Pane vs cmux
Par Parsa Khazaeepoul, cofondateur de Pane. Tous les gestionnaires d’agents de ce comparatif ont été testés en production. .
cmux est un native macOS terminal app (Swift / AppKit) by manaflow-ai built on libghostty for GPU-accelerated rendering. It adds agent-awsont UX — vertical sidebar tabs showing agent state, a blue ring when an agent waits for input, a intégré scriptable browser, and Claude Code Teams integration. v0.64.10 shipped May 23 2026, roughly three months after the February 2026 launch. Pane est un cross-platform application de bureau (Windows + Mac + Linux) that manages the full agent lifecycle: worktree provisioning, multi-agent orchestration, diff vérifier, and commit / push au clavier. Pane et son concurrent tools have legitimate niches — they differ most on platform prise en charge, worktree management, and how much of the terminal workflow they replace.
le verdict selon votre usage
- → Si vous avez besoin de Windows or Linux, choisissez Pane — cmux is macOS only, et le community wmux Windows-port attempt confirms the gap.
- → Si vous voulez worktree lifecycle managed for you (create / assign / destroy automatiqueally), choisissez Pane — cmux is terminal-centric and leaves git workflow to you.
- → Si vous voulez a lightweight terminal app that adds agent notifications without becoming a full IDE, choisissez cmux — it stays close to the terminal with minimal footprint and composable primitives.
- → If you sont already a Ghostty user on macOS and want native agent UX with minimal disruption, choisissez cmux — it composes with your existing Ghostty workflow and uses les mêmes rendering engine via libghostty.
comparatif des fonctionnalités
| Traduction : pane | Traduction : cmux | |
|---|---|---|
| plateformes | Traduction : windows + mac + linux (first-class) | Traduction : macOS only |
| Traduction : first released | Traduction : — | Traduction : Feb 2026 (v0.64.10 on May 23 2026) |
| gestion des worktrees | automatique — create pane, get worktree; delete pane, cleaned up | Traduction : manual — cmux leaves git workflow to you |
| Traduction : agent notification UI | desktop + sound, per-agent, intégré | Traduction : blue ring + sidebar tab highlight when agent waits for input |
| Traduction : scripting / API | application de bureau API | Traduction : libghostty + MCP layer via cmuxlayer (26 MCP tools) |
| persistance des sessions | Traduction : app-managed, survives restarts | Traduction : layouts, working dirs, scrollback, browser history — no live process restore |
| Traduction : multi-agent orchestration | purpose-built — launch, track, notify, vérifier, commit | Traduction : composable primitives — self-described "a primitive, not a solution" |
| licence | AGPL-3.0 (OSI-approved open source) | Traduction : GPL-3.0 with commercial license available |
| Traduction : learning curve | low — application de bureau UX | Traduction : low-medium — terminal-centric; Homebrew install |
Traduction : what cmux does well
Traduction : libghostty rendering
cmux is the first majou unpp to ship on libghostty — the embeddable rendering library from the Ghostty terminal project. This gives cmux GPU-accelerated font rendering with Metal, les mêmes rendering quality as Ghostty itself, without requiring users to install Ghostty separately.
Traduction : visual agent status in the sidebar
The cmux sidebar shows per-workspace: git branch, linked PR status and number, working directory, listening ports, and latest notification text. When an agent waits for input, the tab highlights avec un blue ring et un centralized notification panel fires. This is more visual signal than vanilla terminal + tmux provides out of the box.
composable primitives and intégré browser
cmux explicitly positions itself as "a primitive, not a solution" — composable building blocks rather than an opinionated orchestrator. The intégré browser prend en charge scriptable actions: click, fill forms, evaluate JS, snapshot accessibility tree. SSH prise en charge with local-first routing and scp drag-and-drop sont included. Custom commands via cmux.json. Claude Code Teams native integration.
Traduction : open source and Homebrew install
GPL-3.0 source is fully auditable at github.com/manaflow-ai/cmux. Install est un single Homebrew command: brew tap manaflow-ai/cmux && brew install --cask cmux. A commercial license est unvailable for teams that ne peut pas use GPL.
where cmux's gaps sont honest
macOS only
cmux est un Swift / AppKit application — macOS only by design. The community wmux Windows-port attempt confirms the gap: there is enough demand to attempt a port, but no official Windows prise en charge. Pane has first-class Windows, Mac, and Linux prise en charge avec les mêmes fonctionnalités.
Traduction : no worktree automation
cmux ne gérer les worktrees git. You create branches and worktrees manually, identique à avec unny terminal. For développeurs running multiple en parallèle agents on different tasks, this means les mêmes manual git worktree add / remove cycle as the DIY stack.
