Contour vs Rio
Contour
contour-terminal.org
Rio
rioterm.comSide by side
| Figure | Contour | Rio |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Terminal Emulators | 8.8 (#1) | 7.4 (#36) |
| Spec score · Terminal apps | 8.3 (#12) | 7.4 (#38) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| GPU acceleration | Yes | Yes |
| Product | Contour is a GPU accelerated terminal emulator designed for everyday use and aimed at power users. | Rio describes itself as an open source terminal for the 21st century. |
| Scripting API | Yes | Yes |
| Security reporting | Vulnerabilities can be reported through Discord or the project's GitHub Issues page. | The project asks users to report security issues privately through the repository's Security tab or by email, rather than in a public issue. |
| Split panes | Yes | Yes |
| Supported Platforms | Available for Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Windows. | macOS,Windows,Linux |
| Terminal features | Features include tabs, font ligatures, Unicode emoji and grapheme clusters, and customizable key bindings. | Listed features include split panels, multiple windows, Vi mode, adaptive themes, hyperlinks, hints, and shell integration. |
| Windows requirement | The installation page lists Windows 10 or newer as the supported Windows version. | Rio for Windows requires Windows 10 or later and offers x86_64 and aarch64 installers and portable executables. |
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.