Is Orca better than Pane?

Orca does more; Pane does less, more simply. Orca has a browser with design mode, issue intake, multi-account usage and a phone app. Pane focuses on agents, worktrees, review, git and an orchestrator, and ships Windows ARM64 builds.

Do Orca and Pane both support WSL?

Yes. Both opened a repo inside WSL and ran the agent in the distro in our test. Orca sets the runtime per project; Pane runs each repo in its own environment.

Which is lighter, Orca or Pane?

Idle memory was similar (Pane 780 MB, Orca 736 MB), but Pane installs at 429 MB against about 1 GB for Orca, with a much smaller settings surface.

Does Orca or Pane have a phone app?

Orca has iOS and Android apps. Pane's phone app is coming soon, and Remote Pane works in a phone browser today.

Are Orca and Pane open source?

Yes. Orca is MIT and Pane is AGPL-3.0. Both are free and need no account for local use.

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 Orca

TL;DR

Orca and Pane are both free, open-source desktop apps that run each coding agent in its own real terminal and git worktree, on Windows, inside WSL, on macOS and on Linux. Orca adds almost everything around that: a browser with design mode, GitHub, Linear and Jira, SSH hosts, cloud VMs, usage meters for many providers, account hot-swap and a phone app. Pane stays focused on agents, worktrees, review and git, with an orchestrator, at under half Orca's install size and with native Windows ARM64 builds. Pick Orca if you want the most features in one window; pick Pane if you want a smaller, steadier app you can learn in an afternoon.

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 orca if

→ you want a browser with design mode and agent-driven UI testing in the same window
→ you start work from GitHub, Linear or Jira and want stacked PRs and checks
→ you juggle several Claude or Codex accounts and want hot-swap and usage meters
→ you want a phone app today

pick pane if

→ you want a focused app: agents, worktrees, review and git
→ you're on Windows ARM64, or a managed Windows PC
→ you'd rather learn a few dozen shortcuts than 32 settings pages
→ you want a smaller install and fewer experimental features

at a glance

yespartly, or with a catchno

	pane11 yes · 3 partly · 0 no	orca12 yes · 2 partly · 0 no
basics
what it is	desktop app: real terminals for agents, side by side	desktop app: terminals, browser, git, issues and more in one window
made by	Dcouple	Stably AI
license	AGPL-3.0, free	MIT, free
platforms
Windows	yes (x64 and ARM64)	yes, signed (x64 only)
repos inside WSL	yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro	yes, per-project runtime
macOS	yes (Apple Silicon and Intel, signed)	yes (Apple Silicon and Intel, signed)
Linux	yes (AppImage, .deb)	yes (AppImage, .deb, .rpm)
installed size (Windows)	429 MB	about 1 GB
idle RAM	780 MB	736 MB
agents
agents	any CLI; Claude Code, Codex, Cursor built in	any CLI; 41 built in
agents that run agents	Sessions, in the stable release	experimental orchestration
usage meters	Claude Code and Codex	about 9 providers, account hot-swap
everyday work
worktree per task	yes	yes, with setup scripts
review and git	Changes panel, diff tabs, git buttons	Source Control panel, AI commit messages, stacked PRs
built-in browser	yes, with DevTools	yes, with design mode
issue trackers	through your agent's MCP servers	GitHub, Linear, Jira built in
remote and teams
phone	iOS and Android app coming soon; browser app via Remote Pane today	iOS and Android apps
safety and setup
settings surface	one settings window	32 settings pages, about 260 controls
analytics	on by default; one switch in Settings	on by default; opt-out in Settings
account needed	no	no (yes for the relay)

basics

what it is

pane

desktop app: real terminals for agents, side by side

orca

desktop app: terminals, browser, git, issues and more in one window

made by

pane

Dcouple

orca

Stably AI

license

pane

AGPL-3.0, free

orca

MIT, free

platforms

Windows

pane

yes (x64 and ARM64)

orca

yes, signed (x64 only)

repos inside WSL

pane

yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro

orca

yes, per-project runtime

macOS

pane

yes (Apple Silicon and Intel, signed)

orca

yes (Apple Silicon and Intel, signed)

