Contour vs Tabby

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.

Tabby is a free, open-source terminal app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It connects to local shells, serial devices, SSH servers, and Telnet hosts, and supports shell environments including PowerShell, WSL, Git-Bash, Cygwin, and CMD. Its SSH2 client has a connection manager, while the serial terminal offers connection profiles and input modes. SSH sessions support SFTP and Zmodem file transfers, X11 and port forwarding, jump hosts, and agent forwarding. Tabby can restore open tabs and split panes after you leave the app, and nested panes support simultaneous input. SSH secrets and configuration can be stored in an encrypted container; an optional password manager uses a master passphrase. Customization includes CSS themes, color schemes, shortcuts, and plugins. Other listed capabilities include GPU acceleration, session sync, scripting, portable mode, Explorer integration, and WinSCP integration. The app is described as forever-free FOSS. The page provides download and GitHub links but states no dedicated support terms.