Rio

Active

Country: Brazil (BR)
Founded: 2023
Developer: Raphael Amorim
Pricing: Free (open-source)
Open source: Yes
Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, WebAssembly

Indexes

Terminal Emulators

Overview

Rio is a hardware-accelerated GPU terminal emulator built in Rust that uses WebGPU for rendering. It is designed as a modern terminal application for developers and power users who prioritize performance and visual quality. The terminal offers a minimal interface with contemporary features including true-color support, image rendering, split panes, tabs, and customizable themes, with a focus on cross-platform compatibility and efficient GPU-based rendering.

Key Features

GPU Acceleration - Hardware-accelerated rendering using Metal on macOS and Vulkan on Linux and Windows for improved performance.
24-bit True Color - Supports 16 million colors compared to the standard 256-color limitation in regular terminals.
Image Display - Renders images within the terminal using Kitty, iTerm2, and Sixel image protocols.
Split Panes and Tabs - Allows splitting and managing multiple terminal screens and organizing work with tabbed interfaces.
Ligature Support - Displays programming ligatures for improved code readability.
RetroArch Shaders - Supports custom filters and CRT shaders through RetroArch shader files for visual customization.
Configuration-less Setup - Provides sensible defaults with optional TOML-based configuration for advanced users.
Cross-platform Availability - Runs natively on Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, and WebAssembly environments.

Pricing

Plan	Price	Includes
Free	$0	Full access to all features, open-source code, community support

Platforms & Requirements

Rio runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and WebAssembly. On macOS, it can be installed via Homebrew or MacPorts. Linux users can install via Flathub as a Flatpak. The application requires GPU support for hardware acceleration and is available in both stable and nightly build versions.

Integrations & Ecosystem

Kitty image protocol
iTerm2 image protocol
Sixel image protocol
RetroArch shader system
Homebrew package manager
MacPorts package manager
Flathub/Flatpak
crates.io Rust package registry

Alternatives

App	Difference
Alacritty	GPU-accelerated terminal written in Rust but with fewer built-in features and less visual customization options.
Kitty	Feature-rich terminal emulator with image support but uses different rendering architecture and has steeper configuration requirements.
WezTerm	Cross-platform terminal with GPU rendering and extensive configuration but different performance characteristics and feature set.
iTerm2	macOS-only terminal emulator with advanced features but lacks GPU acceleration and cross-platform support.

Reputation

Rio is perceived as a modern, performant terminal emulator that successfully combines GPU acceleration with a clean user interface. Strengths include its fast performance, cross-platform support, and focus on visual quality with true-color and image rendering. The project maintains active development with regular updates and community contributions. Some users note that as a relatively newer project compared to established alternatives, it may have fewer third-party extensions and a smaller ecosystem, though the open-source nature and active development address this over time.

Sources (9)