Open-source Warp alternatives

The repository holds the source for Windows Terminal, Windows Terminal Preview and the original Windows console host, conhost.exe, plus the components they share. Windows Terminal is a modern application for working with command-line shells such as Command Prompt, PowerShell and Windows Subsystem for Linux on Windows. It is written in C++ and released under the MIT license.

The repo also includes ColorTool and sample projects that show how to use the Windows Console APIs. Related repositories cover the user documentation, the console API documentation and the Cascadia Code font. A Canary build is available for those who want the newest changes, and a Preview release exists alongside the stable one.

Windows Terminal requires Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or later. The recommended way to install is from the Microsoft Store, which provides automatic upgrades; other options are GitHub releases, the winget package manager, and unofficial Chocolatey and Scoop packages. It suits developers and administrators who spend time in shells on Windows.

Tabby, formerly called Terminus, is a configurable terminal emulator that doubles as an SSH and serial client, running on Windows, macOS and Linux. It is written in TypeScript and released under the MIT license. It positions itself as an alternative to the default Windows console, PowerShell ISE, PuTTY and the stock macOS Terminal app, as well as iTerm.

The terminal supports multiple nested split panes, themes and color schemes, fully configurable shortcuts including multi-chord ones, and remembers your open tabs. An integrated SSH and Telnet client with a connection manager, a serial terminal, and file transfer over SSH sessions via Zmodem are included, and SSH secrets can be kept in an encrypted container. On Windows it can host CMD, Cmder, MSYS2, Cygwin, Git-Bash, WSL and PowerShell sessions, with tab completion via Clink.

A browser-based SSH, SFTP and Telnet client is available as a web app that can also be self-hosted. The README clarifies that Tabby does not replace your shell, MinGW or Cygwin, and that it is not lightweight, so memory-sensitive users may prefer other tools. It suits developers and administrators who manage many remote machines or serial devices.

Ghostty is a terminal emulator that aims to combine speed, a broad feature set and a native user interface, rather than making users choose between them. It uses platform-native UI and GPU acceleration, is written in Zig, and is released under the MIT license.

The project's roadmap covers standards-compliant terminal emulation, competitive performance, rich windowing features such as multiple windows, tabs and panes, and native experiences on each platform. Downloads and documentation are hosted on the Ghostty website, and the repository includes contributor and developer guides.

Ghostty also ships libghostty, a cross-platform, zero-dependency library in C and Zig for building terminal emulators or embedding terminal functionality, such as style parsing, into other software. A minimal example project called Ghostling is provided. Ghostty suits developers who spend much of the day in a terminal and want a native-feeling emulator, and those who want terminal capabilities inside their own applications.

kitty is a terminal emulator for people who spend much of their day in the command line. It is cross-platform and uses the GPU along with SIMD vector CPU instructions and multiple threads to keep rendering responsive. The project is written in Python, C and Go, and it is released under the GPL-3.0 license.

Window management is built in: tabs and windows can be arranged in layouts such as stack, tall, fat, grid, splits, horizontal and vertical, and sessions can restore a setup. Behavior is controlled through a kitty.conf file covering fonts, cursor, scrollback, mouse actions, tab bar and color schemes, including wide-gamut color formats. Kittens extend the terminal, for example icat for showing images and a diff viewer that can integrate with git. The documentation includes a quickstart, build instructions and a design philosophy page.

WezTerm is a terminal emulator and multiplexer created by Wez Furlong and implemented in Rust. It renders with the GPU, runs on several operating systems, and combines terminal emulation with built-in multiplexing so that tabs, panes and sessions can be managed without a separate tool. Repository topics also mention serial port support. The project's own site hosts the user guide and installation instructions.

The README describes it as a spare-time project, so response times from the maintainer may vary. Support channels are the GitHub issue tracker, GitHub Discussions and a Matrix room, and sponsorship is accepted through Patreon, Ko-fi and Liberapay to help cover maintenance costs. The most recent tagged release in the repository dates from February 2024, so check the commit history for current activity. The repository metadata lists the license as Other.

Alacritty is a terminal emulator that renders with OpenGL and is written in Rust. It ships with sensible defaults but can be configured extensively. Instead of reimplementing the features of other programs, it integrates with them, which the project credits for its flexible feature set and high performance. It runs on BSD, Linux, macOS and Windows and is released under the Apache-2.0 license.

The README calls the software beta quality, with some missing features and bugs, yet used by many people as a daily driver. It needs at least OpenGL ES 2.0, and on Windows it needs ConPTY support, which means Windows 10 version 1809 or later. Alacritty can be installed through package managers on several systems, or from precompiled binaries on the GitHub releases page. Configuration is documented in a man page and on the website, and the program does not generate a config file for you.

Wave Terminal is a terminal with built-in AI that is open source and runs on macOS, Linux and Windows. It can use whichever AI model you prefer: you bring your own API keys for providers such as OpenAI, Claude or Gemini, or run local models through Ollama and LM Studio, and no account is required. The project is written in Go and released under the Apache-2.0 license.

SSH sessions are durable: they persist through network drops and app restarts, and reconnect automatically. A drag-and-drop interface lets you arrange terminal blocks, editors, web browsers and AI assistants in one window. Wave AI reads terminal output and can perform file operations, a built-in editor and rich preview handle remote files such as markdown, images, video, PDFs and CSVs, and command blocks isolate individual commands. API keys can be stored securely using native system backends, and the wsh command manages the workspace from the CLI.

iTerm2 is a terminal emulator for macOS intended as a replacement for the built-in Terminal app. It adds features aimed at people who spend much of their day in a shell, such as developers and system administrators. It is written in Objective-C and released under the GPL-2.0 license.

Its tmux integration turns tmux windows into native macOS windows and tabs when started in control mode, and sessions persist through crashes, SSH disconnects and app upgrades. Shell integration tracks commands, directories, hostnames and usernames, enabling click-to-download via SCP, drag-and-drop uploads and per-host command history. Inline image display, automatic profile switching by host, user, directory or command, and dedicated hotkey windows that slide in from a screen edge are also included.

Newer additions include a built-in chat window that can optionally interact with terminal contents using a language model, and a built-in web browser. Session restoration keeps shells running in long-lived server processes so they reconnect after the app restarts.