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Paneherd vs VS Code Agent Sessions
VS Code has its own sessions for agents: the Chat view works in your current workspace, and an Agents window manages several sessions across projects. Copilot is the default harness; Claude and Codex are offered as other harnesses.
Short answer: VS Code's own agent sessions are the natural choice if you use GitHub Copilot and want cloud agents and sessions across projects. Paneherd is for running the agent CLIs you already pay for as terminals in a grid, with status, one inbox for permission prompts and a phone remote.
| VS Code Agent Sessions | Paneherd | |
|---|---|---|
| What runs | Agents through VS Code's harnesses: Copilot, Copilot CLI, cloud agents, Claude and Codex | The agent CLIs you have installed: Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Cursor, Gemini |
| Models and billing | Your GitHub Copilot plan, your own API key or a local model, depending on the harness | Each CLI bills its own plan; Paneherd does not proxy models |
| Cloud agents | Yes: run tasks away from your machine and return pull requests | No; everything runs locally |
| Sessions across projects | Agents window | Per VS Code window |
| Worktree isolation | Agents can save edits to a worktree | Works with worktrees you create; warns on same-file edits (Pro) |
| Permission prompts | Approvals set per session | One inbox across Claude Code sessions (Pro) |
| Phone | Not described in the docs | Phone remote |
| Price | Part of VS Code; agents need a Copilot plan or your own key | Free to 4 panes; Pro is a one-time purchase |
Where VS Code Agent Sessions is the better choice
- You use GitHub Copilot and want one built-in place for local, background and cloud sessions.
- You need cloud agents that return pull requests.
- You want sessions across several projects in one window.
Where Paneherd is the better choice
- You want the real Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or Gemini CLI, with your own plans and their own hooks.
- You want one prompt sent to several agents, and loop and stall alarms.
- You want one inbox for Claude Code permission prompts.
- You want a phone remote.
Paneherd is not for you if
- You work only through Copilot and its harnesses.
- You need cloud-hosted agents.
- You do not want to use a terminal-based CLI.
Can you use both?
Often yes. Paneherd runs the CLIs you already have, so it can sit next to VS Code Agent Sessions rather than replace it. See also the full comparison.