Konsole vs WezTerm

Konsole is a terminal emulator for running a command shell and controlling a computer through a text-based command line. It is listed for Linux, Windows, and macOS and is free and open source under GPL-2.0+. Tabs and multiple profiles organize sessions; profiles can also automate common commands, including SSH connections to another machine. A tab can be split into left-right or top-bottom views, and its layout can be saved to a file. Konsole supports bookmarks, searching, and saving output or scrollback as a text or HTML file. Monitoring can notify users about silence, activity, a shell prompt, or a finished process. With shell integration enabled, it distinguishes prompts, input, and output and provides visual hints for commands that resulted in errors. A D-Bus interface allows software to control Konsole windows and sessions. Linux installation options include application stores, distribution package managers, and Flathub. The project links to Windows and macOS platform pages, including nightly installers for Windows and macOS ARM and Intel; those builds are intended for testing and come from the latest development branch.

WezTerm is a terminal emulator and multiplexer for Windows, macOS, and Linux, implemented in Rust. It organizes terminal panes, tabs, and windows across local and remote hosts, with mouse support and scrollback. Rendering features include ligatures, color emoji, font fallback, true color, and dynamic color schemes. Configuration is file-based and supports hot reloading. An embedded SSH client provides native tabs, and WezTerm can connect to remote multiplexer instances over SSH or TLS over TCP/IP. Ad-hoc SSH sessions are non-persistent: if the network connection is interrupted, their tabs end. It can also connect to serial ports for embedded and Arduino work. Shell integration supports escape sequences for working directories, prompt zones, and user variables; user variables can work through tmux when passthrough is enabled. Image support includes the iTerm2-compatible and Kitty graphics protocols, plus experimental Sixel graphics. Pre-built downloads are listed for Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, and NetBSD, and the code can be built from source. Windows requires 64-bit Windows 10.0.17763 or later. The MIT license permits use, modification, and distribution free of charge, with the software provided as-is without warranty.