The Best WezTerm Alternative

Why Developers Look for WezTerm Alternatives

WezTerm is an excellent terminal emulator with powerful Lua scripting and GPU rendering. But it comes with a steep configuration curve. To get a productive shell environment, you still need to separately install and configure Starship, Delta, zoxide, syntax highlighting, autosuggestions, and a Nerd Font. For developers who want a turnkey experience, this setup tax adds up.

arb was built to solve exactly this problem. It takes WezTerm’s proven core — the same GPU rendering engine, the same Lua API — and adds zero-config defaults with a complete built-in shell suite. You get the power of WezTerm without the hours of setup.

Common WezTerm Frustrations

arb vs WezTerm: Feature Comparison

What arb Keeps from WezTerm

• Lua scripting API — same wezterm.font(), wezterm.action patterns. Most WezTerm configs work with minimal changes.
• GPU-accelerated rendering — Metal-backed on macOS for smooth scrolling even with heavy output.
• Multiplexing — tabs, panes, splits with the same keybinding system.

What arb Adds

• Built-in shell suite — Starship, Delta, z, syntax highlighting, autosuggestions, zsh-completions. All compiled in.
• Zero-config defaults — JetBrains Mono Nerd Font, Arb Dark theme, optimized font rendering, smooth animations. Works out of the box.
• Smaller binary — ~40MB vs WezTerm’s ~80MB. Aggressive feature pruning and symbol stripping.
• macOS-first — Native macOS integration, notarized for Gatekeeper, Homebrew tap install.

What arb Removes (and Why)

arb’s 40MB binary (vs WezTerm’s ~80MB) comes from deliberate removal of features that macOS users do not need:

• X11 and Wayland backends — arb is macOS-only, so Linux display server code is removed entirely.
• Windows support — No Windows-specific code, terminal emulation quirks, or ConPTY integration.
• SSH domain multiplexing — WezTerm’s remote multiplexer is removed. Use SSH directly in your shell instead.
• Serial port support — Rarely used, removed to reduce binary size.

The space saved is reallocated to the built-in shell suite (Starship, Delta, z, syntax highlighting, autosuggestions) that ships with every arb install.

How to Switch from WezTerm to arb

Migrating from WezTerm to arb takes under 5 minutes:

1. Install arb — Run brew tap szj2ys/arb && brew install arb. This installs the arb binary and GUI app.
2. Copy your config (optional) — If you have a WezTerm Lua config, copy it: cp ~/.wezterm.lua ~/.config/arb/arb.lua. Most configs work as-is.
3. Remove font/theme config — arb ships JetBrains Mono and Arb Dark by default. You can delete your font and color_scheme settings unless you have a custom preference.
4. Remove shell plugin configs — If your .zshrc has lines for Starship, Delta, zoxide, zsh-syntax-highlighting, or zsh-autosuggestions, you can remove them. arb handles all of these automatically.
5. Launch arb — Open arb. Your shell is ready with Starship prompt, Delta diffs, z navigation, and syntax highlighting. No further setup needed.

Config Translation Examples

Here is what changes (and what does not) when moving your WezTerm config to arb:

• Font configuration — WezTerm: config.font = wezterm.font("JetBrains Mono"). arb: not needed (JetBrains Mono is the default). Only add a font line if you want a different typeface.
• Color scheme — WezTerm: config.color_scheme = "Catppuccin Mocha". arb: not needed (Arb Dark is the default). Custom schemes still work via the same API.
• Keybindings — WezTerm: config.keys = { ... }. arb: works exactly the same. Same wezterm.action API, same key names.
• Tab bar — WezTerm: config.use_fancy_tab_bar = true. arb: works the same. arb defaults to a clean tab bar style.

Who Should Switch from WezTerm to arb

If you spend more time configuring WezTerm than using it, arb is for you. If you set up a new machine and want a fully-equipped terminal in one brew install command, arb is for you. If you are a macOS developer who wants the power of WezTerm with the convenience of a turnkey solution, arb is for you.

If you rely on WezTerm’s cross-platform support (Linux, Windows) or need specific advanced features like SSH domains, you may want to stay with WezTerm.

Frequently Asked Questions