Compare remote persistence, native Mac terminal workflows, and local process management.
Zellij is a modern open source terminal workspace in Rust with tabs, floating and stacked panes, KDL layouts, session resurrection, a browser client, and WebAssembly plugins. It is free under the MIT license and runs on macOS and Linux, with Windows typically through WSL. The best Zellij alternatives depend on what you are trying to replace. Solo is strongest if the real need is managing local agents and services with auto-restart, file-watch restarts, monitoring, and notifications. tmux is strongest if remote persistence and ubiquity matter more than modern pane UX. cmux is strongest if you still want a local pane-heavy terminal, but with a native macOS GUI and agent-focused multitasking.
Start with the capability you want to replace. Each option overlaps with Zellij in a different way.
Recommended option
A lightweight local environment for agents, project commands, shell sessions, and process visibility on macOS and Windows.
Best for teams that want to manage local agents, services, and shared startup commands outside the terminal with auto-restart, file-watch restarts, CPU/memory monitoring, and native desktop notifications.
Best for
Best for local process management.
Recommended option
A terminal multiplexer with sessions, windows, panes, detach/reattach, and a plugin ecosystem via TPM. Supported on major Unix systems.
Best for developers who need detach/reattach workflows, remote SSH persistence, and a tool that runs on practically any Unix system.
Best for
Best for remote persistence and headless workflows.
Recommended option
A GPL-3.0-or-later native macOS terminal using libghostty, with agent-aware workspaces, SSH/Mosh support, project commands, task resource views, an embedded browser, and an automation API. A cross-platform TUI is also available.
Best for Mac users who still want many panes and sessions, but in a native GUI terminal designed around multitasking across coding agents.
Best for
Best for local macOS terminal multitasking.
Start with Solo if the missing layer is process supervision, tmux if you need remote persistence and ubiquity, or cmux if you still want a local pane-heavy terminal with a graphical macOS interface.
Compare the products and workflows closest to Zellij, including where Solo fits.
Solo is a lightweight desktop terminal workspace for local agents, project commands, interactive terminals, and long-running services. It sits beside your editor, keeps your stack visible, and gives Claude Code, Codex, and the rest of your tools one shared local control surface.
Solo is built by Aaron Francis, creator of faster.dev and Database School, and VP of Marketing at Laravel. He built Solo after running Claude Code alongside his own dev stack and getting tired of juggling nine terminal tabs just to keep local agents, services, and project commands visible.
He is also a dad to two sets of twins, which tends to create a strong preference for software that reduces chaos instead of adding more of it. That is why Solo keeps showing up in these comparisons as the local workspace around your tools, not another editor or orchestrator trying to absorb the whole workflow.
Free for four projects on macOS and Windows.
Start with a terminal and add the programmable meta-harness when you need to coordinate agents with your local development stack.
“I can't live without it.”
