Alternatives to Chafa
Terminal graphics renderer that displays images and animations using Unicode and ANSI. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Chafa
Terminal graphics renderer that displays images and animations using Unicode and ANSI.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Chafa.
viu
Rust-based terminal image viewer with native iTerm and Kitty support.
viu is written in Rust, adds Windows builds and native iTerm and Kitty protocol support, but works best only on terminals that support those protocols.
ascii-image-converter
Cross-platform CLI tool that converts images and GIFs into colored terminal ASCII.
ascii-image-converter outputs colored ASCII or Braille art from images and GIFs, and offers Windows builds that Chafa does not list.
jp2a
Tiny command-line tool that converts JPEG images to ASCII art.
jp2a is a tiny, fast ASCII converter, but it handles only JPEG input and cannot render animations the way Chafa can.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
TOIlet
FIGlet-like command-line text renderer with filters and color effects.
lolcat
Adds rainbow color gradients to terminal output, often piped with cowsay.
boxes
Command-line filter that wraps text in ASCII boxes and decorative frames.
feh
Lightweight, keyboard-driven image viewer for X11 that also sets wallpapers and lists image files.
Serie
A terminal application that draws a detailed Git commit graph using the terminal's image display protocol.
