Alternatives to Rio
Use a configurable terminal emulator across desktop platforms. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Rio
Use a configurable terminal emulator across desktop platforms.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Rio.
Alacritty
A deliberately minimal OpenGL terminal that leaves multiplexing and tabs to other programs and just draws text fast.
Alacritty is an Apache-2.0 OpenGL terminal for Windows, macOS and Linux with Vi mode and regex hints, but no tabs by design and a beta status.
WezTerm
A GPU-accelerated terminal that is also a multiplexer, configured in Lua and the same on every platform.
WezTerm is an MIT-licensed GPU terminal for Windows, macOS and Linux with built-in multiplexing, SSH panes and Lua configuration shared across machines.
kitty
GPU-accelerated terminal with tabs, splits, graphics and a kitten scripting system.
kitty is a GPL-3.0 GPU terminal with tabs, splits, inline images and kittens for scripting, but it has no Windows build and text-only configuration.
Ghostty
A GPU-accelerated terminal that uses the real native interface of the platform instead of drawing its own.
Ghostty is an MIT-licensed GPU terminal with native window chrome and thorough emulation, available on macOS and Linux but not Windows.
Windows Terminal
Microsoft’s tabbed terminal for Windows, hosting Command Prompt, PowerShell and WSL in one GPU-rendered window.
Windows Terminal is Microsoft's MIT-licensed GPU terminal with tabs and split panes for cmd, PowerShell and WSL, limited to current Windows 10 and 11.
Contour Terminal
Run shell sessions in a GPU-rendered terminal emulator.
Contour is an Apache-2.0 GPU terminal for Windows, macOS and Linux supporting ligatures, Unicode and tabs, requiring a compatible graphics setup.
Warp
Rust terminal with block-based output, AI assistance and shared workflows.
Warp is a Rust terminal with command blocks, editor-style input and AI assistance, where hosted AI and collaboration features need an account and plan.
Hyper
A terminal built on web technologies, extended with JavaScript plugins and themed with CSS.
Hyper is an Electron terminal themed with CSS and extended with npm plugins, using more memory than Rio and last tagged in January 2023.
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.
Gogh
A collection of hundreds of terminal color schemes, installed into your terminal with a single command.
