Yes. Open two (or more) terminals and run different aliases:
Terminal window
# Terminal 1
claude-deepseek
# Terminal 2
claude-glm
Each instance has its own config directory, so they don’t interfere with each other. Separate settings, separate conversation history, separate MCP servers. You can even point two instances at the same provider if you want isolated contexts for different projects.
Why this works
There’s no shared state between instances. No lock files, no central server, no port conflicts. Each claude-<name> command is just a shell script that sets CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR and launches the real claude binary. Two instances are as independent as two copies of Claude Code running in different directories.
Practical uses
Run a cheap model (DeepSeek Flash) for quick questions while a powerful model (Claude Opus) handles a complex task
Keep work and personal instances with different MCP servers and plugins
Test the same prompt across providers side by side to compare output quality