---
title: "How it compares"
description: "agent-manager against herdr, Vibe Kanban, claude-squad and plain tmux, feature by feature."
canonical: "https://agent-manager.dev/compare/"
last-updated: "2026-08-31"
section: "Site"
source: "agent-manager"
---

# How it compares

Compare

# Where this one wins, and where it doesn't.

Every cell comes from that project's own docs, including the rows where they beat us.

|  | agent-manager | herdr | Agent of Empires | agent-deck | Vibe Kanban | claude-squad | plain tmux |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Where it lives | terminal | terminal | terminal + browser | terminal + web | browser | terminal | terminal |
| Live agent status | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no |
| Status from hook events | yes | yes | yes, on by default | yes, on by default | not documented | pane matching | no |
| New agent in one keypress | yes, `space` or `n` | command or API | `n`, then a dialog | yes, `n` | `ctrl+k`, then `n` | yes, `n` | new-session, by hand |
| Sessions name themselves | yes, the agent renames it | no | yes, from the first turn | yes, from the tool's own name | yes, from the task text | you name it | numbered by default |
| Quick prompt, one keypress from the list | yes, `space` | CLI and socket API | `tab`, keys relayed | yes, `o`, one line | open the workspace first | at creation only | send-keys, by hand |
| Spawn a new agent with the prompt embedded | yes, on a group row | start, then prompt | plugin API only | `launch -m`, or the `n` dialog | yes, per workspace | at creation | no |
| Retarget mid-sentence, bar stays open | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Paste a clipboard image into the prompt | yes, `ctrl+v` | yes, `alt+v` | yes, in the browser | no | picker and drag | no | no |
| Whole-file diff review | yes | no | hunks, split or unified | no | yes, in the browser | one unified diff | no |
| Line comments back to the agent | yes, in the terminal | no | web, structured sessions | no | yes, in the browser | no | no |
| Resume a dead session | same conversation | snapshot and resume | yes, Claude | yes, `session restart` | not documented | pause, resume | no |
| Folded group keeps per-status counts | yes, any depth | one rolled-up icon | a total count | running and waiting | sidebar groups by status | flat list | no |
| Agent drives the manager over MCP | yes, spawn, message, terminals, review | socket API instead | forwards yours | attaches yours | yes, its own server | no | no |
| Agents declare the files they are editing | yes, advisory leases that expire | worktree isolation only | worktree isolation only | worktree isolation only | worktree isolation only | worktree isolation only | no |
| Worktree creation | yes, `n` / `alt+w` | yes | yes | yes, deepest here | yes | yes | no |
| Opens pull requests | no | not documented | not documented | merges locally | yes | yes, `p` pushes | no |
| Mouse and Windows | WSL2, wheel and click-through | both | mouse, WSL2 only | mouse, WSL2 only | both | mouse, WSL for tmux | mouse only |

## Where each one fits

### plain tmux one or two agents

The honest baseline, and what this is built on. It keeps sessions alive, but it cannot say which agent needs you, because it has no idea what runs inside a pane.

### herdr replace the terminal

Its own Rust runtime instead of tmux, so panes and workspaces are native. Mouse-first, a socket API, a plugin marketplace, and Windows in beta.

### Vibe Kanban work in a browser

A board where each issue gets a workspace, a branch and a terminal, and its diff review sends line comments back to the agent too. The project is [sunsetting](https://www.vibekanban.com/blog/shutdown).

### claude-squad straight to a pull request

Every session gets its own worktree and branch, so parallel agents cannot collide, and `p` commits and pushes it.

### agent-deck worktrees and spend

The deepest worktree support of any of them, monorepo sparse-checkout included, plus a cost dashboard with budgets, session forking and Docker sandboxing.

### Agent of Empires reach your agents from a phone

The same tmux foundation as this one, plus a web dashboard that renders the real terminal in a browser, git worktrees, and Docker sandboxing. Its diff comments are web-only; the TUI diff sends you to `$EDITOR`.

### this one the friction is the problem

One key spawns an agent, one key answers a blocked one, one key opens review mode. Then `C` sends your line comments into that agent's pane, which none of the others here do without putting you in a browser.

**Not here yet:** cost tracking, mouse-driven list navigation, pull requests. The cards above name who has each.