The Best Terminal Emulators in 2026
We researched terminal emulators through official websites, including pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation, then ranked them on the core job, value for money and verified features. This guide helps you compare desktop applications for interactive command-line sessions and terminal features.
Our top picks
-
Top ranked
Tabby#1 of 409.4/10A versatile open-source terminal for power users who automate across systems.
Free plan
-
Runner-up
Windows Terminal#2 of 409.3/10A free, open-source Windows terminal with tabs, panes, profiles, and automation.
Free plan
-
Top-ranked free plan
iTerm2#3 of 409.2/10A capable Mac terminal with advanced panes, profiles, session restoration, and automation.
Free plan
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
The full ranking 40 tools, best first
-
Best forPower users needing SSH and extensive automation
A versatile open-source terminal for power users who automate across systems.
- Session sync
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
9.4/10★★★★★Visit Tabby -
Best forWindows users with multiple shell environments
A free, open-source Windows terminal with tabs, panes, profiles, and automation.
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
- SSH support
9.3/10★★★★★Visit Microsoft -
Best forMac users wanting automation and rich session management
A capable Mac terminal with advanced panes, profiles, session restoration, and automation.
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
- SSH support
9.2/10★★★★★Visit iTerm2 -
Best forLinux and macOS power users needing SSH tooling
A programmable terminal with strong SSH workflows, graphics, layouts, and session control.
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
- SSH support
9.0/10★★★★☆Visit kitty -
Best forFree SSH and network-session management
A free, open-source terminal client with broad SSH and network-session coverage.
8.8/10★★★★☆Visit PuTTY -
Best forTeams wanting collaboration and AI terminal workflows
A broad terminal workspace for developers who want AI, collaboration, and session sync.
- Session sync
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
8.7/10★★★★☆Visit Warp -
Best forWindows administrators managing many protocols
A broad Windows terminal suite with free personal use and paid team features.
8.6/10★★★★☆Visit MobaXterm -
Best forMinimalist cross-platform users prioritizing fast rendering
A focused, open-source terminal with GPU rendering and strong configuration options.
- GPU acceleration
- Scripting API
8.5/10★★★★☆Visit Alacritty -
Best forUsers wanting structured panes and terminal monitoring
A free, open-source terminal with panes, saved layouts, monitoring, and scripting.
- Split panes
- SSH support
- Scripting API
8.4/10★★★★☆Visit KDE -
Best formacOS and Linux users wanting a modern GPU terminal
A free, open-source GPU terminal with strong macOS and Linux workflows.
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
- SSH support
8.3/10★★★★☆Visit Ghostty -
Best forWindows users needing configurable panes and automation
A free, open-source Windows terminal for configurable layouts and command automation.
- Split panes
- SSH support
- Scripting API
8.2/10★★★★☆Visit ConEmu -
Best forLinux users wanting a mature standard desktop terminal
A free, configurable Linux terminal with tabs, profiles, SSH, and GNU Screen support.
- SSH support
8.1/10★★★★☆Visit GNOME Terminal -
Best forLinux users wanting a straightforward tabbed terminal
A focused, free Linux terminal with tabs and practical session visibility.
8.0/10★★★★☆Visit GNOME Console -
Best forLinux users who prefer a lightweight drop-down terminal
A focused, free Linux terminal with drop-down access, tabs, panes, and automation.
- Split panes
- Scripting API
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit KDE -
Best forLinux users wanting a simple configurable terminal
A focused, configurable Linux terminal with tabs, search, and unlimited scrollback.
- Scripting API
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit Xfce Terminal -
Best forDevelopers wanting a programmable cross-platform terminal
A deep, programmable terminal for developers who need panes, remote sessions, and graphics support.
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
- SSH support
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit WezTerm -
Best forWindows users needing a portable free terminal suite
A free, portable Windows terminal suite with tabs, shells, Git, aliases, and automation.
- Split panes
- SSH support
- Scripting API
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit Cmder -
Best forLinux users managing grouped terminal layouts
A free, open-source Linux terminal emulator for grouped layouts and repeatable terminal workflows.
- Split panes
- SSH support
- Scripting API
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit Terminator -
Best forLinux users managing many synchronized terminals
A capable free terminal workspace for Linux users who manage many sessions.
