head to head · open source
tmux vs WaveTerm
tmux has 49,900 GitHub stars, 2,942 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. WaveTerm has 22,482 stars, 1,159 forks, 574 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. tmux leads on adoption by 122% (49,900 vs 22,482 stars). tmux is written in C under ISC; WaveTerm is written in Go under Apache-2.0. tmux has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, WaveTerm 5%. tmux was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| tmux | WaveTerm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 22K |
| License | ISC | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-10 | 2026-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tmux if
- You weight community size — 50K stars and counting
- You want the ISC license terms
- Your stack matches C
- 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 tmux
tmux is an open source terminal multiplexer for developers and system administrators who need to create, manage, and return to multiple terminal sessions from a single screen.
About WaveTerm
Wave Terminal is an open source, AI integrated terminal for macOS, Linux, and Windows. It lives in the developer tools and terminal emulator ecosystem, and it is written in Go under the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full WaveTerm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tmux or WaveTerm more popular?
tmux has 49,900 GitHub stars and WaveTerm has 22,482. tmux has the larger community by that measure.
Are tmux and WaveTerm free?
Both are open source. tmux is licensed under ISC and WaveTerm under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tmux and WaveTerm?
tmux is written in C 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, tmux or WaveTerm?
Choose tmux if you want the larger community (49,900 stars) or its ISC licence terms. Choose WaveTerm if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.