xterm
xterm is a terminal emulator for the X Window System, first released to emulate DEC VT102 and Tektronix 4014 hardware and provide a windowed interface for applications that cannot access X directly. Each xterm window runs as a separate process, locally or remotely, while sharing keyboard and mouse input with only the focused window receiving events. It implements ANSI/ISO color support via the “new” color model for background erase and recognizes most VT220 control sequences, along with select features from VT320, VT420, and VT520 devices. Over its history, xterm’s terminal description evolved from VT102 (pre-1996) to VT220 (1996–2012) and, since 2012, to VT420, ensuring compatibility with modern applications. Xterm remains actively maintained and extensible through companion tools like luit for encoding support and the X Toolkit for resource configuration, making it a complete, standards-compliant emulator for Unix-based environments.
Learn more
JediTerm
JediTerm is a pure Java terminal widget designed to be easily embedded into an IDE. It supports terminal sessions for both SSH connections and local PTY on Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. It is used by JetBrains IDEs such as PyCharm, IDEA, PhpStorm, WebStorm, AppCode, CLion, and Rider. Since version 2.5, JediTerm also provides a standalone terminal version distributed for Mac OS X. The name JediTerm comes from J for Java, “edi” as IDE reversed, and Term from terminal, while “Jedi” itself adds confidence and hope in the universe of thousands of different terminal implementations. The standalone JediTerm terminal can be run from sources by executing jediterm.sh or jediterm.bat. Gradle is used to build the project, which includes a terminal core library that provides a VT100-compatible terminal emulator and a Java Swing-based implementation of the terminal panel UI. It also includes a PTY library that uses Pty4J to enable local PTY terminal sessions.
Learn more
tmux
tmux is a terminal multiplexer that enables multiple terminals to be created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. It allows sessions to be detached so they continue running in the background and later reattached exactly as left. tmux implements each window as a separate client process, supports ANSI/ISO color via VT220 (and later) control sequences, and is configurable through its example tmux.conf file and man page. Built atop minimal dependencies, libevent 2.x and ncurses, it requires only a C compiler, make, pkg-config, and a Yacc for building. tmux’s lightweight, single-screen architecture, extensive documentation, and cross-platform support make it a robust, standards-compliant solution for managing terminal workflows efficiently.
Learn more
iTerm2
iTerm2 is a replacement for Terminal and the successor to iTerm. It works on Macs with macOS 10.14 or newer. iTerm2 brings the terminal into the modern age with features you never knew you always wanted. iTerm2 has a lot of features. Every conceivable desire a terminal user might have has been foreseen and solved. And these are just the main attractions! Divide a tab up into multiple panes, each one showing a different session. You can slice vertically and horizontally and create any number of panes in any imaginable arrangement. Register a hotkey that brings iTerm2 to the foreground when you're in another application. A terminal is always a keypress away. You can choose to have the hotkey open a dedicated window. This gives you an always-available terminal at your fingertips. iTerm2 comes with a robust find-on-page feature. The UI stays out of the way. All matches are immediately highlighted. Even regular expression support is offered!
Learn more