Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ConEmu VS Command Book

Compare ConEmu VS Command Book and see what are their differences

ConEmu logo ConEmu

ConEmu-Maximus5 is a full-featured local terminal for Windows devs, admins and users. Get better console window with tabs, splits, Quake style, copy+paste, DosBox and PuTTY integration, and much more.

Command Book logo Command Book

A Terminal Companion for Long-Running Commands
  • ConEmu Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-22
  • Command Book Command Book managing its own website
    Command Book managing its own website //
    2026-02-12

Command Book is a native macOS app built with SwiftUI that gives your long-running terminal commands a permanent home. Instead of juggling terminal tabs for dev servers, background workers, Docker containers, and log tails every morning, Command Book lets you save each command once with its working directory, environment variables, and pre-commands, then run them instantly whenever you need them.

The app includes auto-restart on crash (nicknamed "Honey Badger mode") to keep dev servers running through file change errors, a โŒ˜K command palette for keyboard-first workflows, automatic URL detection that keeps your dev server addresses accessible regardless of output scrolling, and a full CLI for running saved commands directly from the terminal. At 21 MB with no Electron or Chromium, it stays lightweight and fast.

Free personal license available. Pro edition is a one-time $14.99 purchase with no subscription, no account required, and no tracking. No VC, no enterprise upsell. Feedback welcome. Windows version is under consideration.

ConEmu

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

Command Book

$ Details
freemium $14.99 / One-off
Platforms
MacOS
Release Date
2026 February
Startup details
Country
United States
State
Oregon
City
Portland
Founder(s)
Michael Kennedy
Employees
1 - 9

ConEmu features and specs

  • Customizability
    ConEmu offers a high degree of customizability, allowing users to tailor the interface, keyboard shortcuts, colors, and behavior to suit their workflow.
  • Tab Management
    The application supports multiple tabs, permitting users to manage various command-line sessions within a single window, enhancing multitasking capabilities.
  • Integrations
    ConEmu can integrate with various shells such as Command Prompt, PowerShell, Git Bash, Cygwin, and more, thus making it a versatile tool for a wide range of needs.
  • Quake-style Mode
    This feature allows users to quickly summon and hide the terminal with a specific key combination, similar to the drop-down console in Quake games.
  • Split View
    ConEmu offers split-view functionality, which allows users to see and interact with multiple terminal panes simultaneously.
  • Portable Mode
    The application can be used in portable mode, enabling users to carry their ConEmu settings and preferences across different machines without installation.

Possible disadvantages of ConEmu

  • Complex Setup
    For new users, the initial configuration can be somewhat complex and may require a steep learning curve to leverage all features effectively.
  • Windows Only
    ConEmu is exclusive to the Windows operating system, limiting its usage for individuals who work across multiple OS platforms.
  • Resource Intensive
    Compared to some lightweight terminal emulators, ConEmu can be more demanding on system resources, which may be a concern for users on lower-end hardware.
  • Occasional Stability Issues
    Some users have reported occasional crashes or instability, particularly when dealing with complex configurations or extensive usage.
  • Lack of Built-in SSH
    Unlike some terminal emulators, ConEmu does not come with built-in SSH capabilities, necessitating the use of third-party tools for SSH sessions.

Command Book features and specs

  • Native macOS App
    Built with SwiftUI, 21 MB, no Electron or Chromium
  • Saved Commands
    Store commands with working directories, env vars, and pre-commands
  • Auto-Restart (Honey Badger Mode)
    Automatically restarts crashed commands with configurable delay
  • Command Palette
    โŒ˜K to search, run, and create saved or ad-hoc commands
  • URL Detection
    Captures URLs from command output and keeps them accessible
  • CLI Integration
    Run saved commands from your terminal with commandbook run
  • Pricing
    Free personal license, $14.99 one-time for Pro
  • Privacy
    No account required, no tracking, no telemetry

Analysis of ConEmu

Overall verdict

  • Yes, ConEmu is a good option for users seeking a powerful and customizable terminal emulator on Windows. Its feature-rich environment and active development community make it a solid choice.

Why this product is good

  • ConEmu is considered a good terminal emulator because it offers a wide range of features including extensive customization options, support for multiple tabs, and compatibility with various shells such as PowerShell, Command Prompt, and WSL. It enhances productivity by allowing users to configure hotkeys, split the terminal window, and create complex workflows, making it a versatile tool for developers and system administrators.

Recommended for

    ConEmu is recommended for developers, system administrators, and power users who need a flexible and feature-rich terminal emulator. It's particularly useful for users who frequently work with multiple command-line tools or need advanced window management capabilities.

