Comparison
Pane vs Tabby
TL;DR
Tabby is a terminal you use everywhere. Pane is how you use one machine from everywhere. Both are free and open source, and many people run both.
At a glance
| Tabby | Pane | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Open source | Yes | Yes, AGPL-3.0 |
| Desktop | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Phone | No native app. Tabby Web, a separate browser version, runs SSH through a connection gateway you set up | Browser app built for phones, with live agent status |
| Built on | Electron + xterm.js | Electron + xterm.js |
| SSH profiles | Yes, with SFTP | Remote hosts over Tailscale or an SSH tunnel |
| Remote files | SFTP panel | File browser, editor, media previews |
| Remote dev servers | Port forwarding by hand | Automatic at localhost on a connected desktop; phones open them in a browser tab |
| Coding agents | Runs them in a terminal | Manages them: worktrees, status, alerts |
| Local terminal use | Its main job | Yes, plus git worktree isolation per task |
Price
- Tabby
- Free
- Pane
- Free
Open source
- Tabby
- Yes
- Pane
- Yes, AGPL-3.0
Desktop
- Tabby
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Pane
- Windows, macOS, Linux
Phone
- Tabby
- No native app. Tabby Web, a separate browser version, runs SSH through a connection gateway you set up
- Pane
- Browser app built for phones, with live agent status
Built on
- Tabby
- Electron + xterm.js
- Pane
- Electron + xterm.js
SSH profiles
- Tabby
- Yes, with SFTP
- Pane
- Remote hosts over Tailscale or an SSH tunnel
Remote files
- Tabby
- SFTP panel
- Pane
- File browser, editor, media previews
Remote dev servers
- Tabby
- Port forwarding by hand
- Pane
- Automatic at
localhoston a connected desktop; phones open them in a browser tab
Coding agents
- Tabby
- Runs them in a terminal
- Pane
- Manages them: worktrees, status, alerts
Local terminal use
- Tabby
- Its main job
- Pane
- Yes, plus git worktree isolation per task
Where Tabby wins
- A general-purpose terminal. Serial ports, Telnet, local shells and many SSH profiles in one place.
- Customization. Themes, plugins and fine-grained terminal settings.
Where Pane wins
- Working on another machine. Its terminals, files and dev servers, from your laptop or phone.
- Coding agents in parallel. Each task gets its own branch, and you see which agent needs you.
- Phone access built for a phone screen, with live agent status and no gateway to run.
Use both
Tabby stays your daily terminal. Pane is for the dev machine and your agents. Same rendering engine, so terminals feel the same in either.
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
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. .