Alternatives to Extraterm
An open-source terminal emulator that frames command output and adds tools for working with it. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Extraterm
An open-source terminal emulator that frames command output and adds tools for working with it.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Extraterm.
Warp
Rust terminal with block-based output, AI assistance and shared workflows.
Warp also organises output into command blocks and adds editor-style input and AI assistance, though hosted AI and collaboration need accounts and plans.
Wave Terminal
A terminal with file previews, a remote file editor, web browsing and AI assistance arranged as blocks in one window.
Wave Terminal arranges terminals, file previews, a remote editor and a browser as blocks, but is Electron-based and still pre-1.0.
WezTerm
A GPU-accelerated terminal that is also a multiplexer, configured in Lua and the same on every platform.
WezTerm drops output framing but adds GPU rendering, a built-in multiplexer with SSH remotes and Lua configuration across Windows, macOS and Linux.
kitty
GPU-accelerated terminal with tabs, splits, graphics and a kitten scripting system.
kitty offers GPU rendering, tabs, splits and inline images via its own protocol, but has no Windows build and no output framing.
Tabby
A terminal, SSH client and serial console in one window, with a connection manager and an encrypted secret store.
Tabby provides local shells plus SSH, Telnet and serial with a connection manager and encrypted secrets, but no command output framing and Electron overhead.
Hyper
A terminal built on web technologies, extended with JavaScript plugins and themed with CSS.
Hyper is an Electron terminal extended with JavaScript plugins and CSS themes, with slower rendering and its last tagged release in January 2023.
Alacritty
A deliberately minimal OpenGL terminal that leaves multiplexing and tabs to other programs and just draws text fast.
Alacritty is a minimal OpenGL terminal focused on speed, with vi mode and scrollback search but no tabs, images or output framing.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
tmux
Keeps terminal sessions alive on a server after you disconnect, and splits one window into many.
Zellij
A terminal multiplexer that tells you its own shortcuts on screen, so you can use it on day one.
Starship
A shell prompt that shows the git branch, language version and other context, configured once and working in every shell.
Nerd Fonts
A collection of programming fonts patched with thousands of icons, plus a patcher for adding them to other fonts.
