tmux AlternativesTop Terminal Emulators and other similar apps like tmux

tmux is described as 'Terminal multiplexer: it enables a number of terminals (or windows), each running a separate program, to be created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. tmux may be detached from a screen and continue running in the background, then later reattached' and is a very popular terminal emulator in the os & utilities category. There are more than 10 alternatives to tmux for Linux, Mac, Windows, Rust and Wayland. The best tmux alternative is GNU Screen, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like tmux are WezTerm, byobu, Zellij and RMUX.

filter to find the best alternatives

tmux alternatives are mainly Terminal Emulators, but if you're looking for Window Managers or Shells you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Mac. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to tmux.
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Alternatives list

  1. GNU Screen icon
     90 likes

    Offers full-screen terminal multiplexing with independent windows, VT100 emulation, scrollback, and copy-paste. Supports ANSI standards, detaching, and persistent background process execution for shells or commands across Unix-like systems.

    12 GNU Screen alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
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    1
  2. WezTerm icon
     23 likes

    A GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal emulator and multiplexer written by @wez and implemented in Rust

    113 WezTerm alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  3. byobu icon
     24 likes

    Byobu is a GPLv3 open source text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer. It was originally designed to provide elegant enhancements to the otherwise functional, plain, practical GNU Screen , for the Ubuntu server distribution.

    9 byobu alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
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    1
  4. Zellij icon
     8 likes

    Zellij is a terminal workspace. It has the base functionality of a terminal multiplexer (similar to tmux or screen) but includes many built-in features that would allow users to extend it and create their own personalized environment.

    11 Zellij alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
  5. RMUX icon
     3 likes

    Universal Rust multiplexer for the agentic era: detachable, scriptable, and inspectable, with a tmux-compatible CLI, daemon-backed SDK, and native Ratatui integration.

    15 RMUX alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Rust
     
  6. Wemux icon
     3 likes

    wemux - Multi-User Tmux Made Easy.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  7. Automatically tiles and organizes all terminal sessions in one native macOS window, scaling layouts from fullscreen to grid, grouping sessions by project with color-coding, enabling instant filtering, supporting any CLI tool, and requiring zero configuration.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  8.  1 like

    Twin is a windowing environment with mouse support, window manager, terminal emulator and networked clients, all inside a text display.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  9. dtach icon
     7 likes

    dtach is a tiny program that emulates the detach feature of screen, allowing you to run a program in an environment that is protected from the controlling terminal and attach to it later. dtach does not keep track of the contents of the screen, and thus works best with programs...

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  10. abduco icon
     2 likes

    abduco provides session management i.e. it allows programs to be run independently from their controlling terminal. That is programs can be detached - run in the background - and then later reattached. Together with dvtm it provides a simpler and cleaner alternative to tmux or...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (ISC)

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
  11. itmux icon
     1 like

    itmux is a packaging of Tmux, Mintty, OpenSSH client and Cygwin to offer a standalone ssh-enabled terminal multiplexer for Windows systems.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  12. mtm icon
     2 likes

    Perhaps the smallest useful terminal multiplexer in the world.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
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