MXterm Pro vs cmux
A side-by-side of two tools that overlap but start from different places. Facts come from each vendor's own pages, checked 2026-10-20.
| MXterm Pro made by us | cmux | |
|---|---|---|
| platforms | macOSWindowsLinux | macOSiOS |
| price | FreemiumFree plan, no account (unlimited terminal panes, up to 5 SSH servers, 1 Control Room with 2 agents). Pro: lifetime licence from $29 for 3 devices for the first 100 licences, then from $8.9/month (seen 2026-10-20 on mxterm.net). | FreemiumFree $0; Pro $40/mo billed yearly ($480/yr) or $50/mo monthly; Max $160/mo billed yearly or $200/mo monthly; Team $60/user/mo; Enterprise custom (seen 2026-10-20). Paid tiers add Cloud VMs and the iOS app. |
| source | Proprietary | Open source |
| SSH | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| SFTP | ✓ yes | ? not verified |
| Tabs | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| Split panes | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| Port forwarding | ✓ yes | ? not verified |
| Jump host | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| X11 | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Serial | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Telnet | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Mosh | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Cloud sync | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Team sharing | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Scripting / API | ? not verified | ✓ yes |
| AI agents | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| MCP | ? not verified | ✓ yes |
| Phone control | ? not verified | ✓ yes |
| Mobile app | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| Multi-agent | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Git worktrees | ? not verified | ? not verified |
+ cmux is stronger at
- GPL-3.0-or-later open source app, free to use, with a native (non-Electron) macOS build
- Panes and sidebar badges signal when an agent is waiting; sidebar shows git branch, ports and notification text
- Full CLI and socket API covering workspaces, splits, input, screen reads and the browser
- SSH workspaces and tmux attach; Cloud VMs for agents on paid plans
+ MXterm Pro is stronger at
- Runs several AI coding agent CLIs side by side in a Control Room, optionally one git worktree per agent
- SSH hosts, an SFTP panel with an editor, and local terminal panes live in the same tabbed window
- Local-first: conversation records stay on your machine and provider keys sit in the OS keychain
- Free plan needs no account and has no pane limit
~/which to pick
- pick cmux if
- Mac users who want a Ghostty-based terminal that surfaces which agent needs attention, with scriptable browser and CLI.
- pick MXterm Pro if
- Developers who run AI coding agents and SSH sessions together and want one native window, plus phone access to those sessions.
- skip cmux if
- Windows or Linux users, or people wanting automatic per-agent git worktree isolation.
- skip MXterm Pro if
- Anyone who needs an X11 server, RDP/VNC, serial consoles or a hosted team vault today.