comparison · hands-on
Pane vs Agent Orchestrator
TL;DR
Agent Orchestrator (AO) is a free, Apache-2.0 desktop app built around a Kanban of agents and a pull request loop: each task runs in its own worktree, and failing CI and review comments go back to the agent that wrote the code. Pane is a free, AGPL-3.0 desktop app where you drive agents yourself: any CLI agent in its real terminal and worktree, several on screen at once, with commit, push and merge on shortcuts and an orchestrator chat. Pick AO if your work flows through GitHub or GitLab PRs and you want that loop automated. Pick Pane if you keep code in WSL, use agents AO has no adapter for, or want to review and ship from the app yourself.
which one should you pick?
pick agent orchestrator if
- → your work goes task, PR, CI, merge, and you want failures sent back to the agent automatically
- → you like a board that shows which tasks are building, in review or ready
- → you use niche agents AO ships adapters for, like Kimi, Qwen, Droid or Kiro
- → you want a phone app and scheduled agent runs
pick pane if
- → your code lives inside WSL
- → you want any CLI agent, including ones without an adapter
- → you want several live agent terminals side by side
- → you want to commit, push and merge yourself, and work in repos without a remote
at a glance
yespartly, or with a catchno
| pane14 yes · 3 partly · 0 no | agent orchestrator9 yes · 7 partly · 1 no | |
|---|---|---|
| basics | ||
| what it is | desktop app: real terminals for agents, side by side | desktop app: a Kanban of agents with a PR feedback loop |
| made by | Dcouple | Orchestrator.inc (started at Composio) |
| license | AGPL-3.0, free | Apache-2.0, free |
| maturity | v2.4 | v0.13, rewritten in June 2026 |
| platforms | ||
| Windows | yes (x64 and ARM64) | yes (x64 only) |
| repos inside WSL | yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro | not supported |
| macOS | yes | yes |
| Linux | yes (x64 and ARM64) | yes (x64) |
| agents | ||
| agents | any CLI; Claude Code, Codex, Cursor built in | 36 adapters; no custom command |
| how agents run | the agent's own terminal UI | terminal UI or a chat view, per agent |
| live sessions on screen | several, in split tabs | one, next to the board |
| lead agent | Sessions | an orchestrator agent that plans and spawns workers |
| everyday work | ||
| worktree per task | yes | yes |
| repo without a remote | yes | asks you to create a GitHub repo |
| commit, push, merge | buttons and shortcuts | the agent commits; squash merge in the UI |
| CI and review feedback | Sessions sees PR checks and conflicts | sent back to the agent automatically |
| scheduled runs | through runpane and your own cron | built-in automations |
| remote and teams | ||
| phone | iOS and Android app coming soon; browser app via Remote Pane today | iOS and Android apps, at home or away |
| safety and setup | ||
| analytics | on by default; one switch in Settings | on by default; includes your GitHub username; one switch in Settings |
| account needed | no | no (yes for AO Cloud) |
basics
what it is
pane
agent orchestrator
desktop app: a Kanban of agents with a PR feedback loopmade by
pane
agent orchestrator
Orchestrator.inc (started at Composio)license
pane
agent orchestrator
Apache-2.0, freematurity
pane
agent orchestrator
v0.13, rewritten in June 2026platforms
Windows
pane
agent orchestrator
yes (x64 only)repos inside WSL
pane
agent orchestrator
not supportedmacOS
pane
agent orchestrator
yesLinux
pane
agent orchestrator
yes (x64)agents
agents
pane
agent orchestrator
36 adapters; no custom commandhow agents run
pane
agent orchestrator
terminal UI or a chat view, per agentlive sessions on screen
pane
agent orchestrator
one, next to the boardlead agent
pane
agent orchestrator
an orchestrator agent that plans and spawns workerseveryday work
worktree per task
pane
agent orchestrator
yesrepo without a remote
pane
agent orchestrator
asks you to create a GitHub repocommit, push, merge
pane
agent orchestrator
the agent commits; squash merge in the UICI and review feedback
pane
agent orchestrator
sent back to the agent automaticallyscheduled runs
pane
agent orchestrator
built-in automationsremote and teams
phone
pane
agent orchestrator
iOS and Android apps, at home or awaysafety and setup
analytics
pane
agent orchestrator
on by default; includes your GitHub username; one switch in Settingsaccount needed
pane
agent orchestrator
no (yes for AO Cloud)Facts checked on October 3 and 4, 2026: Agent Orchestrator v0.13.3 and Pane v2.4.157. Rechecked against Agent Orchestrator's site, docs and releases on November 5, 2026: Agent Orchestrator v0.14.9.
what it's like to use
We gave both apps the same small job in a test repo: add a --version flag to a CLI, then review the change. Here's what you see. Green notes work well, blue ones are nice touches, amber ones are confusing, and red ones are missing or broken.
1.agents at work
Pane
Agent Orchestrator
2.reviewing the change
Pane
Agent Orchestrator
the real difference: automated loop or hands-on control
AO automates the pull request loop. Pane gives you the controls and an orchestrator to help.
AO is shaped around task, pull request, CI, merge. The board's columns come from what's actually happening on the PR, and when checks fail or a reviewer comments, AO sends that back to the agent that wrote the code. Commits and PRs are left to the agent, and merge in the UI is squash-only. It wanted a GitHub remote before a task would run in our test.
Pane puts you at the controls: each task is a pane with its own worktree, the agent's own terminal and a Changes panel, and you commit, push and merge with shortcuts, with or without a remote. Its orchestrator, Sessions, can start and steer agents in other panes and is told when their pull requests get check results or conflicts, but it doesn't run a board on its own.
agents
AO runs 36 agents through adapters. Pane runs anything you can type in a terminal.
AO compiles an adapter for each agent into its daemon, which gives it Kanban-aware status and a chat view for some, but means an agent without an adapter can't run. Pane starts any command in a real terminal, with Claude Code, Codex and Cursor one click away, so a brand-new agent works the day it ships.
windows and wsl
AO is native-only on Windows. Pane runs agents inside WSL from the Windows app.
AO's Windows build is x64 only and doesn't support repos or agents inside WSL; its installer spec says it won't install agents there. Pane ships x64 and ARM64 Windows builds and, for a repo inside WSL, runs the agent, terminals and git inside the distro.
our verdict
If your team ships through pull requests and wants CI failures and review comments routed back to agents automatically, Agent Orchestrator is built for exactly that. If you want to drive agents yourself, use any CLI, keep code in WSL and ship from the app, Pane is the better fit.
how we checked
On October 4, 2026 we ran Agent Orchestrator 0.13.3 on Windows 11 with three Claude Code tasks in parallel and reviewed the result, and ran Pane 2.4.155 on the same PC, including a repo inside WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04).
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
- → Agent Orchestrator 0.13.3 on the same PC with three Claude Code tasks
- → The same small task in both
- Who wrote this
- We make Pane, so we have a stake in this. We tried to be fair: Agent Orchestrator'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. .