alternatives
Zeron alternatives
TL;DR
Zeron (zeron.sh) is a free, MIT desktop app that drives Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Devin, Grok, Hermes, Pi and Antigravity from one window. It's built in Rust on GPUI, the UI toolkit behind the Zed editor, and users on its homepage praise how fast it feels. It needs no account; signing in only adds sync between your devices.
It's a 0.2 beta, and the gaps show. Mac builds are Apple Silicon only, Windows gets x86_64 installers, but its "Add Windows support" issue is still open, there's no SSH yet, and agents run as chats instead of their own terminals. Pane gives every agent its real terminal on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, Windows x64 and ARM64, Linux and WSL.
the alternatives
Each pick below covers a different Zeron gap. Chip colors: green runs natively, amber has a catch, red doesn't run.
1.Pane
Best for each agent's real terminal, on Intel Macs and Windows on ARM too.
Every pane runs the agent's own CLI, the same screen you'd see in your shell, in a worktree of its own. Remote Pane reaches a machine you own over Tailscale, SSH or HTTPS, and an iOS app is in early access. Free, AGPL-3.0, no account.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
2.Emdash
Best for real agent CLIs on SSH hosts.
SSH remote projects are a core feature: the repo, worktrees and agents live on the host, and only the window is local. Agents run as their real CLI in a terminal tab, or as a chat if you prefer. Intel and Apple Silicon Mac builds, Windows x64, Apache-2.0. No phone or web app.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
3.Orca
Best for real terminals, SSH hosts and a phone app in one.
Every agent gets a real terminal in its own worktree. It reaches SSH hosts, has an iOS app and an Android APK, and ships Intel and Apple Silicon Macs plus a signed Windows x64 build. MIT. It's a big app: about 1 GB installed in our Windows test.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
4.Paseo
Best for following your agents from a phone, a browser or another machine.
A background service (a daemon) runs your agents, and desktop, phone, web and CLI apps connect to it, over SSH too. Builds cover Intel Macs and Windows x64 and ARM64. Like Zeron, it shows agents in its own view. Its built-in terminals are for running a CLI by hand. Apache-2.0.
WindowsWSLmacOSLinux
which one should you pick?
stay with zeron if
- → speed and a smooth native window matter most to you
- → you're on an Apple Silicon Mac or Linux and like reading agents as a chat
- → you want to start a session at your desk and pick it up on another signed-in device
pick pane if
- → you want to see and type into each agent's own terminal
- → you're on an Intel Mac or Windows on ARM
- → you want to reach agents on another machine over SSH today
pane vs zeron at a glance
yespartly, or with a catchno
| pane8 yes · 0 partly · 0 no | zeron3 yes · 4 partly · 0 no | |
|---|---|---|
| platforms | ||
| Windows | yes, native (x64 and ARM64) | x86_64 builds; support issue still open |
| repos inside WSL | yes, in the same app | not documented |
| macOS | yes, Intel and Apple Silicon | Apple Silicon only |
| Linux | yes (AppImage, .deb) | yes (tar.gz, x86_64 and aarch64) |
| agents | ||
| how agents run | the agent's own terminal | a chat, through each agent's programmatic mode |
| remote and teams | ||
| other machines | Remote Pane over Tailscale, SSH or HTTPS | sync between signed-in devices; no SSH yet |
| safety and setup | ||
| license | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| account needed | no | no, only for sync |
platforms
Windows
pane
zeron
x86_64 builds; support issue still openrepos inside WSL
pane
zeron
not documentedmacOS
pane
zeron
Apple Silicon onlyLinux
pane
zeron
yes (tar.gz, x86_64 and aarch64)agents
how agents run
pane
zeron
a chat, through each agent's programmatic moderemote and teams
other machines
pane
zeron
sync between signed-in devices; no SSH yetsafety and setup
license
pane
zeron
MITaccount needed
pane
zeron
no, only for syncZeron facts checked on November 5, 2026 (v0.2.136), from its README, architecture doc and releases.
why people look for a zeron alternative
Agents run as chats, Macs need Apple Silicon, Windows is new, and SSH hasn't landed.
Zeron is at version 0.2 and ships several beta builds a day. Its Mac download is an Apple Silicon .dmg, with no Intel build. Windows gets x86_64 installers, but issue #121, "Add Windows support", is still open, and another reports missing window-control icons. Claude Code runs through its stream-json mode and Codex through its app-server, so you read a transcript, not the agent's own screen. Requests for SSH remotes are open too.
moving from zeron to pane
Each Zeron workspace becomes a pane, and the chat becomes the agent's own terminal.
Each Zeron workspace becomes a pane (one task: its own terminal, worktree and branch). The chat view becomes the agent's real terminal, and branch diffs move to the Changes panel, where you commit, push and merge. Pane has no sign-in sync. The closest match is Remote Pane: Pane's host on a machine you own, reached from the desktop or browser app. Your CLIs and logins carry over: Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode start with a click, and Pi, Hermes or any other CLI runs as a custom command.
our verdict
Free plus MIT makes it easy to try. Its beta gaps are what send people looking. For real agent terminals on any Mac, Windows on ARM or WSL, pick Pane. Emdash runs the real CLIs on SSH hosts, Orca adds a phone app to SSH, and Paseo lets you follow agents from any device.
how we checked
Zeron has no docs site, so on November 5, 2026 we worked from its README, its ARCHITECTURE.md, the homepage and footer, the v0.2.136 release files and its issues. Nothing was installed.
Emdash, Orca and Paseo are covered by research we did in early October 2026. The 1 GB figure for Orca is what its Windows build took up when we installed it then.
- What we ran
- → Desk research on November 5, 2026: Zeron's README, architecture doc, homepage, releases and issue tracker. Nothing was installed for this page.
- Who wrote this
- We make Pane, so we have a stake in this. We checked every claim about Zeron 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. .