Contour vs Termalin
Contour
contour-terminal.orgTermalin
termal.inSide by side
| Figure | Contour | Termalin |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 6 |
| Spec score · Terminal Emulators | 8.8 (#1) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Spec score · Terminal apps | 8.3 (#12) | 8.4 (#8) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Product | Contour is a GPU accelerated terminal emulator designed for everyday use and aimed at power users. | Termalin is a fast SSH client for users and AI agents, with tabs, SFTP, one-unlock keys and a built-in MCP server. |
| Scripting API | Yes | Yes |
| Session sync | Yes | Yes |
| SSH support | Yes | Yes |
| Support | The site links to the Contour community on Discord. | Enterprise includes SLA and priority support plus a dedicated manager, migration and onboarding; vulnerability reports are acknowledged within 3 working days. |
| Supported Platforms | Available for Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Windows. | Windows,macOS,Linux |
Plans
Termalin
- FreeFree
- Pro$8 a month
- Team$15 a month
- Beta founders — Pro, for life$149 a month
- Beta founders — Pro, for life$149, paid once
- EnterprisePriced on request
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.
Termalin
Termalin is an SSH client for people and AI agents, combining terminal sessions, file tools, database access, and agent connections. Its terminal offers xterm-256color sessions, browser-style tabs, a hosts sidebar, snippets, and session restoration with scrollback. File tools include SFTP, FTP, and S3 browsers, an editor, and a dual-pane transfer manager. The database client supports 13 engines, including PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis, and SQL Server. Its MCP server lets agents open sessions, run commands, work with files over SFTP, and join live sessions while users watch. A web cabinet provides terminal, file-browser, and recording-replay access without installing the app. Termalin lists API, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows platforms. The free plan includes SSH and SFTP; Pro costs $8/user/mo (annual), and a 14-day trial is listed. The Windows .exe is not code-signed and may show an unknown-publisher warning; the Microsoft Store build is signed.