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TermFlow vs Windows Terminal
Both are free and fast. Windows Terminal is the best native terminal on Windows. TermFlow is the terminal for when your work spans machines and agents.
Two philosophies.
Windows Terminal
The best terminal on Windows.
Microsoft's open-source terminal, tuned for Windows: deep WSL and shell integration, excellent DirectWrite rendering, and throughput that's hard to beat. If you live on Windows and want a fast, native terminal, it's superb.
TermFlow
The terminal for agents across machines.
The same terminal fundamentals on Windows, macOS, and Linux — plus a full developer API, an MCP server, headless / API-driven operation, session restore, and agents that coordinate across machines and platforms.
Feature by feature.
| Capability | TermFlow | Windows Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows · macOS · Linux | Windows only |
| Multi-shell (PowerShell, bash, zsh, WSL, cmd) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Split panes & saved layouts | ✓ | ✓ |
| Raw rendering throughput | Fast | Fastest ★ |
| Session restore | ✓ | — |
| Full REST / WebSocket API | ✓ | — |
| Built-in MCP server | ✓ | — |
| Programmatic control (send input / read output) | ✓ | — |
| Headless / API-driven operation | ✓ | — |
| Cross-machine agent communication | Pro | — |
| Price | Free · paid fleet | Free |
Where Windows Terminal wins
If you're on Windows and you want the fastest native terminal, Windows Terminal is hard to beat — its raw rendering throughput still edges ours, and its Windows and WSL integration is first-class. We're closing the performance gap, and we won't pretend it doesn't exist. What it doesn't offer is a surface an agent can drive: its command-line (wt.exe) can open tabs and panes, but it can't send input to or read output from a running session. That's the layer we add — an open HTTP API, an MCP server, headless / API-driven operation, and agents that talk to each other across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Common questions.
Is TermFlow slower than Windows Terminal?
On raw rendering throughput, Windows Terminal is still ahead. For day-to-day work you won't notice; for firehose output it can. We publish honest numbers when we have a citable benchmark, not before.
Can an agent drive Windows Terminal?
Not really — wt.exe can spawn tabs and panes, but it can't send input to or read output from an existing session. TermFlow exposes both over an HTTP API and a built-in MCP server.
Is it really free?
The full terminal — including the API and MCP server — is free on your machine. We only charge for multi-machine and multi-person features. See pricing.