ConEmu videos

Development Tools: ConEmu

Command Book videos

Your Wish Is Your Command BOOK by Kevin Trudeau - a review on the best book on #manifestation

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ConEmu and Command Book)
SSH
100 100%
0% 0
Process Management
0 0%
100% 100
Server Management
100 100%
0% 0
Software Development
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing ConEmu and Command Book.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

Command Book's answer:

Swift and SwiftUI for a fully native macOS experience.

What makes your product unique?

Command Book's answer:

Command Book is a dedicated command/process manager for developers, not a terminal emulator. Instead of replacing your terminal, it works alongside it as a companion for long-running commands. It's a native macOS app built with SwiftUI at just 21 MB. No Electron, no Chromium. It combines a GUI with a full CLI, so you can manage commands visually or from your terminal.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Command Book's answer:

Terminal emulators are great for interactive work but terrible as process managers. Command Book fills that gap. You save a command once with its working directory, env vars, and pre-commands, then run it forever without remembering the setup. Auto-restart keeps crashed dev servers running. URL detection means you never lose track of your dev server's address. And at 21 MB with no subscription or tracking, it's lightweight in every sense.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Command Book's answer:

Developers who juggle multiple long-running processes every day. Web developers running dev servers and background workers, data scientists kicking off training runs, DevOps engineers managing Docker containers and log tails. Anyone who opens 4-6 terminal tabs each morning just to get their environment running.

What's the story behind your product?

Command Book's answer:

After years juggling commands for dev projects, I was tired of rebuilding my terminal setup every morning. Five or six tabs, each needing the right directory and env vars, and when something crashed mid-day I'd hunt through tabs to find it. I looked for a tool that managed long-running commands as saved, reproducible, auto-restarting processes. It didn't exist, so I built it for myself. It was such a delight, I turned it into a product.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ConEmu and Command Book

ConEmu Reviews

7 Best Free Terminal Emulators For Windows 10/11 in 2022
It is free and open-source software that is built on the popular console emulator known as ConEmu. It is used to add enhancements from clink that provide bash style completion. Moreover, it also presents UNIX capabilities by extending them with PowerShell, MinnTTY, myysgit and Cygwin.
30 best PuTTY alternatives for SSH clients for 2020
Cmder is a straight-forward terminal emulator for Windows. The program runs on Windows and it is a combination of the ConEmu terminal emulation program with a Unix-like scripting language that works on Windows. The terminal emulator doesnโ€™t have any encryption, so it would only be suitable for connections on private networks. The tool also lacks a file transfer system.

Command Book Reviews

We have no reviews of Command Book yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ConEmu seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 19 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ConEmu mentions (19)

  • Dos Navigator โ€“ an orthodox file manager
    The sources for the awesome Dos Navigator are published on Github. An updated fork named Necromancer's Dos Navigator [NDN] can be found here: http://ndn.muxe.com/ An alternative to DN/NDN, that is in active development, is Far Manager: https://www.farmanager.com/ All of them, especially Far, work well in ConEmu (https://conemu.github.io/) or cmder (https://cmder.app/) Maybe interested people or nostalgic ones can... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Any user with Win 7 user + Vim at terminal+airline_with_Powerline_symbols?
    On Windows 7 your best bet is to install a modern terminal emulator like ConEmu: https://conemu.github.io/. Source: about 3 years ago
  • The amount of times I have accidentally done this...
    On my work system I have local admin but Windows Store is blocked by policy. One of my coworkers over on the DBA team had me install ConEmu which has some nice features similar to to Windows Terminal. Also, Posh-Git is a nice addition to have on top. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Name the tools you can't live without!
    Conemu if your a fan of that quake style terminal and tabbed terminals. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Steps of entering the IT world? Learn Python Or Operating systems first?
    If you do, try out this thing; https://conemu.github.io/. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

Command Book mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Command Book yet. Tracking of Command Book recommendations started around Feb 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ConEmu and Command Book, you can also consider the following products

MobaXterm - Enhanced terminal for Windows with X11 server, tabbed SSH client, network tools and much more

Warp Terminal - The terminal for the 21st century. Warp is a blazingly fast, rust-based terminal reimagined from the ground up to work like a modern app.

PuTTY - Popular free terminal application. Mostly used as an SSH client.

iTerm - iTerm is a full featured terminal emulation program written for OS X using Cocoa.

GNOME Terminal - GNOME Terminal is a terminal emulator for GNOME desktop.

Kitty terminal - Super fast, GPU and OpenGL based terminal emulator with tiling support