Pane vs cmux
Oleh Parsa Khazaeepoul, salah satu pendiri Pane. Sudah menguji setiap pengelola agent dalam perbandingan ini di lingkungan produksi. .
cmux is a native macOS terminal app (Swift / AppKit) by manaflow-ai built on libghostty for GPU-accelerated rendering. It adds agent-aware UX — vertical sidebar tabs showing agent state, a blue ring when an agent waits for input, a bawaan scriptable browser, and Claude Code Teams integration. v0.64.10 shipped May 23 2026, roughly three months after the February 2026 launch. Pane adalah a lintas platform aplikasi desktop (Windows + Mac + Linux) that manages the full agent lifecycle: worktree provisioning, multi-agent orchestration, diff tinjau, and commit / push dari keyboard. Kedua alat ini have legitimate niches — they differ most on dukungan platform, pengelolaan worktree, and how much of the terminal alur kerja they replace.
pilihan untuk tiap kebutuhan
- → Jika kamu butuh Windows atau Linux, pilih Pane — cmux is macOS saja, and the community wmux Windows-port attempt confirms the gap.
- → Jika kamu ingin worktree lifecycle managed for you (buat / assign / destroy otomatisally), pilih Pane — cmux is terminal-centric and leaves alur kerja git to you.
- → Jika kamu ingin a lightweight terminal app that adds agent notifikasi without becoming a full IDE, choose cmux — it stays tutup to the terminal with minimal footprint and composable primitives.
- → If you are already a Ghostty user on macOS and want native agent UX with minimal disruption, choose cmux — it composes with your existing Ghostty alur kerja and uses yang sama rendering engine via libghostty.
perbandingan fitur
| pane | cmux | |
|---|---|---|
| platform | windows + mac + linux (dukungan penuh) | macOS saja |
| first released | — | Feb 2026 (v0.64.10 on May 23 2026) |
| pengelolaan worktree | otomatis — buat pane, get worktree; delete pane, cleaned up | manual — cmux leaves alur kerja git to you |
| agent notification UI | desktop + sound, per-agent, bawaan | blue ring + sidebar tab highlight when agent waits for input |
| scripting / API | aplikasi desktop API | libghostty + MCP layer via cmuxlayer (26 MCP tools) |
| sesi persisten | app-managed, tetap ada setelah aplikasi dimulai ulang | layouts, working dirs, scrollback, browser history — no live process restore |
| multi-agent orchestration | purpose-built — launch, track, notify, tinjau, commit | composable primitives — self-described "a primitive, not a solution" |
| lisensi | AGPL-3.0 (OSI-approved sumber terbuka) | GPL-3.0 with commercial lisensi available |
| learning curve | low — aplikasi desktop UX | low-medium — terminal-centric; Homebrew instal |
what cmux does well
libghostty rendering
cmux is the first major app to ship on libghostty — the embeddable rendering library from the Ghostty terminal proyek. This gives cmux GPU-accelerated font rendering with Metal, yang sama rendering quality as Ghostty itself, without requiring users to instal Ghostty separately.
visual agent status in the sidebar
The cmux sidebar shows per-workspace: git branch, linked PR status and number, direktori kerja, listening ports, and latest notification text. When an agent waits for input, the tab highlights with a blue ring and a centralized notification panel fires. This is more visual signal than vanilla terminal + tmux provides out of the box.
composable primitives and bawaan browser
cmux explicitly positions itself as "a primitive, not a solution" — composable building blocks rather than an opinionated orchestrator. The bawaan browser supports scriptable actions: click, fill forms, evaluate JS, snapshot accessibility tree. SSH support with mengutamakan proses lokal routing and scp drag-and-drop are included. Custom commands via cmux.json. Claude Code Teams native integration.
sumber terbuka and Homebrew instal
GPL-3.0 source is bisa diaudit sepenuhnya at github.com/manaflow-ai/cmux. Install is a single Homebrew command: brew tap manaflow-ai/cmux && brew install --cask cmux. A commercial lisensi is available for teams that cannot use GPL.
where cmux's gaps are honest
macOS saja
cmux is a Swift / AppKit application — macOS saja by design. The community wmux Windows-port attempt confirms the gap: there is enough demand to attempt a port, but no official dukungan Windows. Pane punya dukungan penuh Windows, Mac, dan Linux support with identical fitur.
