alternatives

diri alternatives

TL;DR

diri, by Cristian Crețu (diri.sh), is a free, AGPL-3.0 app written in Rust for running lots of terminal coding agents side by side. A sidebar sorts sessions into working, waiting and finished, every task gets its own git worktree, and a built-in MCP server (a standard way for agents to call tools) lets one agent start and direct others.

It's a Mac app first. There's no Windows build yet, and the Linux build is a beta that leaves out several features. If you're on Windows, in WSL or want a stable Linux release, Pane gives you the same terminal-plus-worktree setup on all of them. Herdr stays in your terminal, Orca packs in the most features, and Emdash turns issue-tracker tickets into tasks.

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the alternatives

Every tool here runs several coding agents at once. The chips show where each one runs: green is native, amber has a catch, red is no.

  1. 1.Pane

    Best for diri's terminal-and-worktree model, released for Windows and Linux.

    Real agent terminals, a worktree per pane and an orchestrator chat that starts other agents, much like diri's MCP server. It ships natively for Windows x64 and ARM64 and runs agents in WSL repos.

    WindowsWSLmacOSLinux

  2. 2.Herdr

    Best for a terminal-first sidebar on Windows, macOS and Linux.

    A free, Apache-2.0 multiplexer that lives in your terminal and shows which agent is working, waiting or done. It has no diff or commit tools. In WSL repos, you run its Linux build inside WSL.

    WindowsWSLmacOSLinux

  3. 3.Orca

    Best for a permissive MIT license, with SSH hosts and phone apps.

    Runs about 40 agents in real terminals, including in WSL repos, and adds iOS and Android apps. Plan for about 1 GB installed.

    WindowsWSLmacOSLinux

  4. 4.Emdash

    Best for starting agents from tickets in your issue tracker.

    Apache-2.0, with about 35 agents, tasks from 12 issue trackers and SSH remotes. It has no WSL mode.

    WindowsWSLmacOSLinux

which one should you pick?

stay with diri if

  • → you're on a Mac and want a native app rather than Electron
  • → you rely on its long agent list (21 in the docs) or add your own with a JSON manifest
  • → you want agents to spawn and direct other agents through MCP
  • → you run agents on SSH servers and want no account or hosted relay in between

pick pane if

  • → you work on Windows or in WSL, where diri has no build
  • → you want a Linux release that isn't a beta
  • → you switch between machines and want one app and one set of shortcuts on all of them
  • → you want to reach agents from a phone browser on any OS, through Remote Pane

pane vs diri at a glance

yespartly, or with a catchno

pane10 yes · 0 partly · 0 nodiri7 yes · 1 partly · 2 no
basics
what it isa desktop appa native Rust desktop app
platforms
Windowsyes, native (x64 and ARM64)no; in progress
repos inside WSLyes, in the same appno
macOSyesyes, macOS 15 or newer
Linuxyes (AppImage, .deb)beta (AppImage, .deb), some features missing
agents
agentsany CLI21 listed in its docs, more via a JSON manifest
agents that start agentsan orchestrator chata built-in MCP server
everyday work
worktree per taskyes, by defaultyes
review and gitChanges panel, commit, push, mergediffs, staging, commits and PR checks
safety and setup
licenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
account needednono

basics

what it is

pane

a desktop app

diri

a native Rust desktop app

platforms

Windows

pane

yes, native (x64 and ARM64)

diri

no; in progress

repos inside WSL

pane

yes, in the same app

diri

no

macOS

pane

yes

diri

yes, macOS 15 or newer

Linux

pane

yes (AppImage, .deb)

diri

beta (AppImage, .deb), some features missing

agents

agents

pane

any CLI

diri

21 listed in its docs, more via a JSON manifest

agents that start agents

pane

an orchestrator chat

diri

a built-in MCP server

everyday work

worktree per task

pane

yes, by default

diri

yes

review and git

pane

Changes panel, commit, push, merge

diri

diffs, staging, commits and PR checks

safety and setup

license

pane

AGPL-3.0

diri

AGPL-3.0

account needed

pane

no

diri

no

diri facts checked on November 5, 2026 (diri v0.11.2); Pane facts from Pane v2.4.157, with its agent presets rechecked on v2.4.214.

why people look for a diri alternative

No Windows build, a Linux beta with gaps, and a very young codebase.

diri needs macOS 15 or newer. Its site and roadmap say native Windows support is in progress, and the tracking issue (#552) was closed on October 29, 2026, yet no release through v0.11.2 ships a Windows file. On Linux it's a beta for Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 that drops tray and notification actions, in-app updates, the iPhone companion and start at login. Not every release includes Linux files.

It's also new. The repo started in August 2026 and sits at version 0.11. Open issues include Quick Open scanning your whole home folder and setting off macOS privacy prompts (#826), and Codex profiles sharing one config folder (#781). diri's AGPL-3.0 license is copyleft, which matters if your team wants to modify and ship it. Pane uses the same license, so look at Herdr, Orca or Emdash for a permissive one.

moving from diri to pane

diri sessions become panes, and agents that spawned agents through MCP move to the orchestrator chat.

diri and Pane both run the agent CLIs you already have, logins included. A diri session maps to a pane: one agent, one worktree, one branch, with .env and agent config copied in. Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Cursor have one-click presets (Cursor on macOS, Linux and WSL). Gemini, Amp, Aider, Pi or any agent you'd added through a manifest runs as a custom command.

Where you had an agent calling diri's MCP server to start helpers, tell Pane's orchestrator chat what you want and it starts and steers agents in their own panes. diri's working and waiting sidebar maps to Pane's status dots. Its diffs and commits map to the Changes panel, with commit, push and merge on shortcuts.

our verdict

diri is native, free and ships often, so on a Mac it's a strong choice. Off the Mac, Pane is the nearest match, with the same model on Windows, WSL and Linux. Herdr fits if you live in a terminal, Orca if you want a permissive license with phone apps, and Emdash if your work starts as tickets.

how we checked

Desk research, done November 5, 2026: diri's README, docs, releases, issue tracker, site and privacy notice. We didn't run it.

Herdr, Orca and Emdash facts are from their own docs, releases and issues, researched on October 3, 2026 and rechecked on October 4.

What we ran
  • → Desk research: diri's README, docs, releases, issue tracker, site and privacy notice, checked November 5, 2026. We didn't install or run it.
Who wrote this
We make Pane, so we have a stake in this. We checked every claim about diri against its own site, docs, releases and issues on the dates above.
Corrections
If anything here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we'll fix it and update the date at the top. Open an issue on GitHub
Sources

frequently asked questions

See also: alternatives · desktop agent managers
or
Download*
Windows SmartScreen warningDirect downloads can show a SmartScreen warning while Pane is unsigned. Pane is fully open source, so you can audit the code and build from source yourself.1. Click More info2. Click Run anyway3. Continue the installerThe PowerShell install downloads the official release directly and avoids most browser download friction.npm global install
Paste that in PowerShell.Linux

By Parsa Khazaeepoul, co-founder of Pane. .