Alternatives to ConEmu
Keep several Windows console sessions in a tabbed window. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
ConEmu
Keep several Windows console sessions in a tabbed window.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as ConEmu.
Windows Terminal
Microsoft’s tabbed terminal for Windows, hosting Command Prompt, PowerShell and WSL in one GPU-rendered window.
Windows Terminal offers tabs, split panes and GPU rendering from Microsoft, hosting Command Prompt, PowerShell and WSL, but needs a current Windows 10 or 11 and JSON editing.
Cmder
Carry a configured Windows console environment between machines.
Cmder bundles a terminal interface with command-line enhancements and is designed to carry a configured console environment between Windows machines.
Tabby
A terminal, SSH client and serial console in one window, with a connection manager and an encrypted secret store.
Tabby adds SSH, Telnet and serial connections alongside local shells and runs on macOS and Linux too, but Electron makes its startup and memory use heavier.
WezTerm
A GPU-accelerated terminal that is also a multiplexer, configured in Lua and the same on every platform.
WezTerm brings GPU rendering and built-in multiplexing of panes and tabs to Windows, macOS and Linux, configured in Lua instead of through settings dialogs.
Mintty
A terminal emulator for Cygwin, MSYS2 and WSL on Windows with thorough xterm compatibility.
Mintty is a Windows terminal focused on Cygwin, MSYS2 and WSL, with thorough xterm emulation and image display support.
Hyper
A terminal built on web technologies, extended with JavaScript plugins and themed with CSS.
Hyper is an Electron terminal for Windows, macOS and Linux extended with JavaScript plugins and CSS themes, with its last tagged release in January 2023.
Also worth comparing
These listings name ConEmu as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
WSLtty
A Windows terminal for Windows Subsystem for Linux based on mintty and wslbridge2.
ConEmu keeps several Windows console sessions in a tabbed window with configurable layouts, where WSLtty opens each session separately.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Clink
Add modern command editing to the Windows command prompt.
Oh My Posh
Customize shell prompts across operating systems with configurable themes.
Starship
A shell prompt that shows the git branch, language version and other context, configured once and working in every shell.
