head to head · open source
Alacritty vs WaveTerm
Alacritty has 66,108 GitHub stars, 3,704 forks, 340 open issues and last shipped yesterday. WaveTerm has 22,641 stars, 1,183 forks, 574 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Alacritty leads on adoption by 192% (66,108 vs 22,641 stars). Alacritty is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; WaveTerm is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Alacritty has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, WaveTerm 5%. WaveTerm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (linux, macos, terminal, terminal-emulators), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Alacritty | WaveTerm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.7K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Alacritty if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick WaveTerm if
- You want the WaveTerm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and WaveTerm fits your workflow better
About Alacritty
Alacritty A fast, cross platform, OpenGL terminal emulator About Alacritty is a modern terminal emulator that comes with sensible defaults, but allows for extensive configuration. By integrating with other applications, rather than reimplementing their functionality, it manages to provide a flexible set of features with high performance. The supported platforms currently consist of BSD, Linux, macOS and Windows. The software is considered to be at a beta level of readiness; there are a few missing features and bugs to be fixed, but it is already used by many as a daily driver. Precompiled binaries are available…
read the full Alacritty overview →
About WaveTerm
Wave Terminal English 한국어 繁體中文 Wave is an open source, AI integrated terminal for macOS, Linux, and Windows. It works with any AI model. Bring your own API keys for OpenAI, Claude, or Gemini, or run local models via Ollama and LM Studio. No accounts required. Wave also supports durable SSH sessions that survive network interruptions and restarts, with automatic reconnection. Edit remote files with a built in graphical editor and preview files inline without leaving the terminal. Key Features Wave AI Context aware terminal assistant that reads your terminal output, analyzes widgets, and performs file operations…
read the full WaveTerm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Alacritty or WaveTerm more popular?
Alacritty has 66,108 GitHub stars and WaveTerm has 22,641. Alacritty has the larger community by that measure.
Are Alacritty and WaveTerm free?
Both are open source. Alacritty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and WaveTerm under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Alacritty and WaveTerm?
Alacritty is written in Rust and WaveTerm in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Alacritty or WaveTerm?
Choose Alacritty if you want the larger community (66,108 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose WaveTerm if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.