Side by side
Contour vs Cool Retro Term
Both stand on terminal emulators. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan LinuxMacWindows
Contour offers a broad set of terminal workflow features, including persistent sessions and GPU rendering. Note that daemon mode is experimental and the project website is still in draft mode.
Visit Contour Free plan Open source LinuxMacSelf-hosted
Cool Retro Term pairs a terminal emulator with configurable CRT-inspired appearance options. Check its system-specific installation guidance if you plan to build it yourself.
Visit Cool Retro TermThe facts
| Contour | Cool Retro Term | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Yes |
| Runs on | Linux, Mac, Windows | Linux, Mac, Self-hosted |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | contour-terminal.org | github.com |
| On terminal emulators | #4 of 40 | #1 of 40 |
Contour: what it does well
- GPU-accelerated rendering and high-DPI support
- Persistent sessions can be reattached
- Supports Unicode emoji and font ligatures
- Works on five listed operating systems
What to know first
- Daemon mode is experimental
- tmux -CC mode is not supported
- The website remains in draft mode
Cool Retro Term: what it does well
- Customizable colors, fonts and visual effects.
- Community themes include scanlines, curvature and static noise.
- Release notes list multiple tabs and windows.
- Available as a Linux AppImage and macOS DMG.
- Open-source and free.
What to know first
- Available platforms are Linux and macOS.
- Build requirements differ between the README and Linux build wiki.
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