# Comparisons ### Why not just use a remote debugger? When you use a remote debugger, you still have to deploy new code to the cluster. When you plug local code into the cloud with mirrord, you don't have to wait for cloud deployment. Using mirrord is also less disruptive to the cluster, since the stable version of the code is still running and handling requests. ### Why not just run a copy of the cluster on my machine with e.g. minikube? Our assumption is that some environments are too complex to run wholly on your local machine (or their components are just not virtualizable). If that's the case with your environment, you can only run the microservice you're currently working on locally, but connect it to your cloud environment with mirrord. Note that mirrord can also be used to connect your non-containerized process to your local Kubernetes cluster. ### How is mirrord different from Telepresence? mirrord can be a great alternative to Telepresence. The main differences are: * mirrord works on the process level, meaning it doesn't require you to run a "daemon" locally and it doesn't change your local machine settings. For example, if you run another process, it *won't* be affected by mirrord. * This means that you can run **multiple** services at the same time, each in a different context and without needing to containerize them. * mirrord doesn't require you to install anything on the cluster. * mirrord duplicates traffic and doesn't intercept/steal it by default. * mirrord can be run through one of our IDE extensions: we support [JetBrains IDEs](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/19772-mirrord) and [VS Code](vscode:extension/MetalBear.mirrord). More details can be found in this [GitHub discussion.](https://github.com/metalbear-co/mirrord/discussions/154#discussioncomment-2972127) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://metalbear.com/mirrord/docs/faq/comparisons.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.