alternatives
Kangentic alternatives
TL;DR
Kangentic, by VORPAHL LLC (kangentic.com), is a free AGPL-3.0 desktop app built around a Kanban board. Drag a card into a column and it makes a git worktree and launches that column's agent, with the column's model, permission mode and automations. It supports 15 agent CLIs, ships signed apps for Windows and macOS plus Linux builds, and has iOS and Android apps.
People move on for a few reasons. Some don't want to manage a board, and Kangentic's own README says it probably isn't for one-task-at-a-time work. It can't run agents over SSH or on remote machines yet. And its usage analytics and error reports are on unless you set an environment variable.
If you'd rather skip the board, Pane is the most direct alternative: a pane per task, each agent in its real terminal and worktree. Agent Orchestrator and Kandev keep a board. Paseo is the pick if telemetry is your concern, since it sends none.
the alternatives
Each of these runs more than one coding agent at a time. The chips show where each one runs: green is native, amber has a catch, red is no.
1.Pane
Best for the same worktree-per-task setup, minus the board.
Instead of dragging a card, you open a pane: its own worktree, its own branch and the agent's real terminal. Any CLI outside the built-in presets runs as a custom command, so you aren't held to a fixed list.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
Best for a board that sends CI failures back to the agent.
An Apache-2.0 app with a live Kanban of agents, each on its own worktree. When CI fails or a reviewer comments, it passes that back to the agent for you. It doesn't handle repos inside WSL.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
3.Kandev
Best for a self-hosted board that can run agents on remote machines.
An AGPL-3.0 server with a web UI where cards step through plan, build, review and PR, each with its own agent and an approval gate. It runs on Docker, SSH or Kubernetes, which Kangentic can't do yet. For WSL you install it separately inside WSL.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
4.Paseo
Best for phone apps with no telemetry at all.
An Apache-2.0 background service with desktop, phone, web and CLI clients for 40+ agents. It needs no account and collects no telemetry.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
which one should you pick?
stay with Kangentic if
- → you plan in cards and want each column to launch its own agent, model and permission mode
- → you lean on column automations, or workflows that start linked tasks once their dependencies finish
- → you want native iOS and Android apps to answer agents, not a phone browser
- → your team shares board config in the repo and tracks PR status from GitHub or Azure DevOps
pick pane if
- → you'd rather open a pane per task than drag cards between columns
- → you use a CLI that isn't on Kangentic's list of 15
- → you want commit, push and merge on keyboard shortcuts inside each task
- → you want agents on your own server today, through Remote Pane
pane vs Kangentic at a glance
yespartly, or with a catchno
| pane8 yes · 1 partly · 1 no | Kangentic8 yes · 2 partly · 0 no | |
|---|---|---|
| basics | ||
| what it is | a desktop app | a Kanban board desktop app |
| platforms | ||
| Windows | yes, native (x64 and ARM64) | yes, signed x64; ARM under emulation |
| repos inside WSL | yes, in the same app | a WSL distro as the shell; CLIs inside it since v0.51.0 |
| macOS | yes | yes, macOS 13 or later, signed and notarized |
| Linux | yes (AppImage, .deb) | yes, x64 and arm64 (.deb, .rpm) |
| agents | ||
| agents | any CLI | 15 CLIs, fixed list |
| everyday work | ||
| worktree per task | yes, by default | yes, when you drag a card |
| task board | no; an orchestrator chat steers agents | yes, columns with their own agent and automations |
| remote and teams | ||
| phone | Remote Pane in a phone browser | iOS and Android apps, end-to-end encrypted |
| safety and setup | ||
| license | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0, with a contributor agreement and a commercial license |
| account needed | no | no |
basics
what it is
pane
Kangentic
a Kanban board desktop appplatforms
Windows
pane
Kangentic
yes, signed x64; ARM under emulationrepos inside WSL
pane
Kangentic
a WSL distro as the shell; CLIs inside it since v0.51.0macOS
pane
Kangentic
yes, macOS 13 or later, signed and notarizedLinux
pane
Kangentic
yes, x64 and arm64 (.deb, .rpm)agents
agents
pane
Kangentic
15 CLIs, fixed listeveryday work
worktree per task
pane
Kangentic
yes, when you drag a cardtask board
pane
Kangentic
yes, columns with their own agent and automationsremote and teams
phone
pane
Kangentic
iOS and Android apps, end-to-end encryptedsafety and setup
license
pane
Kangentic
AGPL-3.0, with a contributor agreement and a commercial licenseaccount needed
pane
Kangentic
noKangentic facts checked on November 5, 2026 (Kangentic v0.54.0); Pane facts from Pane v2.4.157, with its agent presets rechecked on v2.4.214.
why people look for a Kangentic alternative
The board doesn't suit everyone, there's no SSH yet, and analytics are on by default.
The board is the product. Kangentic's README says it's probably not for you if you work one task at a time, in one project, or want agents in the cloud. It can't run agents over SSH or on other machines yet. Issue #698 asks for that, and the maintainer says it's planned. The agent list is fixed at 15 CLIs.
Release builds send Aptabase usage events and Sentry error reports by default. The README says the usage events skip task text, prompts and code. There's no switch in the app: you set KANGENTIC_TELEMETRY=0. Update checks run either way. If no telemetry matters most, Paseo sends none. Pane's analytics are on by default too, and you can turn them off in Settings. Contributors sign a contributor agreement, and Kangentic offers a separate commercial license on request, so check both if your company has rules about that.
moving from Kangentic to pane
Your CLIs and their logins carry over. A card becomes a pane, and the workflow agent becomes Pane's orchestrator chat.
A Kangentic card is a task with its own worktree and agent. In Pane that's a pane. You create one where you'd have dragged a card, and Pane copies your .env and agent config into the new worktree. Column settings don't carry over: you pick the agent when you open the pane. Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Cursor are one-click presets (Cursor on macOS, Linux and WSL), and Kangentic's other CLIs, like Gemini CLI or Aider, run as custom commands.
Kangentic marks cards that need you; Pane uses status dots and notifications. If you had the workflow agent plan linked tasks, Pane's orchestrator chat can start agents in new panes and steer them. Pane has no columns or automations, so moving a task forward means you review its diff and merge it yourself.
our verdict
Kangentic is one of the most complete agent boards around: signed apps for Windows and macOS, phone apps and deep column automations, all free. If you'd rather work without a board, Pane is the most direct alternative. Agent Orchestrator if you want a board that reacts to CI. Kandev if you need agents on remote machines now. Paseo if you want no telemetry.
how we checked
We wrote this from Kangentic's README, install guide, changelog, GitHub releases, issue tracker, site and privacy policy, all read on November 5, 2026. We didn't try the app hands-on.
We took Agent Orchestrator, Kandev and Paseo facts from their own docs, releases and issue trackers, researched on October 3, 2026 and rechecked on October 4.
- What we ran
- → Desk research: Kangentic's README, docs, releases, changelog, issue tracker, site and privacy policy, 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 Kangentic 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
By Parsa Khazaeepoul, co-founder of Pane. .