Alternatives to Tabby
Highly configurable terminal with SSH manager
Tabby ranks #3 of 9 in Terminal emulators, with an Alt Score of 91. It is licensed under MIT, free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Developers, sysadmins, and IT professionals on Windows, macOS, or Linux who want a more capable replacement for the stock terminal, PuTTY, or Terminal.app/iTerm — especially anyone managing multiple SSH or serial connections.
A free, open-source terminal emulator with tabs, split panes, and a dockable 'Quake console' mode. It bundles an integrated SSH2 client (with connection profiles, X11 forwarding, and jump hosts) plus serial and Telnet support. Deep customization is built in: themes, color schemes, custom shell profiles, configurable multi-chord hotkeys, and a plugin system. It works with PowerShell, WSL, Git-Bash, Cygwin, MSYS2, and Cmder shells.
Install Tabby and open it in place of your OS terminal; local shells, saved SSH connections, and serial devices all run as tabs or split panes in one window. Configuration, themes, and plugins are managed through Tabby's settings, and profiles can be saved for quick reconnection to frequently used hosts or devices.
Why people leave Tabby
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Terminal emulators checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Terminal emulators checklist | Tabby | WezTerm | kitty | iTerm2 | Warp | Windows Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| GPU acceleration | ||||||
| Tabs & splits | ||||||
| Ligatures support | ||||||
| Configuration format | ||||||
| Session restore | ||||||
| Search in scrollback | ||||||
| Themes | ||||||
| Multiplexer built in | ||||||
| Cross-platform | ||||||
| Open source |
Every fact and feature listed for Tabby is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License MIT verified 2026-07-11
The MIT License (MIT)
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/blob/master/LICENSE -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux verified 2026-07-11
A highly configurable terminal emulator, SSH and serial client for Windows, macOS and Linux
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-11
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/blob/master/LICENSE -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
v1.0.234
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/releases -
GPU acceleration Partial verified 2026-07-11
@xterm/addon-webgl": "^0.17.0""
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/blob/master/tabby-terminal/package.json -
Tabs & splits Yes verified 2026-07-11
Split panes
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/blob/master/README.md -
Ligatures support Yes verified 2026-07-11
Font ligatures
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/blob/master/README.md -
Configuration format Yes verified 2026-07-11
The `config.yaml` file is located in:
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/wiki/Config-file -
Session restore Yes verified 2026-07-11
Remembers your tabs
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/blob/master/README.md -
Search in scrollback Yes verified 2026-07-11
@xterm/addon-search": "^0.14.0""
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/blob/master/tabby-terminal/package.json -
Themes Yes verified 2026-07-11
Theming and color schemes
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/blob/master/README.md -
Multiplexer built in Partial verified 2026-07-11
Add support for tmux control mode
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/issues/2715 -
Cross-platform Yes verified 2026-07-11
A highly configurable terminal emulator, SSH and serial client for Windows, macOS and Linux
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby -
Open source Yes verified 2026-07-11
MIT license
https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby
FAQ
Yes. WezTerm, kitty and Warp have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
WezTerm, kitty and iTerm2 — every license claim links its source.