Traduction : no task decomposition or orchestration
cmux's self-description as "a primitive, not a solution" est unccurate: it ne decompose tasks into subagents, aggregate results across agents, or provide a structured vérifier and commit loop. Those workflows require composing cmux with other tools or staying in the terminal for each step.
Traduction : weak session restore
cmux saves layouts, working directories, scrollback, and browser history — but ne restore live processes. A running Claude Code agent is lost on restart. tmux has stronger session persistence for long-running processes. Pane manages agent state at l’application level.
Traduction : young project
cmux launched in February 2026. As of May 2026, it is roughly three months old with ~19.8k GitHub stars — unusually fast growth, likely from HN and Twitter viral cycles. The core primitives sont solid, but the project is early. API and configuration format may change.
Traduction : dual-license complexity
GPL-3.0 avec un commercial license option means teams avoir besoin de to evaluate which license applies to their use case. For individual développeurs and open-source teams, GPL-3.0 is fine. For commercial teams embedding or distributing cmux, the commercial license terms apply. Pane is AGPL-3.0 sans paid license required pour tout use case.
Traduction : where pane adds value
Traduction : worktree lifecycle
Pane creates an isolé worktree git automatiqueally when you create a nouveau pane, and cleans it up when you delete the pane. No manual git worktree add / remove cycle. Each agent lives in its own branch and filesystem checkout.
Traduction : orchestration layer
Pane is purpose-built for multi-agent orchestration: launch multiple agents in en parallèle, see all their states in one UI, get a desktop notification when any agent needs input, vérifier diffs with ⌘D, committer et pousser with ⌘K. The entire loop from task to merged branch is keyboard-driven.
Traduction : Windows and Linux
Pane fonctionne sur Windows, Mac, and Linux avec les mêmes fonctionnalités. 70% of développeurs use Windows or Linux. Si votre équipe compte one Windows développeur, cmux ne work for them. Pane works for everyone on the team.
Traduction : approval UI for diffs
When an agent finishes, Pane's intégré avec coloration syntaxique diff viewer lets you vérifier et unpprove changes without switching to a terminal and running git diff. The vérifier + commit loop est un first-class part of the Pane UI, not a terminal command.
déroulé d’un cycle de PR
Traduction : in cmux
Use ⌘1–8 to switch between workspaces. Switch to the agent tab. The blue ring fires when the agent needs input. Review terminal output in the sidebar. Create worktrees git manually with git worktree add. Push and create the PR via gh pr create in the terminal.
dans Pane
Ouvrez Pane. Create a nouveau pane — worktree git is provisioned automatiqueally. Agent launches in the embedded terminal. Desktop notification fires when the agent needs input. Press ⌘D pour ouvrir the avec coloration syntaxique diff viewer. Press ⌘K to committer et pousser. Done.
Traduction : how your cmux workspaces map to pane
| Traduction : cmux | Traduction : pane | remarque |
|---|---|---|
| espace de travail | Traduction : pane + worktree | conceptual 1:1 — cmux workspace est un named terminal group; Pane's est un worktree-backed session |
| Traduction : surface (tab) | Traduction : pane | 1:1 — each cmux tab maps to one Pane session |
| Traduction : pane (terminal / browser) | Traduction : pane terminal | Traduction : terminal pane is 1:1; browser pane has no direct equivalent — Pane is terminal-only |
| Traduction : agent session hooks (~/.cmuxterm/) | Traduction : app-managed sessions | Traduction : ~/.cmuxterm/ likely contains resumable session IDs — the most tractable adapter target |
| Traduction : browser pane | aucun équivalent | cmux's intégré scriptable browser has no analog in Pane |
| cmux.json | Traduction : no direct equivalent | Traduction : custom command definitions — re-create as shell aliases or scripts in your shell config |
Pour l’instant, la migration est manuelle. Un adaptateur en un clic "Import from cmux" adapter est prévu dans la feuille de route de Pane — cmux's snapshot format is closed-source so the adapter is empirical. The ~/.cmuxterm/ directory likely contains resumable session IDs et est the most tractable starting point.
en bref
cmux is the right pick for macOS-only Ghostty users who want native agent notifications et un composable terminal primitive without leaving the terminal workflow. It is lightweight, open source, GPU-accelerated via libghostty, and installs in one Homebrew command. Pane is the cross-platform pick when worktree lifecycle and multi-agent orchestration matter more than terminal rendering quality — et le only option for teams with Windows or Linux développeurs. The two tools sont not mutually exclusive: Pane handles the lifecycle layer, cmux stays terminal-centric.