro Studio: Open-Source Alternative Comparison
TL;DR. Maestro Studio is mobile.dev’s proprietary, cloud-tied desktop tool for the Maestro YAML format. Maestro Deck is an Apache-2.0 alternative that reads the same YAML, runs entirely on your machine, requires no account, and is free forever. If you want a free, self-hosted, no-telemetry desktop client for Maestro flows, Deck is the drop-in replacement.
Side-by-side
Capability
Maestro Studio
Maestro Deck
License
Proprietary
Apache 2.0
Where it runs
Cloud-tethered desktop
Local desktop app, on your machine
Flow format
Maestro YAML
Maestro YAML — same files, no fork
Maestro CLI under the hood
Bundled, opaque
Uses your CLI — bring any version
iOS & Android targets
Yes
Yes
Account required
Yes, sign-in to use
No account, no sign-in
Telemetry
On by default
Off by default
Pricing
Per-seat subscription
Free, forever
Pricing
Maestro Studio is sold as a per-seat subscription tied to a mobile.dev account. Pricing scales with team size, and access to the desktop client is gated behind sign-in.
Maestro Deck is free. There is no seat count, no usage cap, no metered runs, and no paid tier. Because the source is Apache-2.0, you can audit it, modify it, and ship a forked build to your team without asking anyone.
Open source
Studio is closed-source. You cannot read the code, file a PR, or run a hardened build in an air-gapped environment.
Deck is fully open at github.com/BlueShork/maestro-deck. Issues, PRs, and discussions are public. The Apache-2.0 license is permissive enough for commercial use, including redistribution as part of a closed-source product.
Features
Both tools target the same surface area: authoring Maestro YAML flows, inspecting the view hierarchy of a running app, recording taps and gestures into reusable steps, and executing flows against iOS and Android targets.
Maestro Deck’s key feature is that it doesn’t bundle its own Maestro CLI. It calls the CLI you already have installed, so your flows always run against the exact version pinned in CI. No drift between “works in Studio” and “works in CI.”
Studio bundles its own runtime, which is convenient until your CI uses a different Maestro version and a flow passes locally but fails on PR.
Self-hosting and privacy
Deck runs on your machine. There is no backend service, no analytics endpoint, and no opt-out checkbox to remember to uncheck. Your flow code, your screenshots, and your device output never leave the laptop unless you explicitly push them somewhere.
Studio is cloud-tethered: it requires a mobile.dev account to launch and reports telemetry by default. For teams in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, defence) this often means Studio is a non-starter.
Compatibility
Deck reads and writes the same Maestro YAML format. If you have an existing.maestro/folder full of flows authored with Studio or the CLI, Deck opens them with no rewrite. Migration is opening the directory in Deck and continuing where you left off.
CI integration
Both tools produce flows that run on the standard Maestro CLI in CI. Because Deck uses your installed CLI, the gap between local and CI behaviour is smaller. See the CI guide for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and CircleCI examples.
When to choose which
Honest take: if your team is already paying for mobile.dev and using their cloud services (device farm, dashboard) end to end, Studio is the path of least resistance. mobile.dev built Maestro and they ship Studio. Pay them.
If you want a free desktop client, can’t send code to a third-party cloud, want to bring your own CLI version, or just don’t want to manage another vendor account — pick Maestro Deck.
Try Maestro Deck
Apache-2.0, no account, runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows.