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Terminal & shell, ranked by value — not ad spend

Multiplexers, monitors, and shell upgrades that make the terminal a place you want to live.

No paid placement. Ranked by evidence against four principles: transparency, value density, privacy, efficiency. How we rank →
Our pick
tmux — Terminal multiplexer, the standard 5.0
#ToolT·V·P·EIndexType
1 tmux
Terminal multiplexer, the standard
 5.0 self-host ~
2 btop++
Gorgeous resource monitor in C++
 4.8 self-host ~
3 direnv
Per-directory environment variables
 4.8 self-host ~
4 htop
The classic interactive process viewer
 4.8 self-host ~
5 zoxide
Smarter cd that learns your habits
 4.8 self-host ~
6 Zellij
Terminal workspace with sane defaults
 4.5 self-host ~

Max ~7 listings per category, by design — curation is the product. Think something belongs here? Submit it; it has to displace an incumbent.