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Tech riderRev. 20 Sept 2026

Rio

Ch 126.8of 40 Terminal Emulators
  1. 1Runs onLinux, Mac, Windows
  2. 2CostsNot stated by the maker
  3. 3Supported platformsmacOS, Windows, Linux
  4. 4Split panesYes
  5. 5GPU accelerationYes
  6. 6Scripting APIYes
5 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: rioterm.com
Visit site Alternatives
The Rio homepage

Overview

Rio is ranked #12 of 40 in terminal emulators on Specifiction. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.

Compared on terminal emulators

Free plan
Yesrioterm.com
Supported platforms
macOS, Windows, Linuxrioterm.com
Split panes
Yesrioterm.com
GPU acceleration
Yesrioterm.com
Scripting API
Yesrioterm.com

Facts

Product
Rio describes itself as an open source terminal for the 21st century.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Purpose
Rio is a hardware-accelerated GPU terminal emulator designed to run on desktops and in browsers.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Desktop availability
Rio is available for Windows, Linux distributions, FreeBSD, and macOS.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Windows requirement
Rio for Windows requires Windows 10 or later and offers x86_64 and aarch64 installers and portable executables.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
GPU support
Rio's Sugarloaf renderer has native Metal and Vulkan backends, while WebGPU requires building with the wgpu Cargo feature.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Shell integration
Rio can inject shell integration for zsh, fish, and PowerShell to report the working directory, and the feature can be disabled in configuration.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Terminal images
Rio supports the Kitty graphics protocol, including PNG and RGB/RGBA images, compressed and chunked transfers, and layered placements.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Split panels
Split panels are supported and enabled by default.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Vi mode
Rio provides Vi mode for terminal navigation and selection, toggled by default with Alt+Shift+Space.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Adaptive themes
Rio can switch between light and dark themes based on system appearance on Web, macOS, Windows, and Linux.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Security reporting
The project asks users to report security issues privately through the repository's Security tab or by email, rather than in a public issue.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Version support
Rio is pre-1.0; security fixes target the latest release and are not backported to earlier versions.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Build status
Rio offers stable builds and nightly builds, with nightly builds created daily.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Linux packaging
The project lists packages for Arch, Alpine, Nix, openSUSE, Flathub, and Void, plus .deb and .rpm packages on GitHub releases.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
GPU terminal
The project describes Rio as a hardware-accelerated GPU terminal emulator for desktops and browsers.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Available systems
Rio is available for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, and WebAssembly.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
macOS support
The macOS download is a universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel machines.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Windows support
Rio provides an MSI installer and portable executables for Windows 10 or later.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Linux packages
Prebuilt Linux packages are available for distributions including Arch, Alpine, Nix, openSUSE, Flathub, and Void, with .deb and .rpm packages on GitHub releases.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Release channels
Rio offers stable builds, which are described as thoroughly tested, and nightly builds created daily.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Terminal features
Listed features include split panels, multiple windows, Vi mode, adaptive themes, hyperlinks, hints, and shell integration.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Image support
Rio supports the iTerm2 inline image protocol.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Customization
Rio allows users to configure settings in a TOML file, and changes to that file automatically trigger the terminal to render with the new configuration.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Linux terminfo note
Rio's .deb packages do not include terminfo; Ubuntu 22.04 and older Debian or Ubuntu systems require manual installation.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
WebAssembly
The install page lists WebAssembly as an available target; the maker describes Rio as running in browsers.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026
Maintenance
The homepage invites users to sponsor the project to help keep it going.rioterm.com · 4 Oct 2026

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