Comparison

Pane vs WezTerm

TL;DR

WezTerm is the terminal for people who want speed and to script everything in Lua. Pane is for using a remote dev machine, and the agents on it, from any device. Both are free and open source.

At a glance

Pane vs WezTerm
WezTermPane
PriceFreeFree
Open sourceYesYes, AGPL-3.0
DesktopWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows, macOS, Linux
PhoneNoYes, browser app
RenderingGPU-accelerated, nativexterm.js
SSHSSH domains, reads ~/.ssh/configRemote hosts over Tailscale or an SSH tunnel
Remote multiplexingYes, via its own mux serverPane host keeps terminals running between connections
Remote files and dev serversNoFile browser, editor, dev servers at localhost on a connected desktop
Coding agentsRuns themManages them with branches and status

  • Price

    WezTerm
    Free
    Pane
    Free

  • Open source

    WezTerm
    Yes
    Pane
    Yes, AGPL-3.0

  • Desktop

    WezTerm
    Windows, macOS, Linux
    Pane
    Windows, macOS, Linux

  • Phone

    WezTerm
    No
    Pane
    Yes, browser app

  • Rendering

    WezTerm
    GPU-accelerated, native
    Pane
    xterm.js

  • SSH

    WezTerm
    SSH domains, reads ~/.ssh/config
    Pane
    Remote hosts over Tailscale or an SSH tunnel

  • Remote multiplexing

    WezTerm
    Yes, via its own mux server
    Pane
    Pane host keeps terminals running between connections

  • Remote files and dev servers

    WezTerm
    No
    Pane
    File browser, editor, dev servers at localhost on a connected desktop

  • Coding agents

    WezTerm
    Runs them
    Pane
    Manages them with branches and status

Where WezTerm wins

  • Raw terminal speed and GPU rendering.
  • Configuration as code in Lua.
  • SSH domains straight from your SSH config, with its own multiplexer.

Where Pane wins

  • Everything besides the shell: files, previews and the dev server, on the remote machine.
  • Your phone. Check and steer agents from anywhere.
  • Parallel agents with a branch per task.

Use both

WezTerm as your terminal, Pane for the remote dev machine and agents.

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If anything here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we'll fix it and update the date at the top.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. .