WezTerm vs Alacritty
A side-by-side of two tools in the same category. Facts come from each vendor's own pages, checked 2026-10-21.
| WezTerm | Alacritty | |
|---|---|---|
| platforms | macOSWindowsLinux | macOSWindowsLinux |
| price | FreeFree (seen 2026-10-20); no price on the site, MIT license on GitHub, sponsor page linked | FreeFree (seen 2026-10-20); no price on the site, Apache-2.0/MIT on GitHub |
| source | Open source | Open source |
| SSH | ✓ yes | – no |
| Tabs | ✓ yes | – no |
| Split panes | ✓ yes | – no |
| SFTP | – no | – no |
| Port forwarding | – no | – no |
| Scripting / API | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| AI agents | – no | – no |
| MCP | – no | – no |
| Cloud sync | – no | – no |
Alacritty is stronger at
- Same TOML-configured terminal on BSD, Linux, macOS and Windows (Windows needs ConPTY, build 1809+)
- Vi mode, scrollback search and regex hints for keyboard-driven selection and link opening
- Multi-window mode runs several windows in one process to save resources
WezTerm is stronger at
- Embedded SSH client (wezterm ssh): new tabs and panes reuse the existing session channel, so no repeated authentication
- Multiplexer domains (Unix, SSH, TLS) keep remote tabs alive; TLS domains reconnect automatically after a drop
- Same Lua-configured terminal on Windows, macOS, Linux and BSD, with a built-in serial port command
which to pick
- pick Alacritty if
- Users who want a lean terminal and already handle layouts with tmux or a tiling window manager.
- pick WezTerm if
- Users who want one Lua-scripted terminal with built-in multiplexing and SSH on Windows, macOS and Linux.
- skip Alacritty if
- Anyone who wants built-in tabs, splits, saved SSH hosts or a GUI settings screen.
- skip WezTerm if
- People who want a GUI host manager, SFTP browser or tunnel manager.