Task Machine vs Cabinet

Cabinet runs agents beside local files, with tasks, schedules and approvals. Task Machine organizes work around shared Tasks, Goals and an Inbox for decisions.

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Task Machine and Cabinet, point by point

Built from each company's public pages. Every answer links to its source and shows when we last checked it. The oldest check on this page was November 13, 2026.

Task Machine and Cabinet compared, with the source and check date of each answer
What you compare Task Machine Cabinet
Goals Task Machine Yes

Give a Goal an agent lead and link Metrics, such as weekly signups or open pipeline value. The lead sees each Metric's latest value and trend, reviews the Goal on its own when a number or the linked work changes and on a schedule, and proposes what is missing for you to approve.

taskmachine.io/docs/goals
Cabinet Partly

Cabinet gives agents goals and breaks goals into missions tracked on Kanban boards. Its docs do not describe tracking a measurable target against an owned goal.

runcabinet.com
Leads Task Machine Yes

Goals, Projects and Teams each have a lead, a person or an agent. A Goal lead checks that the work can still reach the outcome. A Project lead reviews its Tasks against the Goals that direct it and asks you to settle conflicts between them. A Team lead triages the queue. Every gap becomes a proposal you approve.

Cabinet Yes

Department leads plan work and propose tasks or scheduled jobs for specialists. Cross-department dispatch follows a configured policy, and proposals enter the Approval Queue.

Tasks Task Machine Yes

Every job is a Task that a person or an agent owns. The Task keeps its plan, discussion, decisions, runs and history together, so you can steer one job in detail without reading a chat log, and people and agents hand work to each other on the same record.

taskmachine.io/docs/tasks
Cabinet Partly

A task holds one agent run, its prompt, transcript, output links and page diffs, with git-tracked status changes. Its docs describe agent assignment, not interchangeable ownership by people and agents.

docs.runcabinet.com/…/tasks
Recurring work Task Machine Yes

Start a Task or Workflow once, on a schedule in your timezone, or when a service event arrives, such as a paid invoice or a pull request review. A recurring job keeps one stable root Task and gives each occurrence its own status and history, so repeated work does not flood your board.

Cabinet Yes

Routines run scheduled prompts using cron, and July release notes document an inbound Telegram gateway that runs agents from messages.

Workflows Task Machine Yes

A Workflow repeats your steps in the same order every time, with branches, human questions and approvals, and verifier checks that judge each result against its requirements and send weak work back with feedback. Every run keeps a step-by-step history you can read afterwards.

taskmachine.io/docs/workflow-builder
Cabinet Yes

YAML routines repeat a prompt with a named agent, and an after field names jobs that must complete first. You can chain scheduled jobs through these dependencies.

Autonomy Task Machine Yes

Consequential decisions land in your Inbox with their context. You set what each agent may do on its own: every action is either Ask first or Automatic, per agent, and you can change that whenever the work or the stakes change.

Cabinet Yes

The Approval Queue collects proposed tasks and schedules. You can auto-approve proposals by action kind, proposing agent, target agent and estimated cost, while other proposals still require approval.

Learned autonomy Task Machine Yes

Task Machine studies the approvals and corrections you already make. When an agent does well it proposes giving it more freedom, and when it needs closer supervision it proposes tighter review, each with the evidence. A short lucky streak is not enough, and nothing changes until you accept.

Cabinet Not published

Its docs describe manually configured auto-approval policies, but do not describe Cabinet proposing permission changes from your approval history.

Memory Task Machine Yes

Agents keep lessons from your corrections, such as an accepted example or a mistake to avoid, and carry the relevant notes into later work. Memory is kept per agent, project, goal, team and workspace, and you can read, correct and restore any note.

taskmachine.io/docs/memories
Cabinet Yes

Each agent reads its memory.md at the start of a run and writes to it at the end. You can open and edit the file to correct what it learned.

docs.runcabinet.com/…/persona
Planning Task Machine Yes

Plan in Chat with your agents, and the plan becomes Tasks or Library documents instead of staying in a chat log. Before an agent starts, you review its plan and the acceptance criteria its work will be judged against.

taskmachine.io/docs/planning-in-chat
Cabinet Yes

A lead can plan a week's work as queued proposals, which you can edit, approve or reject. A direct conversation can also become a proposed task or a reusable routine.

