Free and open first
Best Terminal Multiplexers in 2026
When work involves several terminal sessions, multiplexers offer different approaches to organizing panes and keeping sessions available. Compare access platforms, maximum sessions, custom pane layouts, and persistence scope. Session synchronization, collaboration features, and plugins or extensions add more ways to distinguish the tools, while free-plan availability and paid-from pricing help frame cost. Okena, Zellij, and muxel are among the entries, along with p2pmux and Quil. Consider whether your setup calls for a particular layout, shared work, or persistent sessions, then use the listed capabilities to narrow the fit.
- 29 apps
- Research read 23 Sept 2026
- How the order is worked out
- 1
Herdr
Free plan APILinuxMac+2Herdr focuses on persistent terminal sessions for coding agents across local and SSH-accessible machines. Its runtime is free, while the planned Herdr Cloud connection is described as coming soon.
- 2
LibreBooking
Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+1LibreBooking offers resource scheduling with integrations and deployment options for organizations able to manage its requirements.
- 3
amux
Free plan LinuxMacamux combines terminal pane controls, agent-facing CLI features and a mailbox for shared workflows. Users who depend on session groups or advanced hooks may need tmux for those functions.
- 4
Byobu
Free plan LinuxMacByobu adds configurable shortcuts, status information, and persistent sessions over tmux or GNU Screen. It is a fit for terminal users comfortable with those backend requirements.
- 5
muxterm
Free plan LinuxMacWeb+1Muxterm combines persistent terminal sessions with browser-based workspaces and MCP tools, in a free MIT-licensed package.
- 6
Okena
Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+4Okena brings multiple project terminals, session restoration, and documented integrations into one workspace.
- 7
muxel
Free plan LinuxMacWindowsMuxel brings agent sessions, shell panes, Git worktrees, and task scheduling into a local desktop workspace. Windows users should note that tmux session persistence is Unix-only and disabled there.
- 8
openmux
Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hostedopenmux combines pane and workspace management with persistent, detachable sessions and a PTY browser. Note the single-client behavior when attaching from another client.
- 9
Quil
Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1Quil focuses on persistent terminal workspaces, including resumable AI panes and customizable tool panes.
- 10
RMUX
Free plan APILinuxMac+3RMUX combines local, persistent terminal sessions with SDK automation and optional browser sharing. Check the SDK installation requirement and the setup needed for remote access before choosing it.
- 11
dvtm
Free plan LinuxSelf-hosteddvtm provides terminal-based tiling, window shortcuts, tags, and copy mode at no cost. Users needing detach and reattach support must use the separate abduco tool.
- 12
Ferrix
Free plan LinuxMacChoose Ferrix if you want a free terminal multiplexer with remote transport options, snapshots, recording, and multi-client sessions.
- 13
p2pmux
Free plan LinuxMacp2pmux combines shared terminal layouts with shells running on their owners’ machines.
- 14
Shpool
Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hostedPick Shpool if your priority is reconnecting to named shell sessions while keeping native terminal behavior and avoiding a multiplexer.
- 15
tmux
Free plan APILinuxMac+1tmux organizes terminal work into persistent sessions, windows, and panes, with support for shared sessions. Building from source requires the listed development dependencies.
- 16
Conmux
Free plan WindowsConmux combines supervised Windows terminal panes with a reconnectable daemon and local control interface.
- 17
mtm
Free plan LinuxMacmtm provides a compact way to manage multiple virtual terminals with straightforward controls.
- 18
Zellij
Free plan iPhoneLinuxMac+2Zellij is a terminal-based workspace with configurable layouts, session restoration, and remote sharing options.
- 19
Terminalz
Free plan iPhoneLinuxMac+2Choose Terminalz if you want a free, self-hosted way to access terminal sessions from multiple machines in a browser, with tmux support and Herdr mirroring.
- 20
WMUX
Free plan LinuxMacWindowsWMUX offers persistent terminal sessions and configurable pane layouts across three desktop platforms.
- 21
Plux
Free plan LinuxMacPlux provides core multiplexer features with SSH attachment and optional clipboard support. Its Unix-only scope and lack of crash recovery or terminal graphics support are important constraints.
- 22
Séance
Free plan LinuxSéance combines a scrolling terminal layout with session status, alerts, and a command interface. Note its Linux scope, unsupported OpenCode session types, and pre-1.0 security support limit.
- 23
TUIOS
Free plan APILinuxMac+3Pick TUIOS if you want a free terminal workspace that tracks coding agents and can reconnect to sessions on local or remote machines.
- 24
psmux
Free plan Windowspsmux offers a broad set of tmux-style terminal controls and compatibility features for Windows. It is not an option for Linux or macOS, for which the project recommends tmux.
- 25
qmux
Free plan Macqmux combines agent sessions, terminal panes, follow-up queues, and local recovery in a macOS app.
#1Places #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 on this list can be bought by the makers of the software on it. See the price
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