Comparison

Pane vs AI Coding Agents

TL;DR

Pane isn't a coding agent: it doesn't write code or call a model. It's the app you run agents in, like Claude Code, Codex, Aider, OpenCode, Goose or Gemini CLI, each in its own terminal and git worktree, side by side. If an agent runs in a terminal, it runs in Pane, including ones that ship tomorrow.

Pane is not an AI coding agent. It doesn't write code, generate suggestions, or call LLMs. Pane is the tool you use to run, manage, and orchestrate AI coding agents like Claude Code, Aider, OpenCode, Goose, Gemini CLI, and Codex CLI - in parallel, each in its own git worktree.

agents pane works with

agentwhat it doesworks in pane?
claude codeanthropic's CLI agent - edits files, runs commands, builds featuresyes - just run it
codex CLIopenai's open source terminal coding agent, written in rustyes - just run it
aiderAI pair programming in the terminal - works with any LLMyes - just run it
opencodeopen source terminal agent with a full-screen UI, from the Anomaly team (formerly SST); about 212k GitHub starsyes - just run it
gooseopen source agent from the Agentic AI Foundation (started at Block); runs code, calls APIs, MCP-nativeyes - just run it
gemini CLIgoogle's open source CLI agent for gemini models; about 107k GitHub stars. since 2026-06-18 it serves enterprise accounts only; free, Pro and Ultra users moved to the closed-source Antigravity CLIyes - just run it
any future CLI agentwhatever ships tomorrowyes - just run it

platform support

Claude Code, Aider, Codex CLI and OpenCode all run natively on Windows, macOS and Linux. Pane runs all of them on the same platforms: Windows x64 and ARM64, macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux, with no tmux needed. On Windows it can also run them inside WSL for repos you keep there.

the relationship

agents write code. pane manages agents.

Think of Pane like a cockpit and agents like pilots. The cockpit doesn't fly the plane - it gives you visibility and control over everything that does. Pane runs agents in isolated terminals, shows you their diffs, and lets you commit/push/merge from the keyboard.

one agent is fine. five agents need pane.

If you only run one agent on one task, you can use the agent directly in any terminal. But the moment you want to run multiple agents in parallel - Claude Code on feature A, Aider on feature B, Codex on bug fix C - you need something to manage them. That's Pane.

pane doesn't wrap agents

Other tools build custom chat UIs around agents, which means they need to add explicit support for each one. Pane gives every agent a real terminal. If it has a CLI, it works - instantly, with zero integration, no SDK, no plugin. The agent doesn't even know it's running inside Pane.

what pane adds on top

  • → parallel execution - run unlimited agents simultaneously
  • → git worktree isolation - each pane gets its own branch
  • → built-in diff viewer - review agent output with syntax highlighting
  • → full git workflow - commit, push, rebase, squash, merge from keyboard
  • → session persistence - close your laptop, everything's still running
  • → keyboard-first - every action has a shortcut, command palette with ⌘K
  • → cross-platform - windows, mac, linux. same UI everywhere

more comparisons

Pane vs AI IDEsPane vs Terminal MultiplexersPane vs Autonomous AgentsHumanLayerPane vs Herdr
See also: agent manager tools · what is an agent manager

Sources

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

or
Download*
Windows SmartScreen warningDirect downloads can show a SmartScreen warning while Pane is unsigned. Pane is fully open source, so you can audit the code and build from source yourself.1. Click More info2. Click Run anyway3. Continue the installerThe PowerShell install downloads the official release directly and avoids most browser download friction.npm global install
Paste that in PowerShell.Linux

By Parsa Khazaeepoul, co-founder of Pane. .