Contour

Visit site Alternatives

Score7.3

Rank#2 of 40

PriceFree

Free planYes

Runs onLinux, macOS, Windows

Summary

Contour is a free, modal terminal emulator for Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Windows, designed for everyday use and aimed at advanced power users. It uses GPU-accelerated rendering and supports high-DPI displays, font ligatures, Unicode emoji, and grapheme clusters. Users can split panes, navigate and select with vi-like modes, and jump through terminal history using vertical markers. Sessions can persist after a terminal window closes and be reattached locally or over a network. Contour supports tmux control-mode interoperability in both directions, but not the -CC mode. It also offers clickable links, inline Sixel images, and OSC 52 clipboard setting. Profiles group color schemes, login shells, and related behaviors. Remote TCP connections are encrypted with TLS, require a token, and have no plaintext mode. Daemon mode is experimental, so its command-line options and wire protocol may change between releases. The project website is still in draft mode while content is being built. Installation options include Windows MSI, Homebrew on macOS, packages for Fedora, Arch, and Ubuntu, Flatpak, and source builds.

Who it is for

Contour may suit advanced users who want modal navigation, persistent sessions, and GPU-accelerated rendering in a terminal. It supports several desktop operating systems and includes remote session capabilities.

What is good

GPU-accelerated rendering and high-DPI support.
Sessions can be reattached locally or over a network.
Supports tmux control mode in both directions.
Remote TCP connections require TLS and a token.
Free to use.

What to know first

tmux -CC mode is not supported.
Daemon mode is experimental.
Images drawn before tmux attachment cannot be recovered.
Project website remains in draft mode.

Verdict

Contour combines modal terminal controls with persistent sessions and a range of text and image features. Note the tmux -CC limitation and the experimental status of daemon mode.

Contour plans and pricing

All plans

Contour Free No paid plans or pricing stated on the opened pages contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026

Compared on terminal emulators

Free plan: Yescontour-terminal.org
Supported platforms: Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Windowscontour-terminal.org
Split panes: Yescontour-terminal.org
Session sync: Yescontour-terminal.org
GPU acceleration: Yescontour-terminal.org
Scripting API: Yescontour-terminal.org
SSH support: Yescontour-terminal.org

Facts

Product Type: Modern terminal emulator designed for everyday use.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Target User: Built for advanced power users seeking efficiency and control.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
GPU Rendering: Uses GPU-accelerated rendering for responsive performance.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
High-DPI Support: Supports high-DPI displays.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Font Ligatures: Supports font ligatures for programming and scripting.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Unicode Emoji: Supports complex Unicode, including colored emoji and ZWJ variants.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Persistent Sessions: Sessions can survive the terminal window and be reattached locally or over the network.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Vi Input Modes: Provides vi-like modes for navigation, selection, and copying.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Vertical Markers: Provides vertical markers for quickly jumping through history.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Custom Profiles: Profiles group color schemes, login shells, and related behaviors.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Sixel Images: Supports inline Sixel images.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Clickable Links: Supports clickable hyperlinks.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Clipboard OSC 52: Can set the clipboard using OSC 52.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Statusline Support: Supports host-programmable and indicator statuslines.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Website Status: The website is still in draft mode while content is being built.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
What it does: Contour is a modern, fast, modal virtual terminal emulator for everyday use.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Target users: Contour is designed for advanced power users seeking efficiency and control.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Rendering: Contour provides GPU-accelerated rendering and high-DPI support.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Text support: It supports font ligatures, Unicode emoji, and Unicode grapheme clusters.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
tmux integration: Contour supports tmux control-mode interoperability in both directions.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Installation: Official installation options include Windows MSI, Homebrew on macOS, Fedora, Arch, Ubuntu packages, Flatpak, and source builds.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Remote security: Contour's TCP endpoint is always encrypted with TLS and has no plaintext mode.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Remote authentication: TCP connections require a token and refuse to start without a token or token file.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Daemon status: Daemon mode is experimental and its command-line flags and wire protocol may change between releases.github.com · 28 Sept 2026
License: Contour is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.github.com · 28 Sept 2026
Support channels: The project welcomes contributors through Discord and shares live development on Twitch.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Security reporting: Vulnerabilities can be reported through Discord or the project's GitHub Issues page.github.com · 28 Sept 2026
tmux limitation: Contour supports tmux control mode (-C), but not -CC.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
tmux image limitation: Images drawn before attaching through tmux cannot be recovered because tmux capture-pane serializes text and color but not image data.contour-terminal.org · 28 Sept 2026
Product: Contour is a GPU accelerated terminal emulator designed for everyday use and aimed at power users.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
Terminal features: Features include tabs, font ligatures, Unicode emoji and grapheme clusters, and customizable key bindings.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
Sessions: Experimental daemon mode lets sessions survive closing the window and supports reattaching locally or over an encrypted network connection.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
tmux: Contour interoperates with tmux in both directions through its control mode protocol.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
Graphics: Contour supports Sixel images and ReGIS vector graphics.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
Accessibility: Contour reports caret position and visible terminal text to the operating system for assistive technology.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
Session limitation: Daemon mode is experimental, and its command line flags and wire protocol may change between releases.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
Windows requirement: The installation page lists Windows 10 or newer as the supported Windows version.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
Linux and Unix availability: Installation instructions cover Fedora, Arch, Ubuntu, Flatpak, and building from source for Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026
Support: The site links to the Contour community on Discord.contour-terminal.org · 29 Sept 2026