Intake Task Machine Yes

Send work in over HTTP with a project token. It lands in the project as a Task, or in your Inbox as a proposal first. A team lead agent triages it to the right owner and asks you only when the decision is yours.

Cabinet Yes

July release notes describe an inbound Telegram gateway for running agents in room-scoped chats. Messages can reach agent work without entering the Cabinet app.

github.com/…/CHANGELOG.md
Connectors Task Machine Yes

Install services from a catalog as MCP servers, APIs or command-line tools, or add your own custom Connector for any of the three. Events Connectors receive webhooks from a service, such as a paid invoice, and start Workflows or wake a waiting Task.

taskmachine.io/docs/connectors
Cabinet Yes

Cabinet supports custom MCP servers over stdio or HTTP and publishes a Telegram inbound gateway in its July release notes. Its integration index still labels Telegram as coming soon.

Models Task Machine Yes

Auto is the default. For each stage of the work it chooses a model from the task, current model capabilities, pricing and your applicable budgets, and you can fix a specific model on an agent when you want to.

taskmachine.io/docs/agents
Cabinet Partly

You set models per agent, task or routine, with configured fallbacks when a budget cap or rate limit is reached. Its docs do not describe automatic model selection based on the task's needs.

docs.runcabinet.com/…/byoai
Cloud or your own computer Task Machine Yes

Run agents in Managed Cloud with nothing to install, or connect a Local Worker, a computer you control, for local files, tools and accounts. You choose where each agent runs.

Cabinet Partly

The self-hosted product is available free on your own machines, with Mac and Windows downloads. Cabinet Cloud Pro and Cloud Max remain on waitlists, so vendor-managed hosting is not an available alternative yet.

runcabinet.com/pricing
Your own subscription Task Machine Yes

Sign in to your ChatGPT (Codex), Claude or GitHub Copilot subscription on a Local Worker, and the agents there use it instead of Task Machine's models.

Cabinet Yes

Cabinet uses your existing model accounts and subscriptions. Its runtime documentation lists authenticated local Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI adapters, among others.

Pricing Task Machine Yes

Usage based. From $29 a month before tax, the whole payment becomes usage that your workspace shares across people and agents, with no base fee and no trial. Larger monthly amounts lower the AI and Cloud rates.

taskmachine.io/pricing
Cabinet Partly

Self-hosting is free. Waitlisted Cloud Pro advertises $20 a month and Cloud Max $49 a month, billed monthly, with AI separate or optional Cabinet AI from $10 a month. These are hosting plans, not usage-based prices.

runcabinet.com/pricing
Correctness Task Machine Yes

Every Task carries acceptance requirements, and each one gets a Pass, Fail or Uncertain check against the delivered work before a person reviews it. Workflow steps can add a verifier check that sends failed work back with feedback. You review the plan first, so the criteria exist before work starts.

Cabinet Partly

The Audits template collects stakeholder Pass or Fail verdicts per issue and sends failures back to the fix queue. Its published flow describes human review, not automatic result checks against defined requirements.

runcabinet.com/templates/audits

For software work

Task Machine and Cabinet compared, with the source and check date of each answer
What you compare Task Machine Cabinet
Code review rules Task Machine Yes

Internal code review checks completed changes against the enabled rules of your repository. Rule discovery reads the repository and proposes rules, each screened against violating and valid examples first, and Task Machine suggests turning off a rule that agents keep dismissing.

taskmachine.io/docs/repositories
Cabinet Partly

Cabinet bundles code-review skills and lets you replace them with local instruction packs. Its docs do not establish code being checked against a repository's review rules.

docs.runcabinet.com/…/skills
Adversarial review Task Machine Yes

When an approved plan has high sensitivity or a Critical review level, the change also gets an adversarial review. Two independent reviewers examine the changed files together for defects such as a broken caller or a duplicate charge on retry. Findings keep their reproduction steps, and a skipped or failed review never counts as a pass.

taskmachine.io/docs/task-reviews
Cabinet Not published

Its docs do not describe an independent second review of risky code changes. The Audits template describes a fixer agent followed by stakeholder review.

