Contour vs Macterm
Contour
contour-terminal.orgMacterm
macterm.thdxg.devSide by side
| Figure | Contour | Macterm |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Terminal Emulators | 8.8 (#1) | 7.4 (#35) |
| Spec score · Terminal apps | 8.3 (#12) | 7.2 (#39) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Installation | Official installation options include Windows MSI, Homebrew on macOS, Fedora, Arch, Ubuntu packages, Flatpak, and source builds. | The maker documents installation through Homebrew or a downloadable DMG, with Sparkle handling app updates. |
| License | Contour is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. | Macterm is MIT licensed. |
| Product | Contour is a GPU accelerated terminal emulator designed for everyday use and aimed at power users. | Macterm is a native macOS terminal with vertical project tabs and persistent sessions, built on libghostty. |
| Scripting API | Yes | Yes |
| Split panes | Yes | Yes |
| SSH support | Yes | Yes |
| Supported Platforms | Available for Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Windows. | macOS |
Plans
In their own words
Contour
Contour is a free terminal emulator for everyday use, designed for people who want control over terminal workflows. It runs on Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Windows. GPU-accelerated rendering and high-DPI support accompany text features such as font ligatures, Unicode grapheme clusters, and colored emoji. Users can split panes, use vi-like modes for navigation and selection, and jump through history with vertical markers. Sessions can persist beyond a terminal window and be reattached locally or over a network. Contour interoperates with tmux control mode in both directions, but not its -CC mode. It also supports clickable links, inline Sixel images, OSC 52 clipboard setting, and profiles for color schemes and login shells. TCP connections use TLS encryption and require a token. Daemon mode is experimental, and its command-line flags and wire protocol may change. The project website remains in draft mode. Contour is licensed under Apache License 2.0.