Best xterm Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from terminal emulators ranked against xterm on the same published basis.
- 1xterm vs Termalin
- 2xterm vs Contour
- 3xterm vs Warp
- 4xterm vs Alacritty
- 5xterm vs Hyper
- 6xterm vs Konsole
- 7xterm vs Tabby
- 8xterm vs WezTerm
- 9xterm vs Ghostty
- 10xterm vs iTerm2
- 11xterm vs MobaXterm
- 12xterm vs st
- 13xterm vs Tilix
- 14xterm vs Windows Terminal
- 15xterm vs GNOME Terminal
- 16xterm vs Rio
- 17xterm vs gitsome
- 19xterm vs agedu
- 20xterm vs foot
- 21xterm vs kitty
xterm alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Termalin | 6.7 | Free plan | $8/mo | API, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 2 | Contour | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 3 | Warp | 6.6 | Free plan | $20/mo | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 4 | Alacritty | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 5 | Hyper | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | Konsole | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 7 | Tabby | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 8 | WezTerm | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 9 | Ghostty | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac |
| 10 | iTerm2 | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Mac |
| 11 | MobaXterm | 6.3 | Free plan | — | Windows |
| 12 | st | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 13 | Tilix | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 14 | Windows Terminal | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Windows |
| 15 | GNOME Terminal | 6.2 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 16 | Rio | 5.6 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 17 | gitsome | 5.5 | No | — | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 19 | agedu | 5.3 | No | — | Linux, Web |
| 20 | foot | 5.3 | No | — | Linux |
| 21 | kitty | 5.3 | No | — | Linux, Mac |
Make your app an alternative to xterm
See the priceThe sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled Sponsored.
Questions about xterm alternatives
What is the best alternative to xterm?
Termalin, number 1 in terminal emulators with a score of 6.7 out of 10. The others here: Contour, Warp, Alacritty and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to xterm?
Termalin is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 15 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked free-and-open first: a usable free tier and open-source code, then the platforms it runs on and its documentation.