Byobu vs Herdr

Byobu is a free, GPLv3-licensed text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer for Linux, BSD, and macOS. It runs over tmux or GNU Screen and adds function-key controls, status notifications, profiles, and split-pane layouts. Users can create, rename, reorder, split, zoom, and synchronize windows and panes, then save layouts for restoration or define repeatable window sets in configuration files. Detaching and reattaching preserves windows, processes, and history, with up to 10,000 lines of scrollback per window. A two-line status bar can display CPU, memory, disk, network, battery, load, time, and other indicators, each independently toggleable. The interactive F9 menu changes notifications, keybinding sets, profiles, and backend selection. Byobu defaults to tmux when available but supports GNU Screen and switching through byobu-select-backend. The project requires tmux 1.5 or later and/or GNU Screen. Support is largely volunteer-led through GitHub Issues and StackExchange.

Herdr is a background runtime for keeping coding agents’ terminal sessions available when you move between machines. It brings workspaces, tabs, panes, and agents into one terminal interface, with status labels that distinguish working, blocked, and idle agents. Herdr says it detects 22 agent command-line tools out of the box, including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Grok, Copilot, and Hermes. Panes and processes continue running when a client detaches, and saved layouts can be restored after a server restart. Integrations can report session identities for resuming after a restart, and some also report agent state. You can add SSH-accessible machines and view their workspaces alongside local ones. The runtime includes a local socket API and CLI for scripts, tools, and agents. It is free under the Apache License 2.0 and runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Pane screen history is off by default because terminal output may include sensitive information. Herdr Cloud is described as coming soon.