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Quil vs WezTerm
A GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal emulator with built-in multiplexer features, written in Rust, extensible via Lua. Released by Wez Furlong.
WezTerm is a terminal emulator that happens to have multiplexer features. Quil is a workflow orchestrator that happens to render terminals. The category is different: WezTerm cares about glyph rendering, ligatures, and GPU compositing. Quil cares about what happens when you reboot.
Feature matrix
| Feature | Quil | WezTerm |
|---|---|---|
| Session persistence while the multiplexer server is running | ||
| Survives a full host reboot | ||
| Quil's defining capability. Everyone else loses the session on reboot. | ||
| AI session auto-resume (Claude Code, Cursor) | ||
| Typed panes (Terminal / AI / SSH / Webhook) | ||
| Plugin system | ||
| Quil uses declarative TOML. Zellij uses WASM. WezTerm uses Lua. tmux uses shell scripts. | ||
| Mouse support | ||
| Ghost buffers (last 500 lines instant on reconnect) | ||
| MCP server for AI agents | ||
| Notification center + idle analysis | ||
| Pane notes editor (Alt+E) | ||
| Windows native (no WSL) | ||
| Declarative keybindings (config file) | ||
Best-in-class rendering, GPU-accelerated, ligature support, Lua extensibility, built-in SSH multiplexer. WezTerm is one of the most polished terminal emulators available.
No reboot persistence, no AI session awareness, no typed panes. WezTerm's multiplexer is an escape hatch for when you need tabs without a separate multiplexer — it's not the core of the product.
Keep WezTerm as your terminal emulator and run Quil inside it. The two are complementary: WezTerm handles rendering (fonts, ligatures, GPU acceleration), Quil handles workflow (persistence, AI sessions, typed panes).
Common questions
Can I use WezTerm and Quil together?
Does Quil have its own terminal emulator?
Why not just use WezTerm's multiplexer?
See also
Ready to try Quil?
Installation takes about 30 seconds. Your WezTerm setup stays untouched — Quil installs side-by-side.