Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Rancher VS tmux

Compare Rancher VS tmux and see what are their differences

Rancher logo Rancher

Open Source Platform for Running a Private Container Service

tmux logo tmux

tmux is a terminal multiplexer: it enables a number of terminals (or windows), each running a...
  • Rancher Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-24
  • tmux Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-19

Rancher features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Rancher provides an intuitive interface for managing Kubernetes clusters, making it accessible for both seasoned DevOps professionals and those new to container orchestration.
  • Multi-Cluster Management
    Rancher simplifies the management of multiple Kubernetes clusters, whether they are on-premise, in the cloud, or a combination of both, from a single dashboard.
  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    Rancher includes built-in monitoring and alerting features using Prometheus and Grafana, providing robust insights into cluster health and performance.
  • Security and Access Control
    Rancher offers detailed Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) policies to ensure that users have appropriate permissions, enhancing security and compliance.
  • Integrated CI/CD Pipelines
    Rancher integrates seamlessly with popular CI/CD tools, streamlining the development and deployment process across multiple environments.
  • Scalability
    Rancher is designed to easily scale with your needs, supporting a large number of clusters and nodes efficiently.
  • Open-Source
    Rancher is an open-source project, which means it is free to use and benefit from community contributions and transparency.

Possible disadvantages of Rancher

  • Complex Initial Setup
    While Rancher simplifies ongoing management, the initial setup and configuration can be complex and time-consuming for newcomers.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running Rancher can be resource-intensive, requiring substantial CPU and memory, which might be a concern for smaller environments or budgets.
  • Potential Overhead
    Introducing Rancher adds an additional layer between the user and the Kubernetes clusters, potentially introducing latency and an extra point of failure.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, Rancher encompasses a wide array of features that require time and effort to learn and utilize fully.
  • Limited Vendor Support
    Some cloud providers have more robust support and native tools for their Kubernetes services, which might make Rancher less appealing if tight integration with a specific provider's ecosystem is required.

tmux features and specs

  • Session Management
    tmux allows users to manage multiple terminal sessions from a single window, making it easier to multitask and organize workflows.
  • Persistent Sessions
    Sessions in tmux can persist even after disconnecting from the host. You can detach from a session and reattach later without losing your work.
  • Window and Pane Splitting
    tmux supports splitting windows into multiple panes, allowing users to have different programs or terminal instances side-by-side within the same window.
  • Customization
    Highly customizable with support for configuring key bindings, status lines, color schemes, and more through a configuration file.
  • Scripting and Automation
    Provides extensive scripting capabilities which can be used to automate routine tasks and workflows.
  • Remote Use
    Particularly useful for remote work, as it can be used to manage sessions on remote servers efficiently over SSH.
  • Performance
    Relatively lightweight and performant, consuming minimal system resources.
  • Community and Documentation
    A large and active community providing extensive documentation, tutorials, and plugins to extend functionality.

Possible disadvantages of tmux

  • Learning Curve
    Can be difficult to learn and memorize all the commands and key bindings, especially for new users.
  • Configuration Complexity
    The configuration can be complex and might require significant effort to customize according to individual needs.
  • Compatibility
    Might have compatibility issues with certain terminal emulators or applications, requiring workarounds or special configurations.
  • Resource Limits
    While lightweight, extensive use with many windows and panes can still consume significant system resources, potentially impacting system performance.
  • Copy-Pasting
    Copy-pasting within tmux can be less straightforward compared to using a regular terminal, requiring specific key bindings and knowledge of tmux buffers.
  • Clipboard Integration
    Integration with the system clipboard can require additional configuration and might not work seamlessly out-of-the-box.
  • Frequent Updates
    Frequent updates and changes can sometimes introduce bugs or break existing configurations, requiring users to adapt and troubleshoot.

Analysis of tmux

Overall verdict

  • Yes, tmux is considered a valuable tool by many in the tech community. Its features make it particularly useful for developers, system administrators, and power users who work extensively within the command-line environment.

Why this product is good

  • Tmux is a highly regarded terminal multiplexer that allows users to manage multiple terminal sessions from a single window. It facilitates productive workflows by enabling users to switch between different programs easily, run multiple applications, and keep programs running in the background. Tmux also supports session persistence, which allows users to disconnect from a session and reconnect later without losing their work state. Additionally, it is highly customizable and can be tailored to meet specific user needs, enhancing efficiency and usability.

Recommended for

  • Developers
  • System Administrators
  • Power Users
  • Linux Enthusiasts
  • Anyone who works extensively in the terminal

Rancher videos

Slime Rancher Review - Worthabuy?

