terminator-alternatives

The Problem with Terminator

Terminator is a popular terminal emulator known for its tiling/splitting capabilities, but it suffers from performance issues:

• High CPU usage: Can consume 30%+ CPU during rendering
• Visible input lag: Delay between keystrokes and output in bash/vim
• Slow stdout: VTE-based rendering causes CPU spikes during heavy output
• Not GPU-accelerated: Relies entirely on CPU for rendering
• Wayland concerns: Unclear full Wayland support

GPU-Accelerated Alternatives

Modern GPU-accelerated terminals offload rendering to the GPU, resulting in:

• Orders of magnitude faster text rendering
• Smooth scrolling even with massive log files
• Lower CPU usage
• Sub-millisecond input latency

Quick Comparison

1. Alacritty (Fastest, Minimal)

Best for: Maximum speed, tmux/Zellij users

Alacritty is the fastest terminal emulator available. Written in Rust with OpenGL rendering, it consistently benchmarks 10-50% faster than alternatives.

Key Features

• Blazing fast GPU rendering via OpenGL
• Cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD)
• Simple YAML configuration
• Vi mode for scrollback
• Regex hints for URLs/patterns
• Lowest measured input latency

Trade-offs

• No tabs or splits by design - use tmux or Zellij
• No ligature support
• No image rendering

Installation

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:aslatter/ppa
sudo apt install alacritty

# Arch
sudo pacman -S alacritty

# Fedora
sudo dnf install alacritty

# From source (requires Rust)
git clone https://github.com/alacritty/alacritty.git
cd alacritty
cargo build --release

Configuration

Config location: ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml (v0.13+) or alacritty.yml (older)

[font]
size = 12.0

[font.normal]
family = "JetBrains Mono"

[window]
opacity = 0.95
padding = { x = 10, y = 10 }

[colors.primary]
background = "#1e1e2e"
foreground = "#cdd6f4"

Pair with tmux for Terminator-like splits

# Install tmux
sudo apt install tmux

# Basic tmux commands
# Ctrl+b % - vertical split
# Ctrl+b " - horizontal split
# Ctrl+b arrow - navigate panes

2. Kitty (Speed + Features)

Best for: Users wanting GPU speed with built-in features

Kitty offers GPU acceleration with rich features including tabs, splits, image rendering, and ligatures.

Key Features

• GPU rendering via OpenGL
• Built-in tabs and splits (like Terminator)
• Image/graphics protocol support
• Font ligatures and emoji
• Keyboard-driven workflow
• Remote control via IPC
• Extensive theming

Installation

# Universal installer (recommended)
curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install kitty

# Arch
sudo pacman -S kitty

# Fedora
sudo dnf install kitty

Configuration

Config location: ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf

# Font
font_family      JetBrains Mono
font_size        12.0

# Performance
repaint_delay    10
input_delay      3
sync_to_monitor  yes

# Window layout (Terminator-like)
enabled_layouts  splits,stack

# Keybindings for splits
map ctrl+shift+enter new_window
map ctrl+shift+] next_window
map ctrl+shift+[ previous_window
map ctrl+shift+- launch --location=hsplit
map ctrl+shift+\ launch --location=vsplit

# Tab bar
tab_bar_style powerline

Terminator-like Usage

# Horizontal split
Ctrl+Shift+-

# Vertical split
Ctrl+Shift+\

# Navigate windows
Ctrl+Shift+[ and Ctrl+Shift+]

# New tab
Ctrl+Shift+T

3. WezTerm (Power User Choice)

Best for: Scripting, SSH integration, maximum customization

WezTerm is a GPU-accelerated terminal with native multiplexing and Lua scripting for unlimited customization.

Key Features

• GPU rendering (OpenGL)
• Native tabs, splits, and workspaces
• Built-in SSH client with multiplexing
• Lua configuration and scripting
• Serial port support
• Scrollbar support (rare for GPU terminals)
• Hyperlinks and image support

Installation

# Ubuntu/Debian (Flatpak)
flatpak install flathub org.wezfurlong.wezterm

# Arch
sudo pacman -S wezterm

# AppImage
wget https://github.com/wez/wezterm/releases/download/nightly/WezTerm-nightly-Ubuntu20.04.AppImage
chmod +x WezTerm-*.AppImage

