What's the difference between Pane and MonoCode?

MonoCode is a chat GUI with a tab per agent session. Pane runs any agent in its real terminal, each task in its own worktree, with git controls and an orchestrator.

Which agents does MonoCode support?

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Grok Build, Pi, omp, Hermes, Antigravity, fx and Devin. Pane runs any CLI agent.

Does MonoCode support WSL?

No WSL support is documented. Pane runs agents, terminals and git inside your WSL distro.

Does MonoCode create a worktree per task?

Optionally. Pane creates one for every pane, with .env copying and per-pane ports.

Are Pane and MonoCode open source?

Yes. MonoCode is MIT and Pane is AGPL-3.0. Neither needs an account.

Can I use my Claude or ChatGPT subscription with both?

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

comparison

Pane vs MonoCode

TL;DR

MonoCode (usemono.dev) is a free, MIT-licensed desktop app that puts Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Grok Build, Pi, omp, Hermes and three other agents behind one chat window with tabs, an editor, a terminal, a git panel and usage meters across accounts. Pane is a free, AGPL-3.0 desktop app that runs any CLI agent in its own terminal and its own worktree, with a Changes panel, git buttons and an orchestrator. MonoCode is a light chat GUI that's still early by its own account; Pane is built for running several isolated tasks at once. Pick MonoCode for a simple chat over the agents it supports; pick Pane for any agent, a worktree per task, and WSL.

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

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which one should you pick?

pick monocode if

→ you want one light chat window for the agents it supports
→ you juggle several Claude or Codex accounts and want usage visible
→ you triage issues from GitHub, Linear, Jira, GitLab or Azure DevOps
→ you're comfortable with early software that changes fast

pick pane if

→ you want any CLI agent, including Gemini CLI, Amp, Aider or Copilot CLI
→ you want a worktree per task by default, with setup handled
→ your code lives inside WSL
→ you want each agent's own terminal UI

at a glance

yespartly, or with a catchno

	pane12 yes · 1 partly · 0 no	monocode5 yes · 6 partly · 2 no
basics
what it is	desktop app: real terminals for agents, side by side	desktop app: a chat GUI with a tab per agent session
made by	Dcouple	a solo developer
license	AGPL-3.0, free	MIT, free
maturity	v2.4	v0.16, "still early"
platforms
Windows	yes (x64 and ARM64)	x64, not code-signed
repos inside WSL	yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro	not supported
macOS	yes	yes
Linux	yes (x64 and ARM64)	x64 only (deb, AppImage, rpm)
agents
agents	any CLI	11 built in; no outside providers for now
how agents run	the agent's own terminal UI	MonoCode's chat view
agents that run agents	Sessions, each worker in its own worktree	a lead and a few workers in one checkout
usage meters	Claude Code and Codex	several providers and accounts
everyday work
worktree per task	yes, on by default	optional
worktree setup	copies .env and config, assigns ports	none
review and git	Changes panel, commit, push, merge	git panel with staged and unstaged diffs, hunk staging
safety and setup
account needed	no	no

basics

what it is

pane

desktop app: real terminals for agents, side by side

monocode

desktop app: a chat GUI with a tab per agent session

made by

pane

Dcouple

monocode

a solo developer

license

pane

AGPL-3.0, free

monocode

MIT, free

maturity

pane

v2.4

monocode

v0.16, "still early"

platforms

Windows

pane

yes (x64 and ARM64)

monocode

x64, not code-signed

repos inside WSL

pane

yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro

monocode

not supported

macOS

pane

yes

monocode

yes

Linux

pane

yes (x64 and ARM64)

monocode

x64 only (deb, AppImage, rpm)

agents

pane

any CLI

monocode

11 built in; no outside providers for now

how agents run

pane

the agent's own terminal UI

monocode

MonoCode's chat view

agents that run agents

pane

Sessions, each worker in its own worktree

monocode

a lead and a few workers in one checkout

usage meters

pane

Claude Code and Codex

monocode

several providers and accounts

everyday work

worktree per task

pane

yes, on by default

monocode

optional

worktree setup

pane

copies .env and config, assigns ports

monocode

none

review and git

pane

Changes panel, commit, push, merge

monocode

git panel with staged and unstaged diffs, hunk staging

safety and setup

account needed

pane

monocode

Facts checked on October 3 and 4, 2026: MonoCode v0.7.0 and Pane v2.4.157. Rechecked against MonoCode's site, docs and releases on November 5, 2026: MonoCode v0.16.0.

the real difference: chat tabs or terminal panes

MonoCode puts agents in chat tabs. Pane puts each agent in its own terminal and worktree.

MonoCode talks to each of its 11 agents through a structured adapter and shows the conversation as chat, with tabs as sessions, a composer, an editor, a terminal and a git panel. A single maintainer writes most of it and isn't accepting new providers, and its README says it's still early.

Pane runs any CLI agent in a real terminal, exactly as it looks in a shell, in a pane that's also a worktree and branch. You get the agent's own commands and shortcuts, plain terminals next to it, and a Changes panel for that pane's work only.

worktrees and orchestration

MonoCode's worktrees are optional and its workers share a checkout. Pane isolates every task.

MonoCode sessions can use the current checkout, an existing worktree, or a draft workspace that creates one; there are no setup scripts, env-file copying or port allocation, and its orchestration runs a lead and a few workers in the same checkout. In Pane, every pane is a worktree with .env and config copied in and its own port block, and Sessions starts each worker agent in its own pane.

platforms

MonoCode has no WSL story. Pane runs agents inside WSL and ships ARM64.

MonoCode's Windows build is x64 only and not code-signed, Linux downloads are x64 only, and nothing in its docs covers WSL. Pane ships x64 and ARM64 builds for Windows and Linux, signed Mac builds, and runs agents, terminals and git inside WSL for repos that live there.

our verdict

MonoCode is a promising, free chat window for a set of agents, with useful multi-account usage meters. If you want any agent, a real worktree for every task and first-class WSL, Pane is the better fit.

how we checked

We didn't run MonoCode hands-on. On October 3 and 4, 2026 we read its README, changelog, release assets, release workflow and source. Pane 2.4.155 ran on Windows 11 with WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04).

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
→ MonoCode checked from its README, changelog, release assets and source

Who wrote this

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