Alternatives to Konsole
KDE's terminal emulator for running a command shell, with tabs, profiles, bookmarks and output search. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Konsole
KDE's terminal emulator for running a command shell, with tabs, profiles, bookmarks and output search.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Konsole.
GNOME Terminal
The long-standing VTE-based terminal emulator for the GNOME desktop on Linux.
GNOME Terminal is the VTE-based terminal integrated with the GNOME desktop, Linux only, with a more conservative feature set than Konsole.
kitty
GPU-accelerated terminal with tabs, splits, graphics and a kitten scripting system.
kitty is a GPU-accelerated terminal with tabs, splits and inline images for macOS and Linux, configured through a text file without graphical settings.
WezTerm
A GPU-accelerated terminal that is also a multiplexer, configured in Lua and the same on every platform.
WezTerm is a GPU-accelerated terminal with built-in multiplexing and Lua configuration that behaves the same on Windows, macOS and Linux.
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 with no tabs or profiles, relying on tmux or the window manager for multiplexing.
Tilix
A tiling terminal emulator for Linux using GTK 3, with split panes and saved sessions.
Tilix is a GTK 3 tiling terminal with split panes and saved session layouts, fitting GNOME, and its project is looking for new maintainers.
Xfce Terminal
The lightweight terminal emulator of the Xfce desktop, with tabs and a drop-down window mode.
Xfce Terminal is lighter on resources, has tabs and a built-in drop-down mode, and fits best on Xfce rather than KDE Plasma.
QTerminal
A lightweight Qt terminal emulator maintained by the LXQt desktop project.
QTerminal is a lightweight Qt terminal from LXQt with tabs, split panes and a drop-down mode, but fewer features than Konsole.
Terminator
A Linux terminal emulator that arranges several GNOME terminals in grids of split panes within one window.
Terminator arranges GNOME terminals in grids of split panes within one window and fits GTK desktops best, Linux only.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Konsole as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
cool-retro-term
A terminal emulator that imitates the look of old cathode-ray tube screens.
Konsole gives up the retro look for tabs, profiles and output search, and also has Windows and macOS builds.
COSMIC Terminal
The terminal emulator for the COSMIC desktop, with GPU rendering, ligatures and bidirectional text.
Konsole is KDE's full-featured terminal with tabs, profiles and output search, designed around KDE Plasma rather than the COSMIC desktop.
Deepin Terminal
A Qt terminal emulator from the Deepin desktop with workspaces, remote server management and quake mode.
Konsole brings tabs, profiles, bookmarks and output search from KDE, with builds for Windows and macOS as well as Linux.
GNOME Console
A simple, user-friendly terminal emulator that is the default terminal on newer GNOME desktops.
Konsole brings tabs, profiles, bookmarks, activity monitoring and output search, and has Windows and macOS builds, though it is designed around the KDE Plasma desktop.
LXTerminal
A lightweight VTE-based terminal emulator from the LXDE project with tab support.
Konsole adds profiles, activity monitoring and output search with monthly releases, but is designed around KDE Plasma and uses more resources.
Ptyxis
A GNOME terminal designed for container-oriented desktops with Podman, Toolbox and Distrobox support.
Konsole is KDE's terminal with tabs, profiles, activity monitoring and output search, designed around Plasma rather than GNOME, and it also has Windows and macOS builds.
Terminology
A terminal emulator for Linux and BSD built on the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries, with inline media previews.
Konsole is KDE's terminal with tabs, profiles, bookmarks and output search, built for Plasma rather than EFL, and without Terminology's inline media previews.
xterm
The long-running terminal emulator for the X Window System, with DEC VT and Tektronix compatibility.
Konsole adds tabs, profiles, bookmarks and output search, is designed around KDE Plasma, and has builds beyond Linux for macOS and Windows.
Yakuake
A drop-down terminal emulator for KDE, based on Konsole, that rolls down from the top of the screen.
Konsole is the KDE terminal Yakuake builds on, offering the same tabs and profiles in a regular window rather than a drop-down.
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.
Gogh
A collection of hundreds of terminal color schemes, installed into your terminal with a single command.
Nerd Fonts
A collection of programming fonts patched with thousands of icons, plus a patcher for adding them to other fonts.
