COSMIC Terminal

The terminal emulator for the COSMIC desktop, with GPU rendering, ligatures and bidirectional text.

FreeOpen sourceLinux
Official websitegithub.com

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About COSMIC Terminal

COSMIC Terminal is the terminal emulator built for the COSMIC desktop from the Pop!_OS developers. It is written in Rust and uses the terminal core from the Alacritty project, with its own renderer based on cosmic-text that supports ligatures and bidirectional text.

GPU rendering through wgpu is enabled by default, with a software fallback. The repository includes colour schemes, translations and Debian packaging, and it suits people running COSMIC or wanting a Rust terminal on Linux.

Strengths

  • GPU rendering with wgpu, plus a fallback renderer
  • Font ligatures and bidirectional text
  • Built on Alacritty's terminal emulation core

Limitations

  • Designed for the COSMIC desktop on Linux
  • Younger than long-established Linux terminals

Details

Pricing
FreeFree and open source.
License
Open source, license not stated
Developer
System76
Platforms
Linux
How it runs
Downloadable app
Account
Not required
Works offline
Yes
Best suited for
Linux users on the COSMIC desktop or Pop!_OS
Categories
Terminals
Last verified
Added
Provenance
Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.

Alternatives to COSMIC Terminal

Compare all

Software that can replace COSMIC Terminal for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.

  • Alacritty

    A deliberately minimal OpenGL terminal that leaves multiplexing and tabs to other programs and just draws text fast.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Alacritty provides the terminal emulation core COSMIC Terminal builds on, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, but has no tabs by design.

  • GNOME Console

    A simple, user-friendly terminal emulator that is the default terminal on newer GNOME desktops.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    GNOME Console is the simple default terminal on newer GNOME desktops, with far fewer customization options and no mention of GPU rendering or ligatures.

  • Ghostty

    A GPU-accelerated terminal that uses the real native interface of the platform instead of drawing its own.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinux

    Ghostty is a GPU-accelerated terminal with native window chrome on macOS and Linux and thorough emulation, configured through a single text file.

  • kitty

    GPU-accelerated terminal with tabs, splits, graphics and a kitten scripting system.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinux

    kitty adds GPU rendering with tabs, splits, inline images and kitten scripts on macOS and Linux, configured only through a text file.

  • WezTerm

    A GPU-accelerated terminal that is also a multiplexer, configured in Lua and the same on every platform.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    WezTerm is a GPU-accelerated terminal with a built-in multiplexer and Lua configuration that works the same on Windows, macOS and Linux.

  • GNOME Terminal

    The long-standing VTE-based terminal emulator for the GNOME desktop on Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    GNOME Terminal is the long-standing VTE-based GNOME terminal, well integrated with the desktop but with a more conservative feature set than newer terminals.

  • Konsole

    KDE's terminal emulator for running a command shell, with tabs, profiles, bookmarks and output search.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Konsole is KDE's full-featured terminal with tabs, profiles and output search, designed around KDE Plasma rather than the COSMIC desktop.

  • foot

    A fast, lightweight and minimalistic terminal emulator built for Wayland on Linux and FreeBSD.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    foot is a fast, minimal Wayland-only terminal for Linux and FreeBSD, lighter on resources but without tabs.

Similar software

Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.

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