Comparison
Cross Platform Terminal vs Tabby
A highly configurable Electron terminal with integrated SSH, serial and Telnet clients. Tabby’s own site →
| Feature | Cross Platform Terminal | Tabby |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Linux, Windows (macOS in progress) | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Windows | Native, identical to the Linux build | Native |
| Licence | Proprietary | MIT, open source |
| Price | €7.49/month or €67.41/year, no free tier | Free |
| Rendering | GPU, whole grid in one draw call | Electron; the project makes no GPU rendering claim |
| Configuration | In-app settings, per-profile | In-app settings, profiles and a plugin manager |
| Session persistence | Opt-in detachable sessions, no multiplexer needed | Saved connections rather than detachable local shells |
| Agent awareness | Detects 8 agent CLIs and reports five states per pane | None |
Where Tabby is the better choice
- Free, on all three desktop platforms, with the best connection manager here — SSH with jump hosts, port forwarding and agent forwarding, plus serial and Telnet.
- A real plugin and theme ecosystem, installable from inside the app.
- Nested split panes, tabs on any edge, and a Quake-style dropdown.
Where CPT is the better choice
- Rendering: CPT draws the whole grid in one GPU call. Tabby is an Electron app and does not claim GPU text rendering.
- Detachable sessions that keep a long-running command alive after the app closes.
- Agent detection and per-pane status.
The short version
If most of your day is SSH into managed boxes and serial consoles, Tabby does that better and costs nothing. CPT is aimed at the local workstation: fast rendering, persistent shells, and agents you can see the state of.
Tabby details checked against Repository on 10 September 2026. Projects move; if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and it gets fixed.