More videos:

  • Review - 2019 Honda Rancher 420 Review Long term 1000 plus KM
  • Review - TEST RIDE: 2015 Honda Rancher 420

tmux videos

How I Work: Tmux

More videos:

  • Tutorial - You need to know how to use TMUX
  • Review - Getting Started with tmux Part 1 - Overview and Features

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Rancher and tmux)
DevOps Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Terminal Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
91 91%
9% 9
SSH
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Rancher and tmux

Rancher Reviews

Kubernetes Alternatives 2023: Top 8 Container Orchestration Tools
Rancher is an open-source container orchestration platform. With it, you can manage production containers across different platforms, including on-premises and the public cloud. As a Platform as a Service, it simplifies container management by allowing access to a set of available open source technologies, rather than having to build platforms from scratch.
Top 12 Kubernetes Alternatives to Choose From in 2023
Rancher also offers integration with popular container runtimes and networking solutions, making it an excellent choice for teams seeking a comprehensive PaaS solution for their Kubernetes deployments.
Source: humalect.com
11 Best Rancher Alternatives Multi Cluster Orchestration Platform
Create a Kubernetes cluster, then link it to Rancher to use Rancher with Kubernetes. Rancher offers a web-based dashboard, an API, tools for deploying and scaling containerized apps and services, and resources for managing and monitoring your cluster.
Docker Alternatives
An open-source code, Rancher is another one among the list of Docker alternatives that is built to provide organizations with everything they need. This software combines the environments required to adopt and run containers in production. A rancher is built on Kubernetes. This tool helps the DevOps team by making it easier to testing, deploying and managing the...
Source: www.educba.com
Heroku vs self-hosted PaaS
All in all I’m intrigued by Rancher but since I am looking for something simple then it is too advanced and resource intensive for my small side projects. I will however look into Rancher a bit more later and try to deploy one of my projects to it. That will probably be a blog post in it’s own!
Source: www.mskog.com

tmux Reviews

Top 13 Best Tiling Window Managers For Linux In 2022
Tmux makes the most of the available space and is simple to use thanks to keybindings that may be used to divide windows and create extra panes. Individual shell instances can also be shared throughout various sessions and utilised for different purposes by different users.
Source: www.hubtech.org
13 Best Tiling Window Managers for Linux
tilix is a multiplexing terminal, not a tiling window manager. tmux is a terminal multiplexer, not a tiling window manager either. jwm is a lightweight STACKING window manager. I guess you could call tmux a tiling wm for a console only system (along with gnu screen and dvtm), but that’s really stretching your definition, and the other two certainly don’t qualify.
Source: www.tecmint.com

Social recommendations and mentions

tmux might be a bit more popular than Rancher. We know about 29 links to it since March 2021 and only 24 links to Rancher. 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.

Rancher mentions (24)

  • Terraform code for kubernetes on vsphere?
    I don't know in which extend you plan to use Kubernetes in the future, but if it is aimed to become several huge production clusters, you should looks into Apps like Rancher: https://rancher.com. Source: over 2 years ago
  • I want to provide some free support for community, how should I start?
    But I think once you have a good understanding of K8S internal (components, how thing work underlying, etc.), you can use some tool to help you provision / maintain k8s cluster easier (look for https://rancher.com/ and alternatives). Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Don't Use Kubernetes, Yet
    A few years, I would have said no. Now, I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Personally, I think that you can use something like Rancher (https://rancher.com/) or Portainer (https://www.portainer.io/) for easier management and/or dashboard functionality, to make the learning curve a bit more approachable. For example, you can create a deployment through the UI by following a wizard that also offers you... - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Building an Internal Kubernetes Platform
    Alternatively, it is also possible to use a multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud approach, which combines several cloud providers or even public and private clouds. Special tools such as Rancher and OpenShift can be very useful to run this type of system. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Five Dex Alternatives for Kubernetes Authentication
    Rancher provides a Rancher authentication proxy that allows user authentication from a central location. With this proxy, you can set the credential for authenticating users that want to access your Kubernetes clusters. You can create, view, update, or delete users through Rancher’s UI and API. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
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tmux mentions (29)

  • Switching from tmux to Zellij
    If you've used terminal multiplexer in command line, you know tmux is cool! If you haven't, you really should use something like tmux, especially if you SSH into remote servers often! - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Switching Fully to Neovim
    Additionally, I integrate several CLI tools into my work flow, such as lazygit for streamlined Git operations, yazi as a terminal file manager, tmux for session management, and lazydocker for handling Docker containers efficiently. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Turing Pi 2 Home cluster
    This also gave me the chance to learn how to use Tmux. Best tool I've learned in a while. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Easy Access to Terminal Commands in Neovim using FTerm
    Having a common set of tools already set up in different windows or sessions in Tmux or Zellij is obviously an option, but there is a subset of us ( 👋 ) that would rather just have fingertip access to our common tools inside of our editor. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Automating the startup of a dev workflow
    Well, I now use tmux and tmuxinator. I have had many failed tmux attempts over the years, but I'm firmly bedded in now. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Rancher and tmux, you can also consider the following products

Kubernetes - Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers

wezterm - GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal emulator and multiplexer made with Rust.

Terraform - Tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently.

Alacritty - Alacritty is a blazing fast, GPU accelerated terminal emulator.

Puppet Enterprise - Get started with Puppet Enterprise, or upgrade or expand.

iTerm2 - A terminal emulator for macOS that does amazing things.