Short answer
As of October 2026, the company behind Vibe Kanban has shut down, its cloud features and paid plans have ended, and the project is community maintained. It still runs locally, so nothing forces a move today. If you want a maintained Vibe Kanban alternative with the same shape, Orchestrator.inc (formerly Agent Orchestrator) is the closest: free, Apache-2.0, cross-platform, a worktree per task and a Kanban board, with PR, CI and review routing added. Choose Orca if you want an IDE-style app with multi-forge PR tooling, or Emdash if your work starts in an issue tracker.
At a glance
| Tool | Platforms | License and price | Agents | Board | PR and CI tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchestrator.inc | macOS, Windows, Linux, plus iOS and Android | Apache-2.0, free locally; Cloud plans from $20/month | 38 harnesses | Kanban derived from session and PR facts | Failing checks, review comments and conflicts sent to the agent; reviewer agents |
| Orca | macOS, Windows, Linux, plus iOS and Android | MIT, free | Many CLI agents | No session Kanban; views GitHub Projects, Linear, Jira | Failed checks inline; "Fix broken checks" button |
| Emdash | macOS, Windows, Linux | Apache-2.0, free | Many CLI agents | Kanban view, not the main view | Inspect checks, create PR, merge; no auto-fix |
| Superset | macOS; Linux experimental; no Windows build | Elastic License 2.0; free tier, paid Pro | Many CLI agents | Tasks list and Kanban | PR page with checks and review threads; manual re-dispatch |
| Conductor | macOS, plus iOS | Proprietary; free tier, paid plans | Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode | No Kanban | Checks tab; forward failing checks to the agent |
| Nimbalyst | macOS, Windows, Linux, plus iOS | MIT (desktop), free | Claude Code, Codex; others in alpha | Session Kanban and tracker boards | In-app PR review; CI tracking not documented |
| Claude Squad | macOS, Linux | AGPL-3.0, free | Claude Code and any CLI agent | No board; TUI list | Commit and push only |
Competitor details reflect each product as of October 2026.
Before you move
What changes if you stay
Local workspaces keep working, so staying is a reasonable short-term choice. The practical change is that no company is responsible for fixes. If your team depends on it daily, plan the move on your own schedule.
What to export first
The last Vibe Kanban release added a data export. Use it before you uninstall, and export your issues and comments. Push any branches that live in Vibe Kanban worktrees so they survive cleanup. None of the tools below document a Vibe Kanban importer, so the portable formats are git branches and your forge's issue tracker: file open work as GitHub or GitLab issues and let the new tool pull them in.
Why Orchestrator.inc is listed first
The title's criteria are maintained, open source and cross-platform, and Vibe Kanban users usually also want a board. Orchestrator.inc, Orca, Emdash and Nimbalyst are all maintained, open source and cross-platform as of October 2026. Orchestrator is listed first because it keeps the board as the main view, keeps the Apache-2.0 license Vibe Kanban used, and covers multi-repo workspaces and an agent-controllable browser. If you would rather work inside an IDE, Orca may suit you better. For a feature-by-feature view, see Orchestrator.inc vs Vibe Kanban.
The options
Orchestrator.inc
A desktop supervisor with a local Go daemon and SQLite under ~/.ao. Every session gets a git worktree and branch. The board places sessions in Working, Needs you, In review and Ready to merge based on session and PR facts, so you never drag a card. Failing check names, review comments and merge conflicts are sent to the owning session; a reviewer agent can review a worker's PR; a project orchestrator agent plans work and spawns workers. GitHub and GitLab issue intake is opt-in and read-only. It can run its host on your own server or VM, and you drive sessions there from the desktop app, with several hosts in one app. Limits: no code editor, no Linear or Jira intake, and no Slack notifier.
Orca
An MIT agent IDE from Stably AI. Many CLI agents, three desktop systems, mobile companions, SSH hosts, and PR tooling across many forges, with stacked PRs and a "Fix broken checks" button. Limits: no native session Kanban. Best for people who want an editor and agents in one app.