- Session sync
- Split panes
- SSH support
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit Tilix -
Best forUsers wanting a customizable extensible desktop terminal
A free, open-source desktop terminal with deep customization and plugin support.
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
- SSH support
7.5/10★★★★☆Visit Hyper -
Best forProfessional Windows and macOS communication workflows
A broad terminal toolkit for professional Windows and macOS communication workflows.
- SSH support
- Scripting API
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit ZOC -
Best forLinux users working with containers
A focused, free terminal for Linux container workflows and GNOME users.
- GPU acceleration
7.3/10★★★★☆Visit Ptyxis -
Best forCross-platform users wanting graphics and GPU backends
A flexible cross-platform terminal for users who want GPU backends and graphics support.
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
- Scripting API
7.2/10★★★★☆Visit Rio -
Best forUsers needing persistent sessions across platforms
A cross-platform terminal with strong persistent-session and tmux support.
- Session sync
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
7.1/10★★★★☆Visit Contour -
Best forUsers needing broad legacy terminal emulation
A free, highly configurable X11 emulator for legacy protocols, not a pane-based terminal.
- SSH support
- Scripting API
7.0/10★★★★☆Visit xterm -
Best forMac users wanting persistent SSH projects
A focused macOS terminal workspace for persistent local and SSH projects.
- Split panes
- SSH support
- Scripting API
6.9/10★★★☆☆Visit Macterm -
Best forLinux and macOS users wanting simple panes and bookmarks
A focused Linux and macOS terminal with tabs, panes, bookmarks, and D-Bus automation.
- Split panes
- Scripting API
6.8/10★★★☆☆Visit QTerminal -
Best forWayland users wanting a focused Linux terminal
A focused, free Wayland terminal for Linux users who value keyboard control.
- SSH support
- Scripting API
6.6/10★★★☆☆Visit foot -
Best forWindows users needing serial, legacy, and transfer protocols
A mature Windows terminal tool for serial, SSH, Telnet, scripting, and file transfers.
- SSH support
- Scripting API
6.4/10★★★☆☆Visit Tera Term -
Best forLinux users wanting a drop-down terminal with sessions
A focused, open-source Linux terminal with tabs, splits, sessions, and shortcut-driven access.
- Split panes
- Scripting API
6.3/10★★★☆☆Visit Guake -
Best forLinux users needing inline file previews
A configurable Linux terminal with split panes, tabs, GPU rendering, and inline file previews.
- GPU acceleration
- Split panes
6.2/10★★★☆☆Visit Terminology -
Best forWindows users needing xterm compatibility
A capable open-source Windows terminal for xterm workflows, with tabs and graphics support.
- Scripting API
6.1/10★★★☆☆Visit mintty -
Best forLinux users wanting a searchable drop-down terminal
A focused, free terminal utility for fast drop-down access and searchable sessions.
- Scripting API
6.0/10★★★☆☆Visit Tilda -
Best forMinimalists needing basic terminal emulation
A focused, free terminal emulator for users who value simplicity over advanced workflows.
5.9/10★★★☆☆Visit suckless.org -
Best forLinux users wanting a lightweight basic terminal
A focused Linux terminal for basic shell sessions, tabs, and command-line controls.
- Scripting API
5.8/10★★★☆☆Visit LXTerminal -
Best forLinux users wanting a minimal tabbed terminal
A focused, open-source tabbed terminal for Linux users who value minimal dependencies.
5.7/10★★★☆☆Visit Sakura -
Best forWindows users automating legacy communications
A Windows terminal suite for SSH, serial, modem links, transfers, and scripted automation.
- SSH support
- Scripting API
5.6/10★★★☆☆Visit HyperACCESS -
Best forUsers needing a web-accessible SSH workspace
A cross-device SSH workspace for remote server work, automation, and collaboration.
- Session sync
- SSH support
- Scripting API
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Termalin -
Best forUsers prioritizing retro terminal appearance
A free, open-source terminal for users who value retro visuals over workflow depth.
5.4/10★★★☆☆Try Cool Retro Term -
Best forGitHub users wanting an integrated command-line shell
A free, open-source CLI and shell enhancement for GitHub workflows—not a full terminal emulator.
5.0/10★★☆☆☆Visit gitsome
No tools match those filters.
