alternatives
Reliant alternatives
TL;DR
Reliant (reliantlabs.io) is a desktop app and cloud service with its own coding agent, where you chain agent steps into YAML workflows, such as three agents building the same thing and a reviewer picking one, with durable runs on Temporal. People look elsewhere because it can't run Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or other agent CLIs as agents, its agent loop and model calls go through Reliant's servers, an account is required, it's source-available rather than open source, and the product is pre-launch with shifting pricing. Pane is the closest alternative if you want your own agents: Claude Code, Codex and any other CLI in their real terminals and worktrees, run locally, with an orchestrator that can split, compare and review work across panes. Kandev is the pick if multi-step workflows are what you want to keep.
the alternatives
Every tool here runs the agent CLIs you already use, several at once. The chips show where each one runs: green is native, amber has a catch, red is no.
1.Pane
Best for your own agent CLIs, side by side, locally.
Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or any other CLI, each in its own terminal UI and worktree, with up to five panes from one base for best-of-N, a Changes panel, git shortcuts and an orchestrator chat. Free, AGPL-3.0, no account.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
2.Kandev
Best for multi-step workflows over your own agents, self-hosted.
AGPL-3.0 task board where each card moves through plan, build, review and PR, with a different agent per step, human gates and templates. Runs on Docker, SSH or Kubernetes too.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
3.Omnigent
Best for a lead agent with cross-vendor review and guardrails.
Databricks' Apache-2.0 server: a lead agent hands work to Claude Code, Codex and others in worktrees and has another vendor review each result, with cost caps and sandboxes. Alpha.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
4.Agent Orchestrator
Best for a reviewer agent per commit and CI fed back to agents.
Apache-2.0 desktop app with a live Kanban of agents in worktrees and automatic review and CI feedback loops. Doesn't handle repos inside WSL.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
5.Orca
Best for an all-in-one over 40 agent CLIs.
MIT, real terminals in worktrees, a browser, issue trackers, an experimental orchestrator and a phone app. Heavy at about 1 GB installed.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
which one should you pick?
stay with reliant if
- → you want to encode your AI dev process as versioned YAML workflows with loops and gates
- → you're happy with Reliant's own agent and your API keys
- → you want runs to survive laptop sleep on hosted machines
- → a cloud service between you and the model is fine
pick pane if
- → you want to keep using Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or OpenCode as they are
- → your code and prompts shouldn't pass through another company's servers
- → you want no account and open source
- → your code lives inside WSL
pane vs reliant at a glance
yespartly, or with a catchno
| pane9 yes · 1 partly · 0 no | reliant4 yes · 3 partly · 3 no | |
|---|---|---|
| platforms | ||
| Windows | yes, native (x64 and ARM64) | yes, signed |
| repos inside WSL | yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro | not documented |
| macOS | yes | yes |
| Linux | yes (AppImage, .deb) | yes |
| agents | ||
| agents | any CLI, including Claude Code and Codex | its own agent only |
| where the agent runs | on your machine | through Reliant's cloud |
| everyday work | ||
| multi-step workflows | Sessions orchestrator and runpane CLI | YAML workflows with loops and gates |
| worktree per task | yes, on by default | yes, as workspaces you create |
| safety and setup | ||
| license | AGPL-3.0, open source | BSL 1.1, source-available |
| account needed | no | yes (anonymous allowed) |
platforms
Windows
pane
reliant
yes, signedrepos inside WSL
pane
reliant
not documentedmacOS
pane
reliant
yesLinux
pane
reliant
yesagents
agents
pane
reliant
its own agent onlywhere the agent runs
pane
reliant
through Reliant's cloudeveryday work
multi-step workflows
pane
reliant
YAML workflows with loops and gatesworktree per task
pane
reliant
yes, as workspaces you createsafety and setup
license
pane
reliant
BSL 1.1, source-availableaccount needed
pane
reliant
yes (anonymous allowed)Facts checked on October 3 and 4, 2026 (Reliant v1.7.16 and Pane v2.4.157). Rechecked on November 5, 2026 against Reliant v1.8.18.
why people look for a reliant alternative
Its own agent, its own cloud, and pre-launch churn.
Reliant is its own agent loop: it can't run Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode or other CLIs as agents, so their features and updates don't apply. The agent loop, model calls and terminal connection go through Reliant's servers, and an account is required, even if it's an anonymous one; in our test the app wouldn't open a project until we connected an account and a model provider.
It's licensed under the Business Source License, not open source. Mid-2026 releases didn't render or pointed at a dead backend, the repo's own guide says it hasn't launched, and its pricing has changed several times in 2026. It reads its own reliant.md, not AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md (a one-time import copies them in), and WSL isn't documented.
moving from reliant to pane
Bring your own agents. Workflows become panes an orchestrator can drive.
Install Pane, open your repository and create a pane per task: each gets its own worktree and branch. Start Claude Code, Codex or Cursor with a click, or any other CLI as a custom command, each with its own login, settings, AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md. For a best-of-N run, create up to five panes from the same base, give each agent the same prompt, and compare their diffs.
For workflow-style runs, Pane's orchestrator, Sessions, can start a planner, hand the plan to implementers in other panes, ask another agent to review, and loop through the runpane CLI, with named locks to keep workers apart. Review in the Changes panel and commit, push and merge with shortcuts. Everything runs on your machine; agents talk only to their own providers.
our verdict
Reliant's workflow-as-code idea is genuinely interesting, but it comes with its own agent and its own cloud. If you want to run the agents you already use, locally, Pane is the most direct alternative. For structured multi-step workflows over your own agents, Kandev or Omnigent.
how we checked
On October 4, 2026 we installed Reliant 1.7.16 on Windows 11 and ran its tools daemon in WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04); onboarding requires a cloud account and a model provider before you can open a project, which we don't connect for these tests, so the rest comes from its docs, release notes, licence and source. Pane, Kandev, Omnigent, Agent Orchestrator and Orca ran on the same PC.
Facts about each product come from its own docs, release notes, issue tracker and source code, checked on October 3 and 4, 2026.
- What we ran
- → Pane 2.4.155 on Windows 11, native and WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04) repos
- → Reliant 1.7.16 installed on the same PC up to its account and provider wall, October 4, 2026
- Who wrote this
- We make Pane, so we have a stake in this. We tried to be fair: Reliant's strengths are listed as plainly as Pane's, every claim was checked against the product itself or its docs and source, and the screenshots are unedited captures from our own runs.
- 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
more comparisons
By Parsa Khazaeepoul, co-founder of Pane. .