Emdash
An Apache-2.0 Electron app with many CLI providers, pre-warmed worktrees, SSH remote, and issue intake from trackers including Linear and Jira. Limits: the Kanban is not the main view, there is no mobile app and no automatic fix loop. Best for teams whose work lives in Linear or Jira.
Superset
A Mac workspace with a CLI, SDK, MCP server, Slack and Linear integrations and an iOS app, with list and Kanban task views. Limits: there is no Windows build as of October 2026, Linux is experimental, the license is source-available rather than OSI open source, and remote access, integrations and mobile need the paid Pro tier. Best for Mac teams who want team features.
Conductor
A native Mac app with a full PR flow: a Checks tab with CI, deployments and review threads, failing checks forwarded to the agent, PR stacks, and a cloud option with an iOS app on paid plans. Limits: macOS only, closed source, no Kanban. Best for Mac users who prefer a native app and do not need open source.
Nimbalyst
Formerly Crystal, an MIT desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux with an iOS companion. It centres on a wiki your agents write, with trackers and Kanban views. Limits: only Claude Code and Codex are stable, and CI tracking is not documented. Best for solo users who want sessions and docs together.
Claude Squad
A Go terminal app under AGPL-3.0 that puts each agent in a worktree and a tmux session. It is small and works over SSH. Limits: no board, no PR or CI features, no native Windows build. Best for terminal users.
How to choose
Windows and Linux. Orchestrator.inc, Orca, Emdash and Nimbalyst ship Windows and Linux builds, and Orchestrator runs agents on Windows through a native ConPTY host with no WSL or tmux. Superset and Conductor are Mac first.
A real Kanban. Orchestrator.inc, Superset and Nimbalyst have boards; Emdash has one off the main view; Orca, Conductor and Claude Squad do not.
The same license terms. Vibe Kanban is Apache-2.0. Orchestrator.inc and Emdash are Apache-2.0, Orca and Nimbalyst are MIT, Claude Squad is AGPL-3.0, Superset is source-available, and Conductor is proprietary.
Automation after the PR opens. Orchestrator.inc sends CI failures and review comments to the agent without a click. Orca and Conductor have a button. Superset and Emdash show the state and leave the re-dispatch to you.
Pricing
Running Orchestrator on your own machines is free and open source (Apache-2.0), with no account needed; you bring your own agent subscriptions or API keys. Optional Orchestrator Cloud plans, for agents that keep working while your laptop is closed, are Starter at $20/month and Pro at $40/month, with Enterprise pricing on request. Orca, Emdash, Nimbalyst and Claude Squad are free as well. As of October 2026, Conductor has a free local tier, Pro at $50 per month and Teams at $60 per user per month, and Superset has a free tier and Pro at $20 per user per month.
Try it
Push your Vibe Kanban branches, install Orchestrator, and follow the parallel issues guide to pick up your open issues in fresh sessions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Vibe Kanban still safe to use?
For local work, yes. The code is Apache-2.0 and local workspaces keep working as of October 2026. The tradeoff is that no company is responsible for future fixes, so it is worth planning a move on your own timeline.
What is the closest Vibe Kanban alternative?
Orchestrator.inc matches the most of its features: cross-platform, Apache-2.0, free, a worktree per task, multi-repo workspaces, a Kanban board and a built-in browser. It adds CI and review routing to the owning session. See the full Orchestrator.inc vs Vibe Kanban comparison for details.
Do these tools support the same agents as Vibe Kanban?
Orchestrator.inc supports 38 coding agent harnesses, including Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Amp, OpenCode, Droid and Qwen. Orca and Emdash also cover the common CLI agents. Conductor and Nimbalyst support a narrower set as of October 2026.
Can I keep my Vibe Kanban worktrees?
Each tool creates its own worktrees in its own directory. Push your Vibe Kanban branches first, then start new sessions from those branches or from the issues you exported.
Which Vibe Kanban alternative is free and open source?
Orchestrator.inc, Orca, Emdash, Nimbalyst and Claude Squad are free under OSI-approved licenses. Superset is source-available with a free tier, and Conductor is closed source with a free local tier. If a free, Apache-2.0 tool with a board is what you need, you can download Orchestrator.inc from orchestrator.inc.