no worktree otomatisasi
cmux does not manage git worktree. You buat branches and worktree secara manual, same as with any terminal. For developer running multiple parallel agent on different tugas, this means yang sama manual git worktree add / remove cycle as the DIY stack.
no tugas decomposition or orchestration
cmux's self-description as "a primitive, not a solution" is accurate: it does not decompose tugas into subagen, aggregate results across agent, or provide a structured tinjau and commit loop. Those alur kerjas require composing cmux with other tools or staying in the terminal for each step.
weak session restore
cmux saves layouts, working directories, scrollback, and browser history — but does not restore live processes. A running Claude Code agent is lost on restart. tmux has stronger sesi persisten for long-running processes. Pane manages agent state at aplikasi level.
young proyek
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 are solid, but the proyek is early. API and configuration format may change.
dual-lisensi complexity
GPL-3.0 with a commercial lisensi option means teams need to evaluate which lisensi applies to their use case. For individual developer and buka-source teams, GPL-3.0 is fine. For commercial teams embedding or distributing cmux, the commercial lisensi terms apply. Pane adalah AGPL-3.0 with no paid lisensi required for any use case.
where pane adds value
worktree lifecycle
Pane membuat an isolated git worktree otomatisally when you buat a new 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.
orchestration layer
Pane adalah purpose-built for multi-agent orchestration: launch multiple agent secara paralel, see all their states in one UI, get a desktop notification when any agent needs input, tinjau diffs with ⌘D, commit and push with ⌘K. The entire loop from tugas to merged branch is keyboard-driven.
Windows dan Linux
Pane menjalankan on Windows, Mac, dan Linux with identical fitur. 70% of developer use Windows atau Linux. Jika timmu has one Windows developer, cmux does not work for them. Pane works for everyone on the team.
approval UI for diffs
When an agent finishes, Pane's bawaan syntax-highlighted penampil diff lets you tinjau and approve changes without switching to a terminal and running git diff. The tinjau + commit loop is a dukungan penuh part of the Pane UI, not a terminal command.
alur siklus PR
in cmux
Use ⌘1–8 to switch between workspace. Switch to the agent tab. The blue ring fires when the agent needs input. Review terminal output in the sidebar. Create git worktree secara manual with git worktree add. Push and buat the PR via gh pr create in the terminal.
in pane
Open Pane. Create a new pane — git worktree is provisioned otomatisally. Agent launches in the embedded terminal. Desktop notification fires when the agent needs input. Press ⌘D to buka the syntax-highlighted penampil diff. Press ⌘K to commit and push. Done.
cara memetakan cmux workspace map to pane
| cmux | pane | note |
|---|---|---|
| workspace | pane + worktree | conceptual 1:1 — cmux workspace is a named terminal group; Pane's is a worktree-backed session |
| surface (tab) | pane | 1:1 — each cmux tab maps to one Pane session |
| pane (terminal / browser) | pane terminal | terminal pane is 1:1; browser pane has no direct equivalent — Pane adalah terminal-saja |
| agent session hooks (~/.cmuxterm/) | app-managed sesi | ~/.cmuxterm/ likely contains resumable session IDs — the most tractable adapter target |
| browser pane | tidak ada padanannya | cmux's bawaan scriptable browser has no analog in Pane |
| cmux.json | no direct equivalent | custom command definitions — re-buat as shell aliases or skrip in your shell config |
Saat ini prosesnya manual. A sekali klik "Import from cmux" adapter ada dalam roadmap Pane — cmux's snapshot format is tutupd-source so the adapter is empirical. The ~/.cmuxterm/ directory likely contains resumable session IDs and is the most tractable starting point.
kesimpulannya
cmux is the right pick for macOS-saja Ghostty users who want native agent notifikasi and a composable terminal primitive without leaving the terminal alur kerja. It is lightweight, sumber terbuka, GPU-accelerated via libghostty, and instals in one Homebrew command. Pane adalah the lintas platform pick when worktree lifecycle and multi-agent orchestration matter more than terminal rendering quality — and the saja option for teams with Windows atau Linux developer. The two tools are not mutually exclusive: Pane handles the lifecycle layer, cmux stays terminal-centric.