Zellij
Open SourceA terminal workspace that shows you its own shortcuts.
Published 27 September 2026
Scores
Popularity3/5
Around 35K GitHub stars and a steady presence in terminal-workflow and dotfiles communities, yet most developers outside those circles still reach for tmux or have never heard of a multiplexer other than it.
Learning Curve2/5
The status bar shows the key bindings for whichever mode you're in, and the defaults work without a config file, so most people can split panes, switch tabs, and detach within the first session.
Flexibility4/5
KDL layout files, a WebAssembly plugin system, and a CLI for scripting sessions cover most customization needs, though the plugin ecosystem and scripting surface are younger and smaller than tmux's.
Performance4/5
A Rust binary that stays responsive with many panes, but it holds more memory than tmux's small C server, which shows on small VPS plans.
Portability4/5
Runs on Linux, macOS, and natively on Windows, with a portable config and layout files, though it's rarely preinstalled on servers the way tmux often is.
About Zellij
Zellij is an open-source terminal workspace, a multiplexer in the tmux mould, written in Rust by Aram Drevekenin and released under the MIT license. Like tmux it runs your shells in sessions that keep going after you detach, split into tabs and panes. Where it differs is the interface: a status bar shows the available key bindings for the current mode, so a new user can find their way around without first learning a prefix key or writing a config file.
It goes further than tmux on session persistence. Session resurrection brings a closed session back with its pane layout and the commands that were running, even after a reboot, without any plugin. A built-in web server can serve sessions to a browser with authentication, and each session gets a URL you can bookmark and return to; recent releases added a mobile-friendly web interface. Since 0.44, a terminal can also attach to a remote Zellij session over HTTPS without SSH.
Layouts are written in KDL files that describe tabs, panes, and the commands each pane starts, which makes them handy for opening the same agent-plus-editor-plus-logs workspace every time. Plugins are WebAssembly modules, so they can be written in any language that compiles to WASM, and the built-in UI (status bar, session manager, file picker) is itself built from plugins. Floating and stacked panes and multi-user collaboration are also built in.
Zellij runs on Linux and macOS, and on Windows natively since version 0.44. It has no company behind it and no paid tier; development is funded through sponsorships. Tools that integrate with a multiplexer by name, such as Claude Code's experimental split-pane agent teams, often support only tmux, so check that before switching.
Key Features
- Detachable sessions with tabs, split panes, and floating or stacked panes
- Session resurrection that restores layouts and commands after a reboot
- Built-in web client with authentication and bookmarkable session URLs
- Attach to remote sessions over HTTPS without SSH
- KDL layout files that start a whole workspace with its commands
- WebAssembly plugin system for plugins in any WASM-compiling language
- On-screen key-binding hints for every mode
- Multi-user sessions for pairing in the same workspace
Pros
- Usable on day one because the status bar lists the shortcuts for each mode
- Session resurrection and browser access work out of the box, without plugins
- Layout files make it easy to open the same multi-pane workspace for every project
- Native Windows build alongside Linux and macOS
- Actively developed with frequent releases and a responsive maintainer
Cons
- Uses more memory than tmux and is rarely preinstalled on servers
- Default key bindings clash with some terminal programs until you switch to its locked or unlock-first mode
- Tools that integrate with a multiplexer by name, like Claude Code's split-pane agent teams, often support only tmux
- Smaller plugin ecosystem and fewer tutorials than tmux's decades of material
Zellij Pricing
Open SourceTech Stacks with Zellij
Claude Code Dev Stack
DeveloperClaude Code as the coding agent, in the terminal, the desktop app, an IDE extension, or the browser, running on Claude, with your pick of GitHub or GitLab for version control.
Development
LLM
Codex Dev Stack
DeveloperOpenAI's Codex as the coding agent, in the ChatGPT desktop app, the terminal, an IDE extension, or OpenAI's cloud, running on OpenAI models, with your pick of GitHub or GitLab for version control.
OpenCode Dev Stack
DeveloperOpenCode as the coding agent, in the terminal, the desktop app, an IDE extension, or the browser, running open-weight models such as DeepSeek, GLM, and Kimi, with your pick of GitHub or GitLab for version control.
Tools Related to Zellij
Works well with Zellij(4)
Claude Code runs inside Zellij for the same keep-running-sessions-on-a-server job; only the agent-teams split panes require tmux instead.
A Codex CLI session inside Zellij survives disconnects and reboots, a friendlier-to-learn alternative to tmux for the same server pattern.
Zellij inside Ghostty adds split panes and persistent sessions to a fast local emulator, with layouts and shortcuts visible on screen.
Zellij's panes and resurrectable sessions pair with Alacritty's pane-less GPU rendering the same way tmux does.
Alternatives to Zellij(2)
Zellij wins on discoverability (on-screen shortcuts, layouts, reboot-surviving sessions, a web client) while tmux wins on ubiquity — it is already on the server — and on scripts built around its key bindings and command mode.
Zellij keeps sessions alive and resurrects them after a reboot but knows nothing about agents; Herdr adds per-agent state and coordination for that same job.
Learning Resources
No resources yet — check back soon.