Cool Retro Term icon

Cool Retro Term

Cool Retro Term is a terminal emulator program that mimics the look and feel of old cathode ray tube (CRT) terminals. It has a retro graphical user interface with support for modern features like Unicode glyphs.

What is Cool Retro Term?

Cool Retro Term is a free, open source terminal emulator with a retro graphical user interface. It mimics the aesthetics of old cathode ray tube (CRT) terminals commonly associated with early personal computers of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Despite the old-school visual style, Cool Retro Term has support for modern terminal features like Unicode glyphs, custom themes, tabs, splits, automatic command history and more. Its customizability allows users to tweak the scanlines, curvature, color scheme and other attributes to their preferences.

Cool Retro Term works on Linux, macOS and Windows. It can be used as a drop-in replacement for the default terminal emulator to bring back nostalgia while still taking advantage of modern terminal capacities that old hardware couldn't deliver. The anachronistic contrast between retro graphics and new functionality is part of its novelty.

Overall, Cool Retro Term focuses more on form rather than just function. Its aesthetic style modeled after early computing terminals combined with present-day terminal features makes it appeal to retrophiles and command line users alike.

The Best Cool Retro Term Alternatives

Top Apps like Cool Retro Term

iTerm2, Termux, Terminator, Windows Terminal, Tabby Terminal, GNOME Terminal, Yakuake, Konsole, Alacritty, Kitty terminal, Cathode, WezTerm, Black Box, Stjerm, Qonsole, yeahconsole are some alternatives to Cool Retro Term.

ITerm2

iTerm2 is an open-source terminal emulator for macOS that serves as a replacement for the default Terminal application. It comes packed with useful features for developers, coders, and other power users.Some key features of iTerm2 include: - Split panes allow you to open multiple terminal sessions in one window...

Termux

Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app that transforms Android devices into powerful, command-line-based computing platforms. It offers a Linux-like terminal interface, enabling users to run Linux utilities, install packages, and perform a variety of tasks typically associated with a Linux environment. Key Features: Terminal Emulator: Termux...

Terminator

Terminator is an open source terminal emulator application for Linux/UNIX operating systems. It provides a way to access the UNIX shell and run command-line programs and shell scripts. Some key features of Terminator include:Ability to split the window horizontally or vertically into multiple terminal panels. You can customize...

Windows Terminal

Windows Terminal is a modern, versatile, and user-friendly terminal emulator application designed specifically for the Windows command-line interface. Released in 2019 by Microsoft, it comes pre-installed in Windows 11 and is available to download separately for Windows 10.Windows Terminal provides numerous major improvements over the traditional Windows console host. Key highlights include...

Tabby Terminal

Tabby Terminal is a feature-rich, open-source terminal emulator that aims to provide a modern and user-friendly alternative to the default terminal app on Windows, Mac and Linux. It is compatible with most common Unix shells like zsh, bash etc.Some key features and highlights of Tabby Terminal include:Support for...

GNOME Terminal

GNOME Terminal is a popular, free, and open source terminal emulator for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It comes pre-installed with most Linux distributions that use the GNOME desktop environment, such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Fedora. As a terminal emulator, GNOME Terminal provides access to the command line...

Yakuake

Yakuake is a drop-down terminal emulator designed for the KDE desktop environment. It allows users to quickly toggle open or close a terminal window by pressing the preconfigured hotkey, providing fast access to a fully-featured terminal in a streamlined manner.Among its key features, Yakuake provides:A Quake-style drop-down terminal...

Konsole

Konsole is a powerful and customizable terminal emulator for the KDE desktop environment on Linux operating systems. It provides access to the UNIX shell and enables running command-line programs, tools, and scripts.Some key features of Konsole include:Multiple tabbed terminalsSplit screen viewCustomizable appearance including fonts, color schemes, transparencyConfigurable keyboard...

Alacritty

Alacritty is an open-source, cross-platform terminal emulator written in Rust. It uses OpenGL for hardware-accelerated rendering, allowing it to achieve high performance and low latency. Some key features of Alacritty include:Fast terminal rendering thanks to the use of GPU accelerationExcellent performance for workflows involving a large amount of textCompatible...

Kitty terminal

Kitty is a terminal emulator that prioritizes speed, efficiency, and modern features. Some key aspects of Kitty:It utilizes GPU rendering to draw text, making everything from scrolling to opening new tabs much faster than traditional terminals.Supports Unicode and emoji out of the box with font ligatures for readability...

Cathode

Cathode is an open-source, modern terminal emulator for macOS that focuses on aesthetics, performance, and seamless integration with the macOS ecosystem. Developed by the creators of ITerm2, Cathode builds on years of terminal emulation experience to provide Mac users with a beautifully designed yet powerful terminal application.Some key features...

WezTerm

WezTerm is a GPU-accelerated terminal emulator and multiplexer designed as an alternative to traditional terminal emulators like gnome-terminal, iTerm2, or the default terminal app in Windows. It is written in Rust and aims to provide performance and features not found in other terminals.Some key features of WezTerm include:Hardware-accelerated...

Black Box

Black Box is an open-source flight data analysis and animation tool for Linux. It enables detailed analysis of recorded flight data by transforming raw flight recorder files into animated replays showing the flight in a 3D environment.Key features of Black Box include:Decoding and analysis of flight data from...

Stjerm

Stjerm is a free and open-source, lightweight tiling window manager for the X Window System. It is designed to be simple, flexible, and keyboard-driven for efficient workflow.Some key features of Stjerm include:Dynamic tiling of windows to maximize screen usageCustomizable keyboard shortcuts for window navigation and controlSupport for floating...

Qonsole

Qonsole is an open-source, cross-platform terminal emulator and system monitoring application. It is designed to provide an enhanced terminal experience as well as built-in tools for monitoring system resources and processes.Some of the key features of Qonsole include:Multiple tabbed terminals with support for different shells like bash, zsh...

Yeahconsole

yeahconsole is an actively developed, cross-platform, open-source console emulator and debugger targeting 6th and 7th generation video game consoles including the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii U, and Nintendo Switch. It enables developers and hobbyists to test and debug homebrew software running directly on the console hardware.Key features of yeahconsole...