Terminal · Rio Terminal project (GitHub: raphamorim)

Rio

GPU-rendered terminal emulator written in Rust, MIT-licensed, for macOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD. Has tabs, split panels, Sixel/iTerm2/Kitty image protocols and a vi mode. No built-in SSH client; it runs the system shell.

Official site

~/facts

platforms: macOSWindowsLinuxFreeBSD is also supported (FreeBSD Ports package). WebAssembly build is listed on the install page but its docs section says 'To be defined', so web is not counted. Windows 10 or later; macOS universal binary (Apple Silicon and Intel).
price: FreeNo price on rioterm.com; project asks for sponsorship ('Enjoying Rio? Sponsor the project to keep it going') (seen 2026-10-21)
source: Open sourceLicence: MIT
github: raphamorim/rio 7.6k stars, seen 2026-10-21

~/features

– no SSH
✓ yes Tabs
✓ yes Split panes
? not verified SFTP
? not verified Port forwarding
? not verified Scripting / API
? not verified AI agents
? not verified MCP
? not verified Cloud sync

✓ documented · – absent or not in its feature list · ? not verified

+ strengths

Official builds for macOS (universal), Windows (MSI and portable) and Linux, plus a FreeBSD Ports package
Documented support for Sixel, iTerm2 and Kitty graphics protocols and the Kitty keyboard protocol
Tabs, native macOS tabs and split panels built in; split is enabled by default
Terminal engine is exposed as librio (C ABI) and Rio-VT for embedding in other apps

! weak points

Version is still 0.x (0.5.28), so config and behaviour may change between releases
Canary macOS builds are not notarized and need a manual Gatekeeper override; Windows installers show a SmartScreen-style warning per the install docs
Ubuntu 22.04 and older Debian/Ubuntu need terminfo installed manually after the .deb
Web/WebAssembly build is not documented yet ('To be defined')

~/who it is for

best for: Users who want a cross-platform, GPU-accelerated open-source terminal with image protocol support.
look elsewhere if: Users who need built-in SSH management, session sync or an automation/scripting API.

~/sources

Checked 2026-10-20. Prices and features change; the vendor's page is the authority.

rioterm.com — platforms, install methods, open source claim
rioterm.com/docs/install — platforms list (MacOS, Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, WebAssembly), Linux notes
rioterm.com/docs/install/webassembly — WebAssembly docs say 'To be defined'
rioterm.com/docs/install/macos — macOS install, canary not notarized
rioterm.com/docs/install/windows — Windows installers
rioterm.com/docs/features — feature list (split panels, image protocols, vi mode, multi windows, navigation)
rioterm.com/docs/features/navigation — tabs: navigation modes Tab (default), NativeTab (macOS), Plain
rioterm.com/docs/features/split-panels — split panels enabled by default
rioterm.com/docs/librio — librio C ABI embedding
api.github.com/repos/raphamorim/rio — stars 7626, MIT license, pushed_at 2026-10-18 (seen 2026-10-21)
api.github.com/repos/raphamorim/rio/releases — v0.5.28 published 2026-09-17

Not verified

ssh=false: no built-in SSH client appears in the feature docs; this is absence of evidence plus the fact that Rio runs the configured shell, not a page stating 'no SSH'
scripting_or_api null: librio/Rio-VT is an embedding library, not a user scripting API; no scripting feature found in config docs
ai_agents, mcp, cloud_sync, mobile_app, team_sharing, sftp, port_forwarding, jump_host, x11_forwarding, serial, telnet, mosh, phone_remote not mentioned on checked pages (null)
Exact price: no pricing page; sponsorship banner only
Windows/Linux macOS minimum OS versions beyond 'Windows 10 or later' not checked