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  5. iTerm2 vs tmux

iTerm2 vs tmux

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

tmux
tmux
Stacks198
Followers137
Votes2
GitHub Stars39.5K
Forks2.3K
iTerm2
iTerm2
Stacks422
Followers288
Votes7
GitHub Stars16.5K
Forks1.3K

iTerm2 vs tmux: What are the differences?

### Introduction
In this Markdown document, we will outline the key differences between iTerm2 and tmux.

1. **Terminal Emulation:** iTerm2 is a full-featured terminal emulation program with a user-friendly interface, while tmux is a terminal multiplexer that allows multiple terminal sessions to be accessed and controlled from a single screen, making it more suitable for managing multiple sessions efficiently.
2. **Window Management:** iTerm2 provides a tabbed interface for managing multiple terminal windows within a single instance, offering more convenience for users who prefer a graphical interface. In contrast, tmux relies on a command-line interface for managing windows and panes, making it more suitable for power users who prefer keyboard shortcuts and automation.
3. **Session Persistence:** iTerm2 does not have built-in session persistence, meaning that terminal sessions are not automatically saved across restarts. On the other hand, tmux offers session persistence, allowing users to disconnect from a session and reconnect to it later, even after a system reboot.
4. **Customization:** iTerm2 offers a wide range of customization options, including themes, font styles, and hotkey configurations, allowing users to personalize their terminal experience extensively. While tmux also supports customization through configuration files, it may require more technical knowledge to set up and modify compared to iTerm2.
5. **Integration:** iTerm2 integrates seamlessly with other macOS features and applications, such as Spotlight search and Siri, enhancing user productivity and workflow. On the contrary, tmux is a standalone terminal multiplexer that does not have direct integration with external applications, focusing solely on managing terminal sessions efficiently.
6. **Platform Support:** iTerm2 is specific to macOS and does not offer native support for other operating systems, limiting its usability for users who prefer a multi-platform solution. In contrast, tmux is cross-platform and can be used on various operating systems, making it more versatile for users who work across different platforms.

In Summary, iTerm2 and tmux differ in their approach to terminal emulation, window management, session persistence, customization, integration, and platform support, catering to different user preferences and needs.

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Detailed Comparison

tmux
tmux
iTerm2
iTerm2

It enables a number of terminals to be created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. tmux may be detached from a screen and continue running in the background, then later reattached.

A replacement for Terminal and the successor to iTerm. It works on Macs with macOS 10.12 or newer. iTerm2 brings the terminal into the modern age with features you never knew you always wanted.

Allow Multiple Terminals
Split Panes; Hotkey Window; Search; Autocomplete; Mouseless Copy; Paste History; Instant Replay; Configurability; 256 Colors (or more!); Readability; Mouse Reporting; Growl Support; Exposé Tab; Tagged Profiles; Multi-Lingual; Triggers; Shell Integration; Automatic Profile Switching; Inline Images; Password Manager
Statistics
GitHub Stars
39.5K
GitHub Stars
16.5K
GitHub Forks
2.3K
GitHub Forks
1.3K
Stacks
198
Stacks
422
Followers
137
Followers
288
Votes
2
Votes
7
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 2
    Reliable, easy and highly customizable
Pros
  • 5
    Themes
  • 2
    Tabs
Integrations
Linux
Linux
FreeBSD
FreeBSD
GNU Bash
GNU Bash

What are some alternatives to tmux, iTerm2?

Starship (Shell Prompt)

Starship (Shell Prompt)

Starship is the minimal, blazing fast, and extremely customizable prompt for any shell! The prompt shows information you need while you're working, while staying sleek and out of the way.

picocli

picocli

Library and framework for easily building professional command line applications on the JVM (Java, Groovy, Kotlin, Scala, etc). Usage help with ANSI colors. Autocomplete. Nested subcommands. Annotations and programmatic API. Easy to include as source to avoid adding dependencies. More than just a command line parser.

Windows Terminal

Windows Terminal

A new, modern, feature-rich, productive terminal application for command-line users. It includes many of the features most frequently requested by the Windows command-line community.

TortoiseSVN

TortoiseSVN

It is an Apache™ Subversion (SVN)® client, implemented as a Windows shell extension. It's intuitive and easy to use, since it doesn't require the Subversion command line client to run. And it is free to use, even in a commercial environment.

Putty

Putty

It is an SSH and telnet client, developed originally by Simon Tatham for the Windows platform. It is open source software that is available with source code and is developed and supported by a group of volunteers.

Alacritty

Alacritty

It is the fastest terminal emulator in existence. Using the GPU for rendering enables optimizations that simply aren't possible without it. It currently supports macOS, Linux, BSD, and Windows.

Oh My ZSH

Oh My ZSH

A delightful, open source, community-driven framework for managing your Zsh configuration. It comes bundled with thousands of helpful functions, helpers, plugins, themes.

Hyper Terminal

Hyper Terminal

The goal of the project is to create a beautiful and extensible experience for command-line interface users, built on open web standards. Focus will be primarily around speed and stability.

Try

Try

It lets you run a command and inspect its effects before changing your live system. It uses Linux's namespaces (via unshare) and the overlayfs union filesystem.

Bash-My-AWS

Bash-My-AWS

It is a simple but extremely powerful set of CLI commands for managing resources on Amazon Web Services. They harness the power of Amazon's AWSCLI, while abstracting away verbosity. The project implements some innovative patterns but (arguably) remains simple, beautiful and readable.

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