Mel – the agentic terminal
The AI terminal for teams.
Learn · best AI terminal in 2026
The best AI terminals in 2026, by kind
Updated
The best AI terminal in 2026 depends on what you want the AI to do. For agents that do multi-step work under your approvals, pick an agentic terminal. For one company's coding agent, pick its CLI. For raw speed, pick a fast classic terminal and run a CLI agent inside it.
Mel – the agentic terminal is one of the options below, and we make it, so read this guide with that in mind. We have tried to describe every kind fairly and to say where other tools are the better fit.
The four kinds of AI terminal
1. Agentic terminals. A terminal app with AI agents built in. You type commands as usual, or hand over a task and agents plan it, run commands, edit files and test the work.
2. Terminal coding agents. A command-line program you start inside any terminal. It works in your project folder and edits code, runs commands and tests.
3. Fast classic terminals. Terminal apps built for speed and configuration, with little or no AI of their own. Many developers run a terminal coding agent inside one.
4. AI shell helpers. Small tools that turn a plain-English sentence into one shell command.
The options, by kind
Agentic terminals
- Mel: a team of AI agents in your terminal on Mac, Windows and Linux, plus a VS Code extension. Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen and more. Free with your own API key; Pro $20 a month, Max $200 a month, Business $50 a seat a month.
- Wave Terminal: an open source terminal with built-in AI chat.
- Other terminal apps with AI built in exist too. See Compare for side-by-side pages.
Terminal coding agents
- Claude Code: Anthropic's coding agent, built for Claude models.
- Codex CLI: OpenAI's coding agent for the terminal.
- Gemini CLI: Google's coding agent for the terminal.
- GitHub Copilot CLI: GitHub's coding agent for the command line.
- OpenCode and Aider: popular open source terminal coding agents that work with many models.
- Goose: an open source, general-purpose AI agent with a desktop app and a CLI.
Fast classic terminals
- Ghostty: a fast, native terminal for Mac and Linux.
- WezTerm: a GPU-accelerated, cross-platform terminal configured in Lua.
- iTerm2: a long-standing, feature-rich terminal for Mac.
- Windows Terminal: Microsoft's terminal for Windows, with tabs and profiles.
- Kitty and Alacritty: GPU-accelerated terminals for people who like a minimal, keyboard-first setup.
AI shell helpers
- ShellGPT: a command-line tool that turns a sentence into a command or an answer.
How to choose
| If you want… | Look at |
|---|---|
| Agents that plan, build, test and ship a task, under approvals | An agentic terminal such as Mel |
| One company's coding agent, in any terminal | That company's CLI agent |
| Several agents in parallel, with a view of which one needs you | An agentic terminal such as Mel |
| The fastest possible terminal, AI optional | A fast classic terminal |
| A quick sentence-to-command helper | An AI shell helper |
| One app on Mac, Windows and Linux | Check each tool's platforms; Mel runs on all three |
You can also combine kinds: Claude Code, Codex CLI and Gemini CLI run inside Mel's panes like any program.
How to test an AI terminal in one afternoon
- Pick one real task from your backlog, with a clear finish line.
- Run it in each tool you are considering, from a clean git tree.
- Check four things: did it finish, did it test its own work, could you control what it ran, and could you review the change quickly?
- Look at the price shape: your own API key, a plan with hosted credits, or both.
FAQ
What is the best AI terminal in 2026? It depends on the job. For agents that do multi-step work under your approvals, an agentic terminal such as Mel. For one company's agent, its CLI. For speed alone, a fast classic terminal.
What is the best free AI terminal? Mel is free with your own API key on Mac, Windows and Linux. Several terminal coding agents are free and open source, and you pay your model provider.
Can I use a fast terminal and an AI agent together? Yes. Terminal coding agents run inside any terminal, including Mel.
Is this guide neutral? We make Mel, so we are not neutral. We describe each kind fairly and say when another kind fits better.
Wave Terminal, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, OpenCode, Aider, Goose, Ghostty, WezTerm, iTerm2, Windows Terminal, Kitty, Alacritty and ShellGPT are trademarks of their owners. Mel is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them or their makers.
Mel – the agentic terminal · openmel.dev. A multi-agent, multi-model AI terminal for Mac, Windows, Linux and VS Code. Free with your own API key.