Coding agents · agent platform
Vibe Kanban: review, pricing, security and alternatives
Vibe Kanban is an open-source agent platform published by Bloop, in the coding agents family. Vibe Kanban organizes development tasks on a Kanban board and lets users assign work to different coding agents. Its repository has 28,444 stars and its last commit is from September 19, 2026.
What Vibe Kanban does
Vibe Kanban belongs to the coding agents family: they read a repository, edit files, run the tests and fix things until everything passes, in a terminal or an editor. On our grid it ranks #35 of the 74 projects of this family listed in the directory.
You use it from: web app. It can run on your own machine or server.
Who is Vibe Kanban for?
It is aimed at developers and technical teams who want to hand off part of the work on their codebase while keeping the final review. Typical tasks people give it:
- fix a bug from an issue or an error message
- write or extend tests
- migrate code to a new library version
- explain an unfamiliar codebase
It is a good candidate if you prefer doing everything in a browser, with no install and your data must stay on your machines.
Access and human control
Its documentation does not detail the access granted to the agent: check the settings before connecting it to your accounts.
We could not establish whether it asks for human approval before sensitive actions: test it first on an unimportant account or folder.
Vibe Kanban pricing
The code is free, under the Apache-2.0 licence.
Getting started with Vibe Kanban
- Install it: the project ships as a compiled Rust binary (direct download or
cargo install). The exact command is in the repository README. - Create an API key with the model provider and put it in an environment variable, never in a shared or versioned file.
- Give it a first playground with nothing at stake: a test folder, a secondary account or a throwaway project. Only open your real accounts once you have seen how it behaves.
- Give it a short, checkable task, review the result and its action log, then raise the difficulty step by step.
Security: risk level
A coding agent runs commands on your machine: work on a Git branch, review the changes and isolate it in a container for long tasks.
Three habits: least privilege (minimal rights, dedicated keys), human approval for irreversible actions, a sandbox for code execution. The AI agent security check reviews your setup in a few minutes.
Project activity and releases
Created on June 14, 2025, the BloopAI/vibe-kanban repository has 28,444 stars, 3,034 forks and 390 open issues, with 2,080 commits in total. Last change 1 month ago.
Over the last 52 weeks: 1,087 commits, an average of 20.9 per week.
284 releases in total; 15 in the last twelve months. Latest release: v0.1.44-20260424091429, on April 24, 2026.
Vibe Kanban vs other coding agents
GitHub stars of the best-rated open-source projects in the coding agents family. Stars measure attention, not quality: a heavily promoted project collects them fast, a specialised tool will have few.
Vibe Kanban and other coding agents at a glance
The 7 best-ranked agents in the same family, 7 of them open source. The score out of 100 only applies to open-source projects; for proprietary services we show the published entry price. A dash marks information the documentation does not state.
| Agent | Model | Score | Stars or entry price | Self-hostable | Human approval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vibe Kanban | open source | 66 | 28.4K ★ | yes | – |
| OpenCode | open source | 95 | 221K ★ | yes | – |
| Cline | open source | 94 | 70.8K ★ | yes | yes |
| OpenHands | open source | 91 | 91.7K ★ | yes | – |
| Codex | open source | 89 | 130.8K ★ | yes | yes |
| Open Interpreter | open source | 89 | 68.7K ★ | yes | – |
| Qwen Code | open source | 89 | 28.7K ★ | yes | yes |
| Kilo Code | open source | 89 | 27.7K ★ | yes | yes |
How we rated it
Score: 66/100, computed only from public, verifiable data, with no subjective testing or partnership:
- Adoption 29/40: 28,444 stars on a log scale (40 points from about 200,000).
- Activity 17/30: last commit 1 month ago, 0 releases in six months, 1,087 commits in a year.
- Framework 20/30: licence, default human approval, self-hosting, model choice and documentation site.
The score does not say whether the agent will succeed at your tasks: it measures how solid the project is. The full grid is on the method page.
Verdict
Vibe Kanban is a serious option; check the limitations below before granting it access.
Strengths
- Widely followed: 28.4K stars
- Frequent releases (15 in a year)
- Can run on your side: data under control
- Permissive licence (Apache-2.0)
Alternatives
Learn more
Frequently asked questions
Is Vibe Kanban free?
The software is free (Apache-2.0 licence). You still pay for the model calls, unless you use a local model.
Is Vibe Kanban safe?
Our risk level: low. Give it minimum rights and approve irreversible actions.
Which models does Vibe Kanban use?
Its documentation does not specify the supported models.
Can Vibe Kanban be installed on your own server?
Yes, from the BloopAI/vibe-kanban repository. Data then stays with you, but security and updates are your job.
What are the alternatives to Vibe Kanban?
In the same family: OpenCode, Cline, OpenHands, and Codex.
Vibe Kanban or OpenCode: what is the difference?
Both belong to the coding agents family. Vibe Kanban has 28.4K stars against 221K for OpenCode. The right choice mostly depends on the access you are willing to give it.
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Neutrality. No affiliate links. No vendor pays to be reviewed, rated or ranked. Reviews are directed by François Chollet, neutral and factual, and every data point is dated and sourced. How we score