This is a list of notable terminal emulators. Most used terminal emulators on Linux and Unix-like systems are GNOME Terminal on GNOME and GTK-based environments, Konsole on KDE, and xfce4-terminal on Xfce as well as xterm.

• 1Character-oriented terminal emulators
  • 1.1Unix-like
    • 1.1.2Graphical
• 2Block-oriented terminal emulators

Character-oriented terminal emulators[edit]

HyperTerminal Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, and Vista terminal emulation software is now available. Some uses of HyperTerminal Private Edition: Use a TCP/IP network to connect to systems on the Internet or your network using Telnet or Secure Shell (SSH). This is a list of notable terminal emulators.Most used terminal emulators on Linux and Unix-like systems are GNOME Terminal on GNOME and GTK-based environments, Konsole on KDE, and xfce4-terminal on Xfce as well as xterm.

Unix-like[edit]

Command-line interface[edit]

• Linux console – implements a large subset of the VT102 and ECMA-48/ISO 6429/ANSI X3.64 escape sequences.

The following terminal emulators run inside of other terminals, utilizing libraries such as Curses and Termcap:

• GNU Screen – Terminal multiplexer with VT100/ANSI terminal emulation
• Minicom – text-based modem control and terminal emulation program for Unix-like operating systems
• tmux – Terminal multiplexer with a feature set similar to GNU Screen

Graphical[edit]

X/Wayland[edit]

Terminal emulators used in combination with X Window System and Wayland

• xterm – standard terminal for X11
• GNOME Terminal – default terminal for GNOME with native Wayland support
• guake – drop-down terminal for GNOME
• konsole – default terminal for KDE
• xfce4-terminal – default terminal for Xfce with drop-down support

• mrxvt – rxvt clone with additional features (latest version is 2008-09-10)

• Terminology – enhanced terminal supportive of multimedia and text manipulation for X11 and Linux framebuffer
• Tilda – A drop down terminal
• Yakuake – (Yet Another Kuake), a dropdown terminal for KDE

Apple macOS[edit]

Terminal emulators used on macOS

• Terminal – default macOS terminal
• iTerm2 – open-source terminal specifically for macOS
• xterm – default terminal when X11.app starts
• SyncTERM – includes serial line terminal
• ZTerm – serial line terminal

Apple Classic Mac OS[edit]

Microsoft Windows[edit]

• ConEmu – local terminal window that can host console application developed either for WinAPI (cmd, powershell, far) or Unix PTY (cygwin, msys, wsl bash)
• HyperACCESS (commercial) and HyperTerminal (included free with Windows XP and earlier, but not included with Windows Vista and later)
• mintty – Cygwin terminal
• Windows Console – Windows command line terminal

Microsoft MS-DOS[edit]

• Qmodem and Qmodem Pro

IBM OS/2[edit]

• ZOC – discontinued support for OS/2

Commodore Amiga[edit]

Commodore 64[edit]

Block-oriented terminal emulators[edit]

Emulators for block-oriented terminals, primarily IBM 3270, but also IBM 5250 and other non-IBM terminals.

Coax/Twinax connected[edit]

These terminal emulators are used to replace terminals attached to a host or terminal controller via a coaxial cable (coax) or twinaxial cabling (twinax). They require that the computer on which they run have a hardware adapter to support such an attachment.

• RUMBA 3270 and 5250

tn3270/tn5250[edit]

These terminal emulators connect to a host using the tn3270 or tn5250 protocols, which run over a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection.

• x3270 – IBM 3270 emulator for X11 and most Unix-like systems^[1]
• c3270 – IBM 3270 emulator for running inside a vt100/curses emulator for most Unix-like systems^[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Grumpy Editor's guide to terminal emulators, 2004
• Comprehensive Linux Terminal Performance Comparison, 2007

For a long time Windows 10 hasn’t had a great command line interface. As a result, developers and system admins have installed third-party options to emulate Unix style and other kinds of consoles. And while it’s possible to get a bash shell inside Windows 10 now, many users still prefer a more configurable terminal emulator. Check out the best terminal emulators for Windows 10 below.

