Orchestrator.inc vs Vibe Kanban (2026): what to use now that Vibe Kanban is sunsetting

Short answer

Bloop, the company behind Vibe Kanban, shut down in April 2026. As of October 2026 the project is community maintained, its cloud features were removed and its paid plans ended, but local workspaces still work and the code is still Apache-2.0. Orchestrator.inc (formerly Agent Orchestrator) keeps the same worktree-per-task model and Kanban board, and adds feedback from CI and code review that goes straight to the agent. Choose to stay on Vibe Kanban if a local board is all you need and volunteer maintenance suits you. Choose Orchestrator if you want an actively developed tool that follows each agent's PR through to merge.

At a glance

What carries over

Vibe Kanban got the core model right, and most of it carries over without relearning. Each task gets its own git worktree, so agents never overwrite each other's files. Orchestrator does the same, with a branch per session and state kept under ~/.ao. A workspace can span several repositories in both tools. Both have a built-in browser for previewing the app an agent is changing. Both put running work on a board instead of a row of terminal tabs.

The problem in practice

Your board has six cards in progress. Three agents have opened PRs. One PR is red in CI, one has a requested change from a teammate, and one now conflicts with main. On a board where you move cards by hand, all three still sit in the same column until you go and look. You open GitHub, find each problem, and paste it into the right chat.

How each tool handles it

Task: fix a failing test and get it merged.

Vibe Kanban

1. Create a task card, pick an agent and start it; a worktree is created.
2. Review the diff and batch inline comments back to the agent.
3. Create the PR with an AI-written description. The card updates when the PR is created and merged.
4. If CI fails after the push, you see it on GitHub and paste the failure into the chat yourself.
5. Merge from the app.

Orchestrator.inc

1. Run ao spawn or click New session. The agent works in its own worktree and opens a PR, which is picked up automatically.
2. A failing check sends its name and link to that session. Requested changes and merge conflicts arrive the same way.
3. Optionally, a reviewer agent such as Codex reviews a Claude Code PR and its findings go to the worker.
4. The card moves to Ready to merge when checks pass, and you get a desktop or mobile notification.
5. You read the diff and press merge. Merge is never automatic.

Where Vibe Kanban is a good fit

• You want planning fields such as priority, assignee and tags on the board itself.
• You prefer a browser UI you can start with one npx command.
• You want agents to create workspaces over Vibe Kanban's built-in MCP server.

Where Orchestrator fits better

• People who want an actively maintained tool. Orchestrator ships regular releases on stable and nightly channels, with auto-updates.
• Workflows where review and CI feedback should reach the agent on its own. GitHub and GitLab are polled with ETags, with no webhooks or GitHub App, and repeated messages are de-duplicated.
• A board that keeps itself current. Lanes (Working, Needs you, In review, Ready to merge) come from session, PR, CI and review facts, so a card moves when something actually changes.
• Larger plans. A project orchestrator agent breaks a plan into tasks, spawns and briefs workers, and follows their progress.
• Your phone. The iOS and Android app shows Chat, the terminal and diffs, with push notifications when a session needs you or a PR is ready to merge.
• Your own servers. Install Orchestrator's host on a server or cloud VM, then start and supervise sessions there from your desktop, with several hosts in one app. Machines linked to the same Orchestrator account find each other; otherwise they pair over an HTTPS tunnel or the LAN.

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. Orchestrator does not proxy model calls. Vibe Kanban is free and Apache-2.0, and its paid plans ended in April 2026, so for local use cost is not the deciding factor.

Who should pick which

Stay on Vibe Kanban if

• you want a local board with priorities, tags and assignees and do not need PR automation
• you like starting a browser UI with one command
• you are comfortable with volunteer maintenance, or want to help with it

Move to Orchestrator if

• you want CI failures, review comments and merge conflicts to reach the agent without copying them
• you need an actively maintained tool on macOS, Windows or Linux
• you want a planner agent, reviewer agents or a phone app with push
• you want agents on your own servers or VMs, or in Orchestrator Cloud, since Vibe Kanban's cloud features were removed

Try it

Move your open tasks into GitHub or GitLab issues, then follow the parallel issues guide to spawn a worker per issue. For more options, see Vibe Kanban alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Vibe Kanban dead?

No. The company behind it shut down in April 2026, but the open source project continues under community maintenance as of October 2026. How long that maintenance continues is not certain.

Does Vibe Kanban still work after the shutdown?

Local workspaces still work. The cloud features, including remote issues, comments, projects and organisations, were removed, and a data export option was added so you can take your issues with you.

Can I import my Vibe Kanban tasks into Orchestrator.inc?

There is no direct importer. The practical path is to export your issues from Vibe Kanban, file the open ones in GitHub or GitLab, and let Orchestrator.inc's opt-in issue intake pick them up. Intake is read-only, so it never comments on or moves your issues.

Does Orchestrator.inc support the same coding agents as Vibe Kanban?

Yes. The agents Vibe Kanban supports, including Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Amp, Droid and Qwen, are among Orchestrator.inc's 38 harnesses.

What is the best Vibe Kanban alternative for Windows?

Orchestrator.inc ships a native Windows x64 build with a ConPTY terminal host, so no WSL or tmux is needed, plus macOS and Linux builds. Download it from orchestrator.inc and add your repository to see your sessions on the board.