foot

Active

Country: Sweden (SE)
Founded: 2020
Developer: dnkl (individual developer)
Pricing: Free (open-source)
Open source: Yes
Platforms: Linux, BSD

Indexes

Terminal Emulators

Overview

Foot is a fast, lightweight, and minimalistic terminal emulator designed specifically for the Wayland display server protocol. It targets users on Wayland-based Linux and BSD systems seeking high performance without GPU acceleration, offering features like server mode for multiple instances and support for sixel images, ligatures, and complex text layouts.¹²³

Key Features

Wayland-native - Built from the ground up for Wayland, avoiding X11 dependencies.
Server/daemon mode - Supports a client-server model to run multiple terminals efficiently from one server process.
Sixel support - Displays sixel graphics protocol images directly in the terminal.
Ligature and emoji support - Handles font ligatures, color emojis, and complex text layouts.
Scrollback search - Provides search functionality in terminal scrollback history.
Extensive configuration - Highly customizable via config file with support for various color schemes and fonts.
Multiple tabs - Allows opening multiple tabs within a single window.
Unicode support - Full Unicode handling for international text.

Pricing

Plan	Price	Includes
Free	$0	Full feature set, open-source (MIT license)

Platforms & Requirements

Foot runs on Linux and BSD systems with Wayland compositors; install via package managers like on Arch Linux. Requires minimal resources, no GPU acceleration needed, and supports freetype fonts. Limited to Wayland; no X11 or other desktop environments.¹³

Integrations & Ecosystem

XDG specifications
Terminfo (foot-terminfo package)
Sixel graphics protocol
freetype fonts

Alternatives

App	Difference
Kitty	GPU-accelerated, supports both X11 and Wayland, but higher resource use than Foot.
Alacritty	GPU-accelerated with X11/Wayland support, focuses on speed but lacks Foot's server mode.
urxvt	Lightweight X11 terminal, not Wayland-native.
WezTerm	Cross-platform GPU terminal with more scripting features.

Reputation

Foot is praised for its speed, low resource usage, and Wayland-native design, making it ideal for performance-focused users on modest hardware. Users appreciate features like sixel support and server mode, often comparing it favorably to heavier GPU terminals. Some note it requires Wayland setup and lacks broad platform support beyond Linux/BSD.¹²⁵⁶

Sources (7)