Bubble Tea vs termui
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A Go framework for building interactive terminal apps using the Elm Architecture.
Open source · MIT
A Go library for building colorful terminal dashboards with charts, tables and lists.
The short answer
Choose Bubble Tea if you need…
- Go developers who want to build interactive command-line tools with a visual interface
- Developers who prefer a functional, state-driven way to structure UI code
- Teams building simple or complex terminal apps that need keyboard and mouse input
- People who want to follow the official tutorial to learn terminal UI basics in Go
Choose termui if you need…
- Go developers who want to build a terminal monitoring dashboard
- Programmers who need prebuilt charts, tables or gauges in a terminal app
- Developers who want to create custom terminal widgets in Go
- Developers who want keyboard and mouse events handled in a text UI
Side-by-side
| Bubble Tea | termui | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 45.6k | 13.6k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Go | Go |
| Last code update | 5 days ago | 16 months ago |
What each one is
Bubble Tea
Bubble Tea is a Go framework for building terminal applications, the text-based programs you run in a command line window. It uses The Elm Architecture, a pattern where the app keeps a model of its state, updates that state when events like key presses arrive, and renders a view from that state. The README says it supports inline, full-window, or mixed terminal UIs and includes features such as keyboard and mouse handling and native clipboard support.
termui
termui is a Go library for building dashboards that run inside a terminal window. It provides ready-made widgets such as charts, gauges, tables, lists and paragraphs, and lets you position them in a grid or at fixed coordinates. It is built on termbox-go and is meant for programmers who want to show live information in a text-based interface.
Best for
Bubble Tea
- Go developers who want to build interactive command-line tools with a visual interface
- Developers who prefer a functional, state-driven way to structure UI code
- Teams building simple or complex terminal apps that need keyboard and mouse input
- People who want to follow the official tutorial to learn terminal UI basics in Go
termui
- Go developers who want to build a terminal monitoring dashboard
- Programmers who need prebuilt charts, tables or gauges in a terminal app
- Developers who want to create custom terminal widgets in Go
- Developers who want keyboard and mouse events handled in a text UI
Strengths
Bubble Tea
- Simple, clear structure based on Init, Update, and View methods that the README explains step by step
- Includes a tutorial, examples, and Go docs to help you get started
- Used in production according to the README, with an MIT license
termui
- Includes many common widgets such as charts, tables, lists and trees
- Supports keyboard, mouse and terminal resize events
- Documented examples are provided in the repository for each widget
Not ideal for
Bubble Tea
- People who do not write Go, since the framework is only for Go code
- Anyone who needs a ready-made finished app rather than a library to build one, because it is a framework for developers
- Projects that need a graphical desktop or web interface, since it targets terminals
termui
- People who just want a ready-made dashboard without writing Go code, because termui is a library rather than a finished program
- Projects that need actively maintained updates on a fixed schedule, because the README says update frequency may be irregular and the maintainer is looking for help
- Teams that cannot use Go 1.15 or newer, since the README states that is the compatibility target
Trade-offs
Bubble Tea
- Requires working knowledge of Go, as the README's tutorial states
- The README mentions an upgrade guide from v1, so older code may need changes to work with v2
- No binaries are provided with the latest release, so you must build from source using Go
termui
- The README says maintenance is irregular and the author is seeking maintainers
- Requires writing Go code; there is no standalone dashboard to run directly
- Relies on termbox-go, so behavior depends on that underlying layer
Getting started
termui
Add to a Go project (the README says Go modules manage imports automatically)
go get github.com/gizak/termui/v3Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Bubble Tea and termui?
Bubble Tea: A Go framework for building interactive terminal apps using the Elm Architecture. termui: A Go library for building colorful terminal dashboards with charts, tables and lists. Bubble Tea suits go developers who want to build interactive command-line tools with a visual interface, while termui suits go developers who want to build a terminal monitoring dashboard.
Are Bubble Tea and termui free?
Bubble Tea: Free and open source. termui: Free and open source.
Is Bubble Tea or termui more popular?
Bubble Tea has more GitHub stars (45.6k) than termui (13.6k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Bubble Tea and termui?
Other options people compare them with include tview, RxSwift, lo, blessed-contrib.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.