1. MobaXterm

Rammed with robust features like X11 servers, a library of plugins, and even its own protocol clients, MobaXterm is a great server tool with myriad Terminal options for those who really want to dig deep (conversely, you may find it a bit bloated if you just want to do lighter Putty work, for example).

It lets you set up remote terminals in SSH, telnet, rlogin and Mosh, and has an intuitive interface that lets you set up multiple SSH taps, split terminals horizontally/vertically, among other quality-of-life features. Naturally, it has all the Unix commands you need too, letting you work much as you would in Linux.

There’s a limited free version of MobaXterm that lets you have up to 12 sessions, two SSH tunnels, and 4 macros (it also has a portable version). If you want the full package, you’ll need to pay $69 for a lifetime right-to-use which removes all the aforementioned limitations.

2. ZOC Terminal

One of the best tools for people needing to access data on Unix accounts from Windows, ZOC Terminal, may not be free ($79.99), but it’s still a great value for more advanced users.

One of its key perks are tabs, so you can have several Terminal sessions going on at once across SSH, telnet, QNX, and other terminals. It’s brimming with commands and is highly customizable to suit your personal terminal-tinkering style.

Its emulations are robust and complete, offering features like mouse and keyboard support, print-through and line graphics. And it’s a cinch to search for specific bits of text in your work, then highlight them.

3. cmder

cmder is a well-known portable terminal emulator for Windows 10 that was built from the “pure frustration” caused by the lack of a good alternative in Windows. It’s built on top of another well-known console emulator, ConEmu, and enhanced with Clink. Clink extends the power of ConEmu, adding shell features like bash-style completion. It’s broadly compatible, working with msysgit, PowerShell, cygwin and mintty, bringing Unix capabilities to Windows.

Since it’s completely portable, you can run cmder off a USB drive that you use on various machines without installing files on local hard drives, making it a support specialist’s best friend. As a bonus, it ships with the much-loved Monokai color scheme to coordinate your hacking with Sublime Text.

Free Vt100 Terminal Emulator Windows 10

4. ConEmu

ConEmu is a Windows console emulator with tabs, multiple windows and a variety of customization options. Its lineage reaches way back in history: ConEmu was initially created as a companion to Far Manager, a file and archive manager released for Windows in 1996. But despite its age, the software is continuously developed.

The emulator provides a deep menu of settings to tweak and hotkeys to assign, drawing in keyboard warriors from Vim and Emacs. ConEmu in compatible with many of the same popular shells as cmder, like cmd.exe, PowerShell, cygwin, PuTTY and others. If you install a DOS emulator like DosBox, you can run DOS applications in a 64-bit environment. But because ConEmu isn’t a shell, it doesn’t include helpful shell features like remote connections and tab completion. While it retains many die-hard fans, ConEmu might not be the best console emulator for new users.

5. Console

Console is a terminal emulator and console enhancement for Windows 10 that focuses on direct use and simple interaction. It provides full command-line capabilities, and its straight-forward design hides a significant degree of power and customization. It integrates with all the major shells and lets you customize window styles, transparency, fonts and text colors. But Console isn’t as all-spanning as ConEmu, so very advanced users might find themselves limited by the software.

Free Terminal Emulator Software

6. Babun

Babun comes with bash and zsh out of the box, providing tools that both beginner and advanced users can use immediately. It’s built on top of Cygwin, porting a Unix-style interface to Windows 10. You can use oh-my-zsh to configure zsh’s wide variety of options, giving you greater control over your shell’s functionality that you’ll get in other applications. It also includes the pact package manager and HTTP proxying out the box.

7. Mintty

If you only use Cygwin for your Windows shell, then Mintty is an excellent console emulator. In fact, Mintty is installed as the default terminal emulator. Like the other options on this list, Mintty provides a collection of additional features like drag-and-drop, full screen, copy and paste and theme support. And it also works with MSYS and Msys2.

Free Serial Terminal Emulator

Conclusion

Cmder is probably the best bet for users looking for a capable but manageable terminal emulator. Users seeking a more powerful experience can get their fix with ConEmu or splash out a bit more for ZOC Terminal.

Best Free Terminal Emulator For Windows

This article was first published in August 2017 and was updated in June 2019.

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