# Tabby > Cross-platform Electron terminal with a built-in SSH, Telnet and serial client, saved connection profiles and a plugin system. Stars: 75.3k · Language: TypeScript · License: MIT · Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows · Config: YAML Features: cross-platform, built-in multiplexer, ligatures, inline images, configurable - Repository: https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby - Page: https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/tabby ## Overview Tabby, formerly Terminus, is a configurable terminal emulator with built-in SSH, Telnet and serial clients, for Windows, macOS and Linux. It is an Electron app with xterm.js terminals and is licensed under MIT. The README positions it as an alternative to conhost, PowerShell ISE, PuTTY, macOS Terminal.app and iTerm. It fits system administrators and developers who connect to many remote hosts or serial devices and want those connections managed in the same app as their local shells. The SSH client is the main differentiator. It includes a connection manager, X11 and port forwarding, automatic jump host management, agent forwarding (including Pageant and the native Windows OpenSSH agent) and login scripts. Files can be transferred to and from SSH sessions with Zmodem, and SSH secrets and configuration can be kept in an integrated encrypted container. The serial terminal adds saved connections, readline input, optional hex input with hexdump output, newline conversion and automatic reconnection. The SSH, SFTP and Telnet client is also available as a web app, which can be self-hosted. As a local terminal it emulates a VT220 with various extensions and supports multiple nested split panes, tabs on any side of the window, a dockable quake-style window with a global hotkey, font ligatures, progress detection, notifications when a process finishes, and warnings before multiline pastes. On Windows it works with PowerShell and PowerShell Core, WSL, Git-Bash, Cygwin, MSYS2, Cmder and CMD, and uses Clink for tab completion. It remembers open tabs between launches, and creating a `data` folder next to `Tabby.exe` makes it portable. Shortcuts are fully configurable, including multi-chord shortcuts. Settings are stored in a `config.yaml` file, and plugins and themes can be installed from the Settings view, with community plugins for Docker containers, config sync and SFTP tabs. The README says plainly that Tabby is not lightweight and points users who care about RAM usage to other terminals. It is also not a shell or a replacement for MinGW or Cygwin. ## Alternatives - [Windows Terminal](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/windows-terminal.md): Microsoft's terminal for Windows that hosts PowerShell, cmd and WSL shells in tabs and panes, with GPU text rendering and JSON settings. (Windows, 105.3k stars) - [Alacritty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/alacritty.md): Cross-platform OpenGL terminal emulator written in Rust, configured with a TOML file and leaving tabs and splits to a multiplexer like tmux. (Linux/macOS/Windows/BSD, 66.1k stars) - [Warp](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/warp.md): Terminal written in Rust with an IDE-style command editor, command output grouped into blocks, and built-in AI agents. (macOS/Linux/Windows, 65.8k stars) - [Termux](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/termux.md): Android terminal emulator and Linux environment that installs packages through its own apt repository, no root required. (Android, 63.9k stars) - [Ghostty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/ghostty.md): Terminal emulator written in Zig with GPU rendering and a native UI on each platform: Swift/AppKit on macOS, GTK on Linux. (Linux/macOS, 63.3k stars) - [Hyper](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/hyper.md): Electron terminal built on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, themed and extended through npm plugins. (Linux/macOS/Windows, 44.8k stars) - [Kitty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/kitty.md): GPU-rendered terminal written in C and Python, with its own graphics protocol, built-in tabs and splits, and scriptable 'kittens'. (Linux/macOS/BSD, 35.5k stars) - [WindTerm](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/windterm.md): SSH, Telnet, serial and local shell client for Windows, macOS and Linux with tabs, split views, SFTP and tmux integration; only partly open source. (Windows/macOS/Linux, 32.6k stars) ## Guides - [cmder Alternatives](https://www.trmn.sh/alternatives/cmder): cmder alternatives for Windows: Windows Terminal, WezTerm, and Tabby compared by shells, multiplexing, SSH, and configuration. - [Hyper Alternatives](https://www.trmn.sh/alternatives/hyper): Hyper alternatives: WezTerm, Tabby, Kitty, Ghostty and Alacritty compared by config model, platform support and built-in features. - [Tabby Alternatives](https://www.trmn.sh/alternatives/tabby): Tabby alternatives: WezTerm, Kitty, Windows Terminal and Wave compared by platform, scripting, SSH handling and plugin support. - [WezTerm Alternatives](https://www.trmn.sh/alternatives/wezterm): WezTerm alternatives: Kitty, Ghostty, Alacritty, Windows Terminal and Tabby compared on multiplexing, config format and platform support. - [Windows Terminal Alternatives](https://www.trmn.sh/alternatives/windows-terminal): Windows Terminal alternatives compared: WezTerm, Tabby, Alacritty, cmder, Hyper and Contour, with platform, config and multiplexing differences. - [Best Drop-Down (Quake-Style) Terminals](https://www.trmn.sh/best/drop-down-terminals): Guake, Yakuake, Tabby and Windows Terminal compared as hotkey-toggled drop-down terminals on Linux, KDE, macOS and Windows. - [Best Terminal Emulators](https://www.trmn.sh/best/terminal-emulators): A practical shortlist of terminal emulators for developers who care about speed, features, polish, and platform fit. - [Best Windows Terminals](https://www.trmn.sh/best/windows-terminals): A focused shortlist of terminal emulators for Windows developers, including native Windows options and cross-platform alternatives. --- Canonical: https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/tabby