Compare at a glance
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Supported platforms | Split panes | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tabby | Yes | Free | Windows, macOS, Linux | Yes | 9.4 |
| 2 | Windows Terminal | Yes | Free | Windows | Yes | 9.3 |
| 3 | iTerm2 | Yes | Free | macos | Yes | 9.2 |
| 4 | kitty | Free | Linux, macOS | Yes | 9.0 | |
| 5 | PuTTY | Yes | Free | Windows and Unix | 8.8 | |
| 6 | Warp | Yes | $18/mo | macOS, Windows, Linux | Yes | 8.7 |
| 7 | MobaXterm | Yes | Windows | 8.6 | ||
| 8 | Alacritty | Yes | Free | Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD | No | 8.5 |
| 9 | Konsole | Yes | Free | Linux, Windows, macOS | Yes | 8.4 |
| 10 | Ghostty | Yes | Free | macOS, Linux | Yes | 8.3 |
| 11 | ConEmu | Yes | Free | Windows | Yes | 8.2 |
| 12 | GNOME Terminal | Yes | Free | linux | 8.1 | |
| 13 | GNOME Console | Yes | Free | linux | 8.0 | |
| 14 | Yakuake | Yes | Free | Linux | Yes | 7.9 |
| 15 | Xfce Terminal | Yes | Free | linux | 7.9 | |
| 16 | WezTerm | Yes | Free | Windows, macOS, Linux | Yes | 7.9 |
| 17 | Cmder | Yes | Free | Windows | Yes | 7.8 |
| 18 | Terminator | Yes | Free | Linux | Yes | 7.7 |
| 19 | Tilix | Yes | Free | linux | Yes | 7.6 |
| 20 | Hyper | Yes | Free | macos, windows, linux | Yes | 7.5 |
| 21 | ZOC | No | $79.99 one-time | Windows, macOS | 7.4 | |
| 22 | Ptyxis | Yes | Free | Linux | 7.3 | |
| 23 | Rio | Yes | Free | macOS, Windows, Linux | Yes | 7.2 |
| 24 | Contour | Yes | Free | Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Windows | Yes | 7.1 |
| 25 | xterm | Yes | Free | linux, macos, windows | No | 7.0 |
| 26 | Macterm | Yes | Free | macOS | Yes | 6.9 |
| 27 | QTerminal | Yes | Free | linux, macos | Yes | 6.8 |
| 28 | foot | Yes | Free | linux | No | 6.6 |
| 29 | Tera Term | Yes | Free | windows | 6.4 | |
| 30 | Guake | Yes | Free | linux | Yes | 6.3 |
| 31 | Terminology | Yes | Free | Linux | Yes | 6.2 |
| 32 | mintty | Yes | Free | Windows | No | 6.1 |
| 33 | Tilda | Yes | Free | Linux | 6.0 | |
| 34 | st | Yes | Free | 5.9 | ||
| 35 | LXTerminal | Yes | Free | linux | No | 5.8 |
| 36 | Sakura | Yes | Free | Linux | 5.7 | |
| 37 | HyperACCESS | No | $169.99 one-time | Windows | 5.6 | |
| 38 | Termalin | Yes | $8/user/mo | Windows, macOS, Linux | 5.5 | |
| 39 | Cool Retro Term | Yes | Free | linux, macos | 5.4 | |
| 40 | gitsome | Yes | Free | macOS, Linux, Unix, Windows | No | 5.0 |
Head-to-head All 27 comparisons →
- Tabby vs Windows Terminal
- Tabby vs iTerm2
- Tabby vs kitty
- Tabby vs Warp
- Tabby vs MobaXterm
- Tabby vs Alacritty
- Windows Terminal vs iTerm2
- Windows Terminal vs kitty
- Windows Terminal vs PuTTY
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How we rank terminal emulators
Every tool on this page was researched by iTechGuides Editors from its official website — pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation. We rank on how well each one does this category's core job, what the free or entry plan includes, and where it falls short. Where we have enough verified facts, the score out of 10 is a rubric — job fit, value and how much we could verify — shown with its breakdown on every tool's page; a tool we have not verified enough to score yet shows its rank without a number. Scores are re-checked when a product changes its plans. Read the full editorial policy, or submit a tool we missed.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update