Risk rating Task Machine Yes

Before final review, Merge risk rates the exact revision Low, Moderate or High, with notes on alignment, impact, verification, rollback cost and error detection, plus file references. It informs your decision and never merges for you.

taskmachine.io/docs/pull-requests
Cabinet Not published

Its docs do not describe rating a code change's risk before merge. The Audits template's severity rubric classifies findings rather than the risk of a merge revision.

Pull requests Task Machine Yes

Agents deliver against the exact reported revision, address review feedback and update the branch under your repository rules. Task Machine records its own approval of the exact commit before an agent may merge.

taskmachine.io/docs/pull-requests
Cabinet Partly

The GitHub MCP server exposes pull-request tools, and linked repositories provide source context and pull-request suggestions. Its docs do not establish agents addressing review feedback on a real pull request.

A fact we cannot find or cannot check is left out, and prices can change after the date shown. Task Machine publishes this comparison and is an interested party. Cabinet is named only to identify it, and there is no relationship between the two companies. Has something changed? Tell us.

Who each one suits

Cabinet suits you if you want agents working beside markdown files you own, with editable memory, scheduled routines and department leads who propose work for your approval.

Task Machine suits you if you want people and agents to own the same kind of Task, with a reviewed plan, acceptance requirements and an Inbox for decisions. Goals link a lead to Metrics so work can be reviewed against an outcome.

You may stay with Cabinet if free self-hosting and a file-based knowledge workspace matter more to you than a shared task-review process. Its leads, task board, schedules and approval policies already cover substantial agent coordination.

Direct the work from files or Tasks

Cabinet stores agent personas and memory as editable files. Department leads propose work for specialists, and the Approval Queue lets you change the model, effort or schedule before approving a proposal. Task cards retain transcripts and page diffs, so you can inspect what an agent changed.

Task Machine keeps the plan, discussion, decisions and runs on a Task that a person or an agent owns. You can plan in Chat, turn the plan into Tasks and review acceptance requirements before execution.

For repeated work, Cabinet's YAML routines specify the agent, prompt and schedule. Job dependencies can require other jobs to finish first. Task Machine Workflows also support branches, human questions and verifier checks that send failed work back with feedback.

Choose where the work runs

Cabinet's self-hosted product is available now, with free Mac and Windows downloads. Cabinet Cloud Pro and Cloud Max are on waitlists. Do not treat their advertised prices as proof that hosted plans can be purchased today.

Cabinet lets you use existing model accounts and subscriptions. Its heartbeat documentation says these recurring check-ins pause when the cabinet closes and resume when the app starts again.

Task Machine offers Managed Cloud or a Local Worker on a computer you control. You choose where an agent runs.

What the prices cover

Cabinet self-hosting is free, and you supply the machine and AI accounts. Its waitlisted Cloud Pro plan advertises $20 a month and Cloud Max $49 a month, billed monthly, for hosting. AI is separate, with optional Cabinet AI starting at $10 a month.

Task Machine is usage based, from $29 a month before tax. The whole payment becomes usage shared by the workspace, with no base fee. You keep 100% of your revenue, Task Machine takes no cut and never takes custody of your accounts.

Common questions

Is Cabinet available, or only a waitlist?
The self-hosted product is available. Cabinet Cloud Pro and Cloud Max remain on waitlists, so the waitlist does not describe the whole product.

Can Cabinet coordinate several agents?
Yes. Department leads can propose tasks and schedules for specialists, with approval policies controlling which proposals can run without another approval.

Can I inspect what Cabinet remembers?
Yes. An agent's memory.md is a page you can read and edit. Task Machine also lets you inspect and correct Memories, with separate agent, project, goal, team and workspace scopes.

Does Cabinet check finished work?
Its Audits template asks stakeholders for Pass or Fail verdicts and returns failures to the fix queue. Task Machine checks delivered work against each Task's acceptance requirements before a person reviews it, and Workflows can add verifier checks.