Linux

pane

yes (AppImage, .deb)

orca

yes (AppImage, .deb, .rpm)

installed size (Windows)

pane

429 MB

orca

about 1 GB

idle RAM

pane

780 MB

orca

736 MB

agents

pane

any CLI; Claude Code, Codex, Cursor built in

orca

any CLI; 41 built in

agents that run agents

pane

Sessions, in the stable release

orca

experimental orchestration

usage meters

pane

Claude Code and Codex

orca

about 9 providers, account hot-swap

everyday work

worktree per task

pane

yes

orca

yes, with setup scripts

review and git

pane

Changes panel, diff tabs, git buttons

orca

Source Control panel, AI commit messages, stacked PRs

built-in browser

pane

yes, with DevTools

orca

yes, with design mode

issue trackers

pane

through your agent's MCP servers

orca

GitHub, Linear, Jira built in

remote and teams

phone

pane

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

orca

iOS and Android apps

safety and setup

settings surface

pane

one settings window

orca

32 settings pages, about 260 controls

analytics

pane

on by default; one switch in Settings

orca

on by default; opt-out in Settings

account needed

pane

orca

no (yes for the relay)

Facts checked on October 3 and 4, 2026: Orca v1.4.220 and Pane v2.4.157. Sizes and memory measured on the same Windows 11 PC; RAM is the app's own processes, without agents. Rechecked against Orca's site, docs and releases on November 5, 2026: Orca v1.4.249.

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

Orca

2.reviewing the change

Pane

Orca

the real difference: breadth or focus

Orca puts everything in one window. Pane does fewer things and keeps them simple.

On the core both apps agree: a git worktree per task, the agent's real terminal, a diff view and git actions. Orca then builds out in every direction: a browser where you click an element to send it to the agent, issue intake from GitHub, Linear and Jira, SSH hosts and cloud VMs, usage meters and account switching across about nine providers, scheduled automations and a phone app. Many of those are marked experimental or beta and change week to week.

Pane keeps the surface small: panes, terminals, a Changes panel, git shortcuts, a built-in browser, and Sessions, an orchestrator chat that starts and steers agents in other panes. In our test Orca had 32 settings pages with about 260 controls; Pane has one settings window. If you want every tool in one place, Orca wins. If you want to learn the whole app quickly and have it stay the same, Pane does.

windows and wsl

Both handle WSL repos well. Pane also ships ARM64 and avoids Orca's antivirus friction.

Both opened a repo inside WSL and ran the agent in the distro on our PC. Orca's Windows installer is signed and installs per user; Pane's Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so you may see a SmartScreen prompt.

Orca's Windows build is x64 only, and its own documentation describes Microsoft Defender for Endpoint incidents on a managed Windows fleet. You also can't mix Windows and WSL agents in one Orca project. Pane ships native x64 and ARM64 Windows builds, and each repo runs in its own environment, Windows or WSL, side by side in the same window.

size and pace

Similar memory at idle, but Orca installs at more than twice Pane's size and changes much faster.

On the same Windows 11 PC, Orca's idle memory (736 MB) was close to Pane's (780 MB), but its install came to about 1 GB against Pane's 429 MB. Orca ships nearly every day, with 7,460 open issues and pull requests in October 2026; Pane also releases often but keeps its feature set narrower.

our verdict

Orca is the broadest free agent workspace, and its core is excellent. If you want design mode, issue intake, multi-account usage and a phone app in one window, pick Orca. If you want the same worktree-and-terminal core in a smaller, steadier app, with native Windows ARM64, pick Pane.

how we checked

On October 3 and 4, 2026 we ran Orca 1.4.220 and Pane 2.4.155 on the same Windows 11 PC with real Claude Code and Codex agents, including a repo inside WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04), gave both the same small task, and measured install size and idle memory.

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
→ Orca 1.4.220 on the same PC with real Claude Code and Codex agents
→ The same small task in both

Who wrote this

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