head to head · open source
tmux vs Zellij
tmux has 50,123 GitHub stars, 2,985 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Zellij has 35,918 stars, 1,518 forks, 1,915 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tmux leads on adoption by 40% (50,123 vs 35,918 stars). tmux is written in C under ISC; Zellij is written in Rust under MIT. tmux has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Zellij 4%. Zellij 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 | Zellij | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 36K |
| License | ISC | MIT |
| Written in | C | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 Zellij if
- You want the Zellij feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Zellij fits your workflow better
About tmux
Welcome to tmux! tmux is a terminal multiplexer: it enables a number of terminals to be created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. tmux may be detached from a screen and continue running in the background, then later reattached. This release runs on OpenBSD, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Linux, macOS and Solaris. Dependencies tmux depends on libevent 2.x, available from this page. It also depends on ncurses, available from this page. To build tmux, a C compiler (for example gcc or clang), make, pkg config and a suitable yacc (yacc or bison) are needed. Installation Binary packages Some platforms provide binary…
About Zellij
Zellij [ Installation ] [ Screencasts & Tutorials ] [ Configuration ] [ Layouts ] [ FAQ ] What is this? Zellij is a workspace aimed at developers, ops oriented people and anyone who loves the terminal. Similar programs are sometimes called "Terminal Multiplexers". Zellij is designed around the philosophy that one must not sacrifice simplicity for power, taking pride in its great experience out of the box as well as the advanced features it places at its users' fingertips. Zellij is geared toward beginner and power users alike allowing deep customizability, personal automation through layouts, true multiplayer…
read the full Zellij overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tmux or Zellij more popular?
tmux has 50,123 GitHub stars and Zellij has 35,918. tmux has the larger community by that measure.
Are tmux and Zellij free?
Both are open source. tmux is licensed under ISC and Zellij under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tmux and Zellij?
tmux is written in C and Zellij in Rust. 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 Zellij?
Choose tmux if you want the larger community (50,123 stars) or its ISC licence terms. Choose Zellij if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.