Exa vs Tmux: Key Differences & When to Use Each

Comprehensive side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and metrics

Key Differences

Compare Exa and Tmux across features, pricing, integrations, and community metrics. Exa / Tmux.

Feature

Exa

Dev Tools

Tmux

Dev Tools

Side-by-side comparison of developer tools
Modern replacement for ls
Terminal multiplexer
GitHub Stars
⭐ 24,442
⭐ 45,105
Contributors
👥 163
👥 41
Pricing
✓ Free
Enterprise: Contact sales
✓ Free
Enterprise: Contact sales
Languages
Rust
C
Features
  • Command Line
  • Files
  • Ls
  • Rust
  • Open Source
  • dev-tools
Integrations
No integrations listed
No integrations listed
Momentum Score
12/100 (stable)
22/100 (slowing)
Community Health
18/100 (needs-attention)
13/100 (needs-attention)
Maturity Index
23/100 (experimental)
20/100 (experimental)
Innovation Score
21/100 (traditional)
15/100 (traditional)
Risk Score (higher is safer)
22/100 (high)
13/100 (high)
Developer Experience
24/100 (poor)
16/100 (poor)
Links

Exa Strengths

  • ✓ Larger community (163 contributors)
  • ✓ More features (4 listed)

Tmux Strengths

  • ✓ More popular (45,105 stars)

When to Use Exa vs Tmux

Use Exa when its strengths align better with your stack and team needs, and choose Tmux when its ecosystem, integrations, or cost profile is a better fit.

Data source: GitHub API

Last updated: 5/4/2026