WezTerm — GPU-Accelerated Terminal Emulator and Multiplexer

What WezTerm Does

• GPU rendering — OpenGL/Metal
• Tabs and splits — built-in multiplexer
• SSH multiplexer — multiplex over SSH without tmux
• Lua config — full programming language for config
• Image display — Sixel, iTerm2, Kitty protocols
• Ligatures — font ligature support
• Workspaces — multiple workspace layouts
• Mouse — selection, scrollback, hyperlinks
• Scrollback search — regex search in scrollback
• Multiplexing domains — local, SSH, TLS, Unix socket

Architecture

Rust binary with Lua interpreter (mlua) for configuration. Rendering via wgpu (WebGPU abstraction layer). Terminal state machine handles VT parsing. Built-in multiplexer replaces tmux for many use cases.

Comparison

FAQ

Q: WezTerm vs Alacritty? A: WezTerm is more feature-rich (built-in tabs/splits/SSH mux/image display/Lua config); Alacritty is more minimal and faster. If you don't want to use tmux, WezTerm is a better all-in-one solution.

Q: Is Lua config hard? A: Not hard. Basic config is just setting properties (as above). Advanced usage can use Lua to build dynamic status lines, switch themes by time, auto-connect SSH, and more.

Q: SSH multiplexing? A: WezTerm can open multiple remote panes/tabs over a single SSH connection without needing tmux on the remote side. Just configure an SSH domain.

Sources

• Docs: https://wezterm.org/docs
• GitHub: https://github.com/wezterm/wezterm
• License: MIT