What's the difference between Pane and Kandev?

Kandev is a self-hosted Kanban that moves agents through gated steps. Pane is a desktop app that runs each agent in its own terminal and worktree, with git controls and an orchestrator.

Does Kandev work on Windows?

It has a native Windows app, but agents failed to start there in our test, and its maintainers have called Windows support subpar. Running Kandev inside WSL worked well. Pane is a native Windows app that also handles WSL repos.

Can Kandev run agents on servers?

Yes: Docker, SSH hosts, Kubernetes and Sprites. Pane runs agents on your machine, or on another machine through a Remote Pane host.

Does Pane have workflow steps like Kandev?

Not as a board. Pane's Sessions orchestrator can run a planner, implementer and reviewer across panes for you.

Are Pane and Kandev open source?

Yes, both are AGPL-3.0 and free.

Can I use my Claude or ChatGPT subscription with both?

Yes. Both run the official agent CLIs with your existing logins.

comparison · hands-on

Pane vs Kandev

TL;DR

Kandev and Pane are both free and AGPL-3.0, and both give each task its own git worktree. Kandev is a server with a web UI and a desktop shell: a Kanban where each card moves through steps like plan, build, review and PR, with a different agent per step, human gates, and runners on Docker, SSH or Kubernetes. Pane is a desktop app where each agent runs in its real terminal, several side by side, with a Changes panel, git shortcuts and an orchestrator chat. Pick Kandev for structured pipelines and running agents on servers; pick Pane for hands-on parallel work, especially on native Windows, where Kandev's agents failed to start in our test.

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which one should you pick?

pick kandev if

→ you want a gated pipeline (plan, implement, review, PR, CI fix) with a different agent per step
→ you run agents on servers, containers or Kubernetes rather than your laptop
→ you want a self-hosted team board you can reach from your phone
→ you work on macOS, Linux or inside WSL

pick pane if

→ you develop natively on Windows, or mix Windows and WSL repos
→ you want each agent's own terminal UI rather than a chat
→ you'd rather install a desktop app than run a web server
→ you want fewer settings to learn

at a glance

yespartly, or with a catchno

	pane11 yes · 3 partly · 0 no	kandev9 yes · 5 partly · 0 no
basics
what it is	desktop app: real terminals for agents, side by side	server with a web UI and desktop shell: an agent Kanban
license	AGPL-3.0, free	AGPL-3.0, free
maturity	v2.4	v0.98, releases every few weeks
platforms
Windows	yes (x64 and ARM64)	x64, unsigned; agents failed to start in our test
repos inside WSL	yes, in the same app	a separate install inside WSL
macOS	yes, signed	yes, unsigned builds
Linux	yes (AppImage, .deb)	yes (AppImage, .deb, .rpm)
agents
agents	any CLI	about 24 through ACP; others as passthrough
how agents run	the agent's own terminal UI	an ACP chat, or a passthrough terminal
where agents run	your machine, or a Remote Pane host	local, Docker, SSH, Kubernetes, Sprites
everyday work
worktree per task	yes	yes
workflow steps	Sessions orchestrator	Kanban pipelines with gates and templates
review	Changes panel, commit, push, merge	diff with reviewed tracking, comments to the agent, commit and PR
remote and teams
phone	iOS and Android app coming soon; browser app via Remote Pane today	responsive web UI
safety and setup
network default	local app	CLI binds all interfaces, no auth
account needed	no	no

basics

what it is

pane

desktop app: real terminals for agents, side by side

kandev

server with a web UI and desktop shell: an agent Kanban

license

pane

AGPL-3.0, free

kandev

AGPL-3.0, free

maturity

pane

v2.4

kandev

v0.98, releases every few weeks

platforms

Windows

pane

yes (x64 and ARM64)

kandev

x64, unsigned; agents failed to start in our test

repos inside WSL

pane

yes, in the same app

kandev

a separate install inside WSL

macOS

pane

yes, signed

kandev

yes, unsigned builds

Linux

pane

yes (AppImage, .deb)

kandev

yes (AppImage, .deb, .rpm)

agents

pane

any CLI

kandev

about 24 through ACP; others as passthrough

how agents run

pane

the agent's own terminal UI

kandev

an ACP chat, or a passthrough terminal

where agents run

pane

your machine, or a Remote Pane host

kandev

local, Docker, SSH, Kubernetes, Sprites

everyday work

worktree per task

pane

yes

kandev

yes

workflow steps

pane

Sessions orchestrator

kandev

Kanban pipelines with gates and templates

review

pane

Changes panel, commit, push, merge

kandev

diff with reviewed tracking, comments to the agent, commit and PR

remote and teams

phone

pane

iOS and Android app coming soon; browser app via Remote Pane today

kandev

responsive web UI

safety and setup

network default

pane

local app

kandev

CLI binds all interfaces, no auth

account needed

pane

kandev

Facts checked on October 3 and 4, 2026: Kandev v0.97.0 (tested 0.96.0) and Pane v2.4.157. Rechecked against Kandev's site, docs and releases on November 5, 2026: Kandev v0.98.0.

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

Kandev

2.reviewing the change

Pane

Kandev

the real difference: pipeline or panes

Kandev runs a process. Pane runs agents you steer.

Kandev is built around a gated process: a card moves through steps, each step can use a different agent and prompt, and humans approve the hand-offs. It can wake agents on pull request events, run them in containers, on SSH hosts or in Kubernetes, and serve a team board you reach from a browser or phone. It has a big surface: 21 settings pages, and many features marked limited or experimental.

Pane is built around panes: each task is a worktree with the agent's own terminal, extra terminals and a Changes panel, and you watch several at once. For a plan, build, review sequence, its orchestrator, Sessions, can start a planner in one pane, hand the plan to an implementer in another and ask a third agent to review.

windows and wsl

Kandev works best inside WSL. Pane works natively and with WSL repos in one app.

Kandev's maintainers called its Windows support subpar in May 2026. On native Windows in our test, both agents failed their checks and Claude Code wouldn't start; the full journey only worked inside WSL, which is a separate Kandev installation you open in a browser. Pane ships native x64 and ARM64 Windows builds, and runs agents, terminals and git inside WSL for repos that live there, side by side with Windows repos.

agents

Kandev prefers ACP chat. Pane shows each agent's own terminal.

Kandev drives most agents through the Agent Client Protocol as a structured chat, with Claude Code needing an extra ACP bridge, and offers the agent's own terminal UI as a passthrough mode that loses the board's structured features. Pane runs every agent's own CLI in a real terminal, with no bridge to install.

our verdict

Kandev is one of the most complete self-hosted agent boards, ideal for structured pipelines and server-side runners. If you want a desktop app where every agent runs in its real terminal and Windows and WSL both just work, Pane is the better fit.

how we checked

On October 3 and 4, 2026 we ran Kandev 0.96.0 inside WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04) with a real Claude Code task through review and commit, and installed its native Windows CLI and desktop app, where agents failed to start. Pane 2.4.155 ran on the same Windows 11 PC.

Facts about each product come from its own docs, release notes, 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
→ Kandev 0.96.0 in WSL2, plus its native Windows CLI and desktop app
→ The same small task in both

Who wrote this

We make Pane, so we have a stake in this. We tried to be fair: Kandev'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

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By Parsa Khazaeepoul, co-founder of Pane. Last reviewed November 5, 2026.