What's the difference between Pane and Tortie?

Tortie keeps every agent terminal alive in one calm Mac window. Pane gives each task its own worktree and agent terminal, with notifications and an orchestrator, on every OS.

Does Tortie run on Windows, Linux or Intel Macs?

No. Tortie is Apple Silicon only. Pane runs on all three, plus WSL.

Does Tortie use worktrees?

No; agents in a project share one checkout. Pane creates a worktree for every pane.

Do agents keep running when I quit?

In Tortie, yes, in its private tmux server. Pane brings back layout, scrollback and agent sessions when you reopen it.

Are Pane and Tortie open source?

Yes. Tortie is Apache-2.0 and Pane is AGPL-3.0.

Can I use my Claude or ChatGPT subscription with both?

Yes. Both run the official agent CLIs with your existing logins; Tortie can also switch between several Claude or Codex accounts.

comparison

Pane vs Tortie

TL;DR

Tortie (tortie.sh) is a free, Apache-2.0 Mac app that keeps every coding-agent terminal for every project in one calm window, with a file tree, editor, git panel and diffs, a private tmux server that keeps agents running when the app quits, and tools like a context inspector and a "catch me up" reader. Pane is a free, AGPL-3.0 desktop app that gives each task its own worktree and agent terminal, with a Changes panel, git buttons, notifications and an orchestrator, on Windows, WSL, Linux and Mac. Pick Tortie on an Apple Silicon Mac if persistence and calm matter most; pick Pane for parallel tasks that don't collide, and for every other platform.

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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 tortie if

→ you're on an Apple Silicon Mac and run agents by hand across several repos
→ never losing an agent to a quit, crash or reboot matters most
→ you want to see which skills, MCP servers and hooks each agent loads
→ you want a quiet Mac app, with optional alerts on your iPhone

pick pane if

→ you're on Windows, WSL, Linux or an Intel Mac
→ you want each task in its own worktree so agents don't collide
→ you want a notification when an agent needs you
→ you want an orchestrator that starts and steers other agents

at a glance

yespartly, or with a catchno

	pane12 yes · 2 partly · 1 no	tortie6 yes · 4 partly · 5 no
basics
what it is	desktop app: real terminals for agents, a worktree per task	Mac app: one calm window for every agent terminal
license	AGPL-3.0, free	Apache-2.0, free
maturity	v2.4	v0.110, first release August 2026
platforms
Windows	yes (x64 and ARM64)	no
repos inside WSL	yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro	no
macOS	yes, Apple Silicon and Intel	Apple Silicon, macOS 15.7.9+
Linux	yes (AppImage, .deb)	no app; Ubuntu and Debian as SSH remotes
agents
agents	any CLI	13 built-in profiles plus shells
agents that run agents	Sessions	no
context inspector	no	shows each agent's skills, MCP, hooks and instructions
everyday work
worktree per task	yes, on by default	no; one checkout per project
review and git	Changes panel, commit, push, merge	git panel, diffs, commit and push
notifications	yes	no desktop alerts by design; iPhone beta alerts when an agent waits
agents after you quit	sessions resume when you reopen	keep running in a tmux server
remote and teams
phone	iOS and Android app coming soon; browser app via Remote Pane today	iPhone app (TestFlight beta), via Tailscale
safety and setup
account needed	no	no

basics

what it is

pane

desktop app: real terminals for agents, a worktree per task

tortie

Mac app: one calm window for every agent terminal

license

pane

AGPL-3.0, free

tortie

Apache-2.0, free

maturity

pane

v2.4

tortie

v0.110, first release August 2026

platforms

Windows

pane

yes (x64 and ARM64)

tortie

repos inside WSL

pane

yes: agents, terminals and git run in the distro

tortie

macOS

pane

yes, Apple Silicon and Intel

tortie

Apple Silicon, macOS 15.7.9+

Linux

pane

yes (AppImage, .deb)

tortie

no app; Ubuntu and Debian as SSH remotes

agents

pane

any CLI

tortie

13 built-in profiles plus shells

agents that run agents

pane

Sessions

tortie

context inspector

pane

tortie

shows each agent's skills, MCP, hooks and instructions

everyday work

worktree per task

pane

yes, on by default

tortie

no; one checkout per project

review and git

pane

Changes panel, commit, push, merge

tortie

git panel, diffs, commit and push

notifications

pane

yes

tortie

no desktop alerts by design; iPhone beta alerts when an agent waits

agents after you quit

pane

sessions resume when you reopen

tortie

keep running in a tmux server

remote and teams

phone

pane

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

tortie

iPhone app (TestFlight beta), via Tailscale

safety and setup

account needed

pane

tortie

Facts checked on October 3 and 4, 2026: Tortie v0.110.0 and Pane v2.4.157. Rechecked against Tortie's site, docs and releases on November 5, 2026: Tortie v0.113.0.

the real difference: calm persistence or parallel isolation

Tortie keeps your agents alive and quiet. Pane keeps their work apart.

Tortie is built for someone who already runs agents by hand in several terminals and keeps losing them: every project and agent session lives in one window, a private tmux server keeps them running when the app quits, and after a reboot it pre-types each agent's resume command. It's quiet on purpose, with no desktop notifications (its iPhone beta can alert you when an agent waits), and adds thoughtful tools like a context inspector and a reader that flags when an agent's claimed changes don't match git. Agents in one project share its checkout.

Pane is built for running several tasks at once without collisions: each pane is a worktree and branch with the agent's own terminal, it notifies you when an agent finishes or needs input, and Sessions starts and steers agents in other panes. When you reopen Pane, layout, scrollback and agent sessions come back.

platforms

Tortie is Apple Silicon only. Pane runs everywhere.

Tortie runs only on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 15.7.9 or later; its own planning notes recommend never shipping native Windows. Pane runs natively on Windows x64 and ARM64, inside WSL, on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and on Linux x64 and ARM64.

our verdict

Tortie is a calm, careful home for agent terminals on an Apple Silicon Mac, and its persistence is excellent. If you need a worktree per task, notifications, an orchestrator, or any platform beyond Apple Silicon, Pane is the better fit.

how we checked

Tortie is Mac-only, so on October 3 and 4, 2026 we checked its site, docs, releases and source without running it. 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
→ Tortie checked from its site, docs, releases and source (Mac-only)

Who wrote this

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

Pane vs Silo Pane vs Herdr Pane vs cmux

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