Comparison
Cross Platform Terminal vs Alacritty
A fast, minimal, OpenGL terminal emulator that deliberately leaves features to other tools. Alacritty’s own site →
| Feature | Cross Platform Terminal | Alacritty |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Linux, Windows (macOS in progress) | Linux, BSD, macOS, Windows |
| Windows | Native, identical to the Linux build | Native |
| Licence | Proprietary | Apache-2.0 and MIT, open source |
| Price | €7.49/month or €67.41/year, no free tier | Free |
| Rendering | GPU, whole grid in one draw call | OpenGL, requiring OpenGL ES 2.0 or better |
| Configuration | In-app settings, per-profile | A single TOML file |
| Session persistence | Opt-in detachable sessions, no multiplexer needed | None built in — by design, that is tmux's job |
| Agent awareness | Detects 8 agent CLIs and reports five states per pane | None |
Where Alacritty is the better choice
- Free, and the lightest thing here. It starts fast and stays out of the way.
- The minimalism is a stated principle, not a gap: the FAQ says you will not find tabs or splits, because those are “best left to a window manager or terminal multiplexer”.
- If you already run tmux and a tiling WM, most of what CPT adds is duplicated by tools you have.
Where CPT is the better choice
- Tabs, splits, dockable panels and per-view layouts, without assembling them from three other programs.
- Sessions that survive closing the app without tmux in the loop.
- Agent detection and per-pane status. Alacritty is deliberately not in this business.
The short version
Alacritty plus tmux plus a tiling window manager is a genuinely good setup, and it is free. CPT is for people who would rather that stack were one application that behaves the same on a Windows laptop and a Linux box.
Alacritty details checked against Repository and FAQ on 10 September 2026. Projects move; if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and it gets fixed.