Configuration

Config location: ~/.config/wezterm/wezterm.lua

local wezterm = require 'wezterm'
local config = {}

-- Font
config.font = wezterm.font 'JetBrains Mono'
config.font_size = 12.0

-- Colors
config.color_scheme = 'Catppuccin Mocha'

-- Performance
config.front_end = 'WebGpu'  -- or 'OpenGL'

-- Window
config.window_background_opacity = 0.95

-- Keybindings for splits
config.keys = {
  { key = '-', mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT', action = wezterm.action.SplitVertical { domain = 'CurrentPaneDomain' } },
  { key = '\\', mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT', action = wezterm.action.SplitHorizontal { domain = 'CurrentPaneDomain' } },
}

return config

4. Ghostty (New Contender - 2024)

Best for: Modern features with competitive speed (but splits are immature)

Ghostty is a new GPU-accelerated terminal by Mitchell Hashimoto (HashiCorp co-founder). Released December 2024.

Key Features

• GPU rendering (platform-native: Metal on macOS, OpenGL on Linux)
• Native tabs and splits
• 4x faster than iTerm/Kitty for plain text reading
• Comparable speed to Alacritty
• Modern, clean design
• Cross-platform

Split Limitations (as of Dec 2024)

• No predefined layouts - Can’t do tmux-style layouts (main-vertical, grid, stack)
• Navigation bugs - goto_split direction can focus wrong pane depending on creation order
• No input broadcast - Can’t send same input to multiple panes
• No undo on Linux - Closed split recovery only on macOS

If splits are important to your workflow, Kitty or WezTerm are more mature choices.

Installation

# From source (requires Zig)
git clone https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty
cd ghostty
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast

# Check releases for binaries:
# https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty/releases

Configuration

Config location: ~/.config/ghostty/config

font-family = "JetBrains Mono"
font-size = 12
theme = "catppuccin-mocha"

# Keybindings
keybind = ctrl+shift+minus=new_split:down
keybind = ctrl+shift+backslash=new_split:right

5. Foot (Wayland Native, Low Memory)

Best for: Wayland users, minimal memory footprint

Foot uses CPU rendering but is highly optimized and can outperform GPU terminals in some scenarios while using a fraction of the memory.

Key Features

• Wayland-native (no X11)
• Extremely low memory usage (~5MB vs Alacritty’s ~50MB+)
• Fast CPU rendering
• DPI-aware
• Sixel image support
• Simple configuration

Installation

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install foot

# Arch
sudo pacman -S foot

# Fedora
sudo dnf install foot

Configuration

Config location: ~/.config/foot/foot.ini

[main]
font=JetBrains Mono:size=12
dpi-aware=yes

[colors]
background=1e1e2e
foreground=cdd6f4

Note: Foot has no built-in splits - use a Wayland compositor with tiling (Sway) or tmux.

Performance Benchmarks

Throughput (scrolling large files)

Input Latency

GPU terminals lead with sub-millisecond latency. Alacritty is frequently cited as having the absolute lowest input latency.

CPU Usage (during scrolling)

Note: GPU terminals trade CPU for GPU usage. If you have integrated graphics, this may vary.

Recommendation

If you want Terminator-like splits without tmux:

Use Kitty or WezTerm

Both have native tabs and splits with GPU acceleration. Kitty is simpler to configure, WezTerm offers more power.

If you want absolute maximum speed:

Use Alacritty + tmux/Zellij

Alacritty is consistently the fastest. Learn tmux for multiplexing - it’s more powerful than Terminator’s splits anyway.

If you’re on Wayland and want minimal resources:

Use Foot + Sway/tmux

Foot is purpose-built for Wayland with exceptional efficiency.

If you want a modern, feature-rich option:

Try Ghostty (with caveats)

New but promising. Competitive speed with modern features. However, split/pane support is still immature - navigation bugs and no layout presets. Better for single-pane or tab-based workflows.

Migration from Terminator

Key muscle memory changes

Preserving your workflow

1. Export your Terminator layout preferences
2. Recreate splits in your new terminal or tmux
3. Consider using tmuxinator/tmux-resurrect for session management

Sources

1. Best GPU-Accelerated Terminal Emulators - Linuxiac
2. Best Linux Terminals 2025 - Linux Nest
3. Alacritty GitHub
4. Ghostty 1.0 Released - Linuxiac
5. Terminator is slow - GitHub Issue
6. Best Linux Terminal Emulators 2024 - Slant
7. Terminator Alternatives - AlternativeTo
8. Zutty Terminal Comparison