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Kanbell vs MonoCode: what's the difference?

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  • comparison
  • tools
  • parallel-agents
  • claude-code
  • codex

MonoCode and Kanbell both put many coding agents in one desktop window. MonoCode is open source and goes wide: 11 agents in a chat view, Git worktrees and commits in the app, an Inbox for five trackers, Windows, and an iPhone beta. Kanbell stays closer to the terminal: real terminals sorted by project, the state of every session, a menu bar panel for the agents waiting on you, and a task board, with no account and no Kanbell server.

MonoCode facts come from its home page, README, docs, changelog and releases, checked on November 7, 2026 (version 0.16.0, released October 19, 2026).

Side by side

MonoCode Kanbell
What it is Desktop app, "a GUI for your coding agents": tabs are sessions, a composer is the input Desktop app
Agents 11: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Grok Build, OpenCode, Antigravity, Pi, omp, fx, Hermes Agent, Devin Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI; other commands as custom profiles, without tracking
Organization Conversations by project, split panes; Monos, experimental agents that work across projects Projects in a sidebar tree, sessions under each, real terminals in tabs and panes
Isolation Separate Git worktrees for parallel tasks; diffs, staging, commits, push and pull requests in the app None: agents work in the folder you choose; read-only Git panel
Waiting agents System notifications (off by default), sounds and sidebar indicators, including when an agent asks a question or needs approval; a "needs approval" filter Session state, notification, menu bar panel with questions and permissions, ⌘⇧J
Tasks Inbox: GitHub, GitLab, Linear, Azure DevOps, Jira Cloud; automations on a schedule or on Inbox events Board per project: local, GitHub or GitLab
Remote Experimental: SSH to a Windows, Linux or macOS host that runs the agents Claude Code on a Linux machine over SSH, in tmux
Platforms macOS (Apple Silicon, Intel), Windows, Linux (.deb, .rpm, AppImage); iOS public beta macOS (Apple Silicon), Linux (.deb)
Account Not documented; uses the logins of the agents you installed None, no Kanbell server
License MIT, open source Proprietary
Price No paid plan on the site; installers on GitHub 7-day trial, then CHF 12/month or CHF 96/year, up to 3 computers

Where MonoCode is better

  • Open source and free. MIT license, installers on GitHub, no paid plan on its site. Kanbell is proprietary and free for 7 days only.
  • More agents. 11 agents, including Cursor, Grok Build, OpenCode and Devin, against Kanbell's three tracked agents.
  • Windows, Intel Macs and an iPhone. MonoCode ships for Windows, Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and Linux as .deb, .rpm or AppImage, and its iOS companion app, which drives sessions on your desktop, is in public beta on TestFlight. Kanbell has no Windows, Intel Mac or phone version.
  • Worktrees and Git actions. MonoCode uses separate worktrees for parallel tasks and lets you stage, commit, push and open pull requests from its Changes view. Kanbell doesn't manage worktrees and its Git panel is read-only.
  • Wider remote. Remote hosts can be Windows, Linux or macOS, and run Codex, Cursor and its other agents, not only Claude Code. Kanbell's remote is Claude Code on Linux only.
  • Extras. Jira, Linear and Azure DevOps in the Inbox, scheduled automations, Monos with memory, and several Claude Code or Codex accounts.

Where Kanbell is different

  • Real terminals, nothing in between. Each agent runs in its own terminal, with its own interface, in tabs and split panes sorted by project. MonoCode drives agents from its own chat view and composer.
  • A menu bar panel. The agents waiting for you are listed in the menu bar with their questions and permission requests, and ⌘⇧J jumps to the next one. See answer your agents.
  • Gemini CLI. Kanbell has a Gemini CLI profile; MonoCode's list has Google's Antigravity but not Gemini CLI.
  • A task board. A board per project, local or synced with GitHub Issues or GitLab, self-hosted GitLab included. See connect GitHub and GitLab.
  • No account and no server. Kanbell talks to your agents locally; see data and privacy. Remote sessions run in tmux over plain SSH; see remote machines.

Which one to choose

  • You want open source and free, need Windows, an Intel Mac or a phone, use many providers, or want worktrees, commits and Jira or Linear in the app: MonoCode.
  • You mainly use Claude Code, Codex or Gemini CLI on a Mac or Linux and want plain terminals, a menu bar panel and no account: Kanbell.

For the other options, see which app to manage several coding agents.

FAQ

Is MonoCode free?

MonoCode is open source under the MIT license, its installers are on GitHub, and its site and README list no paid plan. Kanbell has a 7-day free trial, then CHF 12 a month or CHF 96 a year.

Which one supports more agents?

MonoCode lists 11: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Grok Build, OpenCode, Antigravity, Pi, omp, fx, Hermes Agent and Devin. Kanbell has profiles for Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI, and runs other commands without tracking. Gemini CLI is not in MonoCode's list, which has Google's Antigravity.

Do they work on Windows?

MonoCode has a Windows installer, plus builds for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs and for Linux. Kanbell runs on macOS with Apple Silicon and on Linux; there is no Windows build yet.

Can they run agents on a remote machine?

MonoCode's remote access is marked experimental: it connects over SSH to a Windows, Linux or macOS host and runs its agents there. Kanbell runs Claude Code on a Linux machine over SSH, in tmux.

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