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Day 65: new resources are added every day. See what's new
Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

Zellij

A friendly terminal workspace with panes, tabs and saved layouts built in.

Visit Zellij4.6

  • Rating

    4.6 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Intermediate

  • Works on

    macOS, Linux, Offline

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

Free: 1,100+ ways people make money onlineFree: 399+ ways to make money online

What is Zellij?

Zellij is a free, open-source terminal workspace that splits one window into panes and tabs. It shows its shortcuts on screen, saves layouts you can reopen in one command and keeps sessions running in the background, so your whole development setup comes back exactly as you left it.

Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.

Pros: what Zellij does well

  • On-screen hints make it easy to learn
  • Saved layouts restore your setup instantly
  • Free and open source

Cons: where it falls short

  • Terminal only
  • No native Windows support

Who Zellij is for

Developers who juggle several terminal windows at once.

Who can skip it

Anyone who rarely works in the terminal.

Zellij alternatives

Not sold on Zellij? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Workflows resources

Zen Browser

Focus: web browser, vertical tabs and workspaces. Shares open source and github with Zellij. Adds Windows. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

AeroSpace

Focus: tiling window manager, window management and keyboard shortcuts. Shares open source and github with Zellij. A Mac app, not a desktop app. Rated 4.7 (Zellij: 4.6).

Mac AppFreemacOS
4.7Visit

Starship

Focus: shell prompt and terminal. Shares developer tool and open source with Zellij. Adds Windows. Rated 4.7 (Zellij: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

Atuin

Focus: shell history, terminal and command line. Shares open source and github with Zellij. Adds Windows. Rated 4.7 (Zellij: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

Bruno

Focus: api client, api testing and postman alternative. Shares open source and github with Zellij. Adds Windows. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

massCode

Focus: code snippets, developer notes and http client. Shares open source and github with Zellij. Adds Windows. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Free alternatives to Zellij

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

Ferdium

Focus: messaging, all-in-one and workspaces. Shares open source and github with Zellij. Adds Windows. Rated 4.5 (Zellij: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.5Visit

Pake

Focus: web to desktop, app wrapper and tauri. Shares open source and github with Zellij. Adds Windows. Rated 4.5 (Zellij: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

lazygit

Focus: git client and terminal ui. Shares developer tool and open source with Zellij. Adds Windows. Rated 4.8 (Zellij: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

Stats

Focus: system monitor, menu bar app and mac utility. Shares open source and github with Zellij. A Mac app, not a desktop app. Rated 4.7 (Zellij: 4.6).

Mac AppFreemacOS, Offline
4.7Visit

Dashy

Focus: dashboard, start page and self-hosted. Shares open source and github with Zellij. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Same 4.6 rating.

Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.6Visit

Files

Focus: file manager, file explorer alternative and tabs. Shares open source and github with Zellij. A Windows app, not a desktop app. Adds Windows. Same 4.6 rating.

Windows AppFreeWindows
4.6Visit
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