Ralph Wiggum vs Obra’s Superpowers

When comparing the pros and cons on when to use Ralph Wiggum vs Superpowers, these notes are relevant for differentiating:

superpowers:execute-plan

This is part of the Superpowers framework – a structured workflow system for Claude Code:

Pros:

• Structured, human-in-the-loop approach with clear phases (brainstorm → write-plan → execute-plan)
• You review and approve the spec before implementation begins
• Emphasizes TDD, YAGNI, and DRY principles
• Uses subagent-driven development where different agents work through engineering tasks
• Better for tasks requiring judgment and design decisions
• More predictable and controllable

Cons:

• Requires more human involvement and approval between phases
• Not fully autonomous – you need to move through phases manually
• Slower iteration if you’re confident in the approach

ralph wiggum

This is an autonomous loop plugin that lets Claude work continuously:

Pros:

• Fully autonomous – works for hours without human intervention
• Self-correcting through iteration – each loop sees previous work and fixes issues
• Simple to use: one command with max iterations and completion criteria
• Great for mechanical, well-defined tasks (migrations, refactors, test coverage, batch operations)
• Can run overnight on large projects
• Now an official Anthropic plugin

Cons:

• High token/cost usage (50 iterations can easily cost $50-100+)
• Can get stuck in loops on ambiguous tasks
• Requires very clear completion criteria and success metrics
• Less human oversight = higher risk if the task isn’t well-defined
• With Opus 4.5, becoming less necessary for many tasks since the model now handles complex work better in single passes

When to use each:

Use superpowers:execute-plan when:

• Task requires design decisions and your input
• You want structured planning and review
• Building something new where the approach isn’t obvious

Use ralph wiggum when:

• Task has clear success criteria (tests pass, no errors, specific output)
• Large mechanical refactors or migrations
• Batch operations across many files
• You’re confident in the approach and just need execution
• You can afford to let it run autonomously

The key philosophical difference: Superpowers is about human-guided structure, while Ralph is about autonomous iteration until done.