alternatives
Waku alternatives
TL;DR
Waku (waku.sh) is a free, GPL-3.0 native app that puts Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode, Amp, Pi and five other agents behind one fast, polished chat window, with rewind that undoes code and conversation together. People look elsewhere when they want to supervise several agents at once (Waku shows one transcript at a time, with no grid or orchestration), when they need WSL, which isn't supported, or an agent it doesn't list, like Gemini CLI or Aider. Pane is the closest alternative for parallel work: any CLI agent in its real terminal and its own worktree, side by side, with review, git and an orchestrator, native on Windows and inside WSL. T3 Code and Synara are the picks if you want to stay with a chat view.
the alternatives
Every tool here runs several coding agents. The chips show where each one runs: green is native, amber has a catch, red is no.
1.Pane
Best for many agents side by side, each in its own worktree.
Each agent runs in its own terminal UI and worktree, with split tab groups, a Changes panel, git shortcuts and an orchestrator chat. Any CLI agent. Native on Windows (x64 and ARM64), inside WSL, macOS and Linux. Free, AGPL-3.0, no account.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
2.T3 Code
Best for a fast chat view with phone apps.
MIT, with iOS and Android apps, usage tracking across providers and a commit-message writer. Young at version 0.1.x; its WSL backend crash-looped in our test.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
3.Synara
Best for a polished chat workspace that handles WSL repos.
MIT, no account, with a browser, diffs, stacked PRs and agent-to-agent tools. Launches agents in WSL repos through wsl.exe. Windows installer is unsigned.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
4.Orca
Best for an all-in-one with real terminals or a chat view.
MIT, 40 agents, worktrees, design mode, issue trackers and a phone app. Runs agents inside WSL. Heavy at about 1 GB installed.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
5.Paseo
Best for many agents from desktop, phone, web and CLI.
Apache-2.0 daemon for 40+ agents, with agents that delegate to each other. No account, no telemetry. Agents couldn't run in a WSL repo from the Windows app in our test.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
which one should you pick?
stay with waku if
- → you want the fastest, calmest chat window over Codex, Claude Code or OpenCode
- → you mostly work on one task at a time
- → you want rewind that undoes code and conversation together
- → you want a usage and limits dashboard across agents
pick pane if
- → you run several agents at once and want to see them side by side
- → you want an orchestrator that starts and steers other agents
- → your code lives inside WSL
- → you use Gemini CLI, Aider, Copilot CLI or any other CLI
pane vs waku at a glance
yespartly, or with a catchno
| pane10 yes · 0 partly · 0 no | waku3 yes · 5 partly · 2 no | |
|---|---|---|
| platforms | ||
| Windows | yes, native (x64 and ARM64) | yes (x64 and ARM64), unsigned |
| repos inside WSL | yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro | not supported |
| macOS | yes, Apple Silicon and Intel | Apple Silicon only |
| Linux | yes (AppImage, .deb) | yes (tarball) |
| agents | ||
| agents | any CLI | 11 built in; no Gemini CLI or Aider |
| how agents run | the agent's own terminal UI | Waku's chat view |
| agents that run agents | Sessions | no |
| everyday work | ||
| agents on screen | several, in split tabs | one transcript at a time |
| worktree per task | yes, on by default, cleaned up on archive | optional, undocumented, no cleanup |
| safety and setup | ||
| license | AGPL-3.0, open source | GPL-3.0, open source |
| account needed | no | no |
platforms
Windows
pane
waku
yes (x64 and ARM64), unsignedrepos inside WSL
pane
waku
not supportedmacOS
pane
waku
Apple Silicon onlyLinux
pane
waku
yes (tarball)agents
agents
pane
waku
11 built in; no Gemini CLI or Aiderhow agents run
pane
waku
Waku's chat viewagents that run agents
pane
waku
noeveryday work
agents on screen
pane
waku
one transcript at a timeworktree per task
pane
waku
optional, undocumented, no cleanupsafety and setup
license
pane
waku
GPL-3.0, open sourceaccount needed
pane
waku
noFacts checked on October 3 and 4, 2026 (Waku v0.1.20 and Pane v2.4.157). Rechecked on November 5, 2026 against Waku v0.1.20.
why people look for a waku alternative
Built for one task at a time, in a chat window.
Waku shows one transcript at a time, with no grid, fan-out, orchestration or task board; in our test, finished, idle and waiting tasks looked the same in the sidebar. Its worktree option exists but is undocumented, with no setup scripts or cleanup, and there's no pull request or merge flow.
It speaks each agent's structured protocol rather than showing the agent's own terminal, so Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI, Aider, Goose and Kiro aren't available, and Amp and Pi only run in full access. WSL isn't supported: in our test a worktree on a WSL repo failed. The Mac build is Apple Silicon only, Windows installers are unsigned, and it's a v0.1 project with one main developer.
moving from waku to pane
Your agents and logins carry over. One chat becomes many terminals, side by side.
Waku launches the agent CLIs you've already signed into, and so does Pane. Open your repository in Pane and create a pane per task, or up to five at once: each gets its own worktree and branch, cleaned up when you archive the pane. Start Claude Code, Codex or Cursor with a click, or Amp, OpenCode, Pi, Grok, Kimi or any other CLI as a custom command, each in its own terminal UI.
Split tabs to watch several agents at once; the sidebar shows which are working, done or waiting on you. Review in the Changes panel and commit, push and merge with shortcuts. Pane's orchestrator, Sessions, can start agents in other panes and read back their results. If your repo lives in WSL, everything runs inside the distro.
our verdict
Waku is one of the nicest native chat windows over coding agents, if you work one task at a time. For running many agents in parallel, each in its own worktree and terminal, on every OS including WSL, Pane is the most direct alternative. For another chat view, T3 Code or Synara.
how we checked
On October 3 and 4, 2026 we ran Waku 0.1.20 on Windows 11 with Claude Code and Codex, three tasks in three worktrees, reviewed and committed a change, tried a WSL repo, and ran the Linux build under WSLg. Pane, T3 Code, Orca and Paseo ran on the same PC; Synara's installer was downloaded and scanned there.
Facts about each product come from its own docs, changelog, issue tracker and source code, checked on the same dates.
- What we ran
- → Pane 2.4.155 on Windows 11, native and WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04) repos
- → Waku 0.1.20 on the same PC with Claude Code and Codex, October 3 and 4, 2026
- Who wrote this
- We make Pane, so we have a stake in this. We tried to be fair: Waku'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. .