Taskhold vs Beads
By Jake Marsh, who builds Taskhold. Updated 2026-10-26. Facts about other tools checked 2026-10-26. 3 min read.
We make Taskhold. Facts about other tools come from their own sites and docs, checked 2026-10-26. Where a tool doesn't describe a feature, we say so rather than saying it lacks it. Something out of date? Email hello@greatwork.company.
Short answer: Beads (bd) is a free, MIT-licensed issue tracker for coding agents: a dependency graph stored in Dolt next to your project, where agents run bd ready and claim work atomically. Pick it for many agents working one dependency graph from the terminal. Taskhold is a hosted list at $12 a month with a live board of each agent's steps that you watch and answer from any browser.
Beads is a command-line issue tracker built for coding agents. Tasks live in a Dolt database inside the project, linked into a dependency graph; bd ready lists work with no open blockers and bd update --claim takes a task atomically, so parallel agents don't collide. It's popular and actively developed. Taskhold is a hosted list with a live board of each agent's progress, closer to one task list across all your repos. Backlog.md is the markdown-in-the-repo option, and the roundup compares them all.
Side by side
| Beads (bd) | Taskhold | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (MIT) | $12/month or $120/year per person |
| Where tasks live | A Dolt database in the project (.beads/), synced with bd dolt push / pull | Hosted list |
| Dependencies | Yes: a graph; bd ready shows unblocked work | No (priority and order only) |
| Claiming work | bd update --claim, atomic | taskhold_start marks it in progress with the agent's label |
| Human view | CLI; no built-in UI (community UIs are listed) | Web app and live board on any device, including a phone |
| Progress inside a task | Status and an audit trail per issue; step-by-step progress isn't described in the README | Steps with a bar, percent or N of M and the agent's current message |
| Agent asks you something | Not described in the README | Blocked question on the live board with a reply box |
| Setup | Install the CLI, bd init per project, bd setup for each agent | Paste a setup URL |
| Offline | Yes | No |
Beads facts from its GitHub README, checked 2026-10-26.
When is Beads the better choice?
- Many agents work one project and need dependencies worked out and atomic claims.
- You want everything local, versioned and free, with sync through your git remote.
- You and your agents live in the terminal.
When is Taskhold the better choice?
- You want to watch a task's steps fill in and answer an agent's question from a browser or phone.
- Your work spans several repos, or isn't tied to one.
- You'd rather not install and maintain a CLI and database in each project.
Using both
Beads can hold a project's dependency graph while Taskhold holds what you hand to agents across projects: an agent takes a Taskhold task, works the matching beads in that repo, and reports steps and progress to the live board as it goes.
Moving tasks over
There's no importer. bd can print issues as JSON, so an agent connected to Taskhold can read them and create each open one with taskhold_create. Dependencies don't carry over; set priorities to get the order you want.
See how far along your coding agents are.
$12/month or $120/year after the trial. Card up front. Cancel before day 7 and you pay nothing. Every agent you run is included.
Questions
- Does Taskhold have task dependencies like Beads?
- No. Taskhold orders work by priority, and an agent breaks each task into ordered steps. If you need a dependency graph, Beads does that.
Sources
- Beads README, checked 2026-10-26
Related
Updated 2026-10-26. Something wrong or out of date? Email hello@greatwork.company.