Terminalizer vs VHS

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.

Terminalizer

Open source · MIT

Records your terminal session and turns it into an animated GIF or a shareable web player.

Full review Website

VHS

Open source · MIT

Records terminal sessions as GIFs or videos from a plain-text script you can edit and rerun.

Full review Website

The short answer

Choose Terminalizer if you need…

Developers who want an animated GIF of a command-line demo for a README or blog post
People who want to edit frame delays or styling before exporting
Anyone who wants a terminal recording without screen-capture software
Users on Linux, Windows, or macOS who are comfortable installing Node.js packages

Choose VHS if you need…

Developers who want a repeatable terminal demo for a README or docs
Maintainers of command-line tools who need animated examples that stay up to date
Teams that run integration tests on CLI programs and want visual output
Anyone who prefers editing a script over re-recording a screen by hand

Side-by-side

	Terminalizer	VHS
Type	CLI	CLI
Price	Free and open source	Free and open source
Licence	MIT	MIT
GitHub stars	16.2k	21.2k
Setup difficulty	Beginner	Beginner
How you get it	Install with a package manager	Install with a package manager
Main language	JavaScript	Go
Last code update	2 years ago	4 days ago

What each one is

Terminalizer

Terminalizer is a command-line tool that records what happens in your terminal and saves it as an editable YAML file. You can replay that recording in the terminal, render it as an animated GIF, or upload it to get a link to an online player. People use it to make demo videos or screenshots of command-line work for documentation or posts.

VHS

VHS is a command-line tool that turns a text script (called a tape file) into a GIF or video of a terminal session. You write commands such as typing text, pressing Enter, and waiting, and VHS plays them back in a virtual terminal and renders the result. People use it to make demos of command-line tools and to test that CLI programs behave as expected.

Best for

Terminalizer

Developers who want an animated GIF of a command-line demo for a README or blog post
People who want to edit frame delays or styling before exporting
Anyone who wants a terminal recording without screen-capture software
Users on Linux, Windows, or macOS who are comfortable installing Node.js packages

VHS

Developers who want a repeatable terminal demo for a README or docs
Maintainers of command-line tools who need animated examples that stay up to date
Teams that run integration tests on CLI programs and want visual output
Anyone who prefers editing a script over re-recording a screen by hand

Strengths

Terminalizer

Recordings are saved as plain YAML, so you can edit them with any text editor
Supports custom fonts, colors, cursor styles, and window frames
Works on Linux, Windows, and macOS, according to the README

VHS

Demos are plain-text scripts, so they can be version-controlled and rerun
Supports several output formats, including GIF, MP4, WebM, and PNG frame sequences
Installable through common package managers and Docker, per the README

Not ideal for

Terminalizer

People who need built-in GIF compression, since the README says it is not implemented and recommends an external site
Users who want a small installer with no Node.js setup, since installation is done through yarn
Anyone expecting a web player to be generated locally, since the README lists the generate command under What's Next

VHS

People who only want to capture their screen as ordinary video, since VHS records a virtual terminal rather than the desktop
Users who need a graphical editor, because the workflow is text-file based
Anyone unable to install ttyd and ffmpeg, which the README says are required

Trade-offs

Terminalizer

Installation needs Node.js, and newer Node.js versions may require build tools for C++ add-ons
GIF compression is not built in, so you may need a separate tool to reduce file size
The README does not list a latest release, and the last push shown is from August 2024, so maintenance status is unclear

VHS

Requires ttyd and ffmpeg to be installed separately
Settings must be placed at the top of a tape file, which the README notes as a constraint
Some features, such as publishing, depend on a hosted service at vhs.charm.sh

Getting started

Terminalizer

Install globally with yarn

yarn global add terminalizer

Step-by-step guide: how to use Terminalizer

VHS

macOS or Linux (Homebrew)

brew install vhs

Go install

go install github.com/charmbracelet/vhs@latest

Step-by-step guide: how to use VHS

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Terminalizer and VHS?

Terminalizer: Records your terminal session and turns it into an animated GIF or a shareable web player. VHS: Records terminal sessions as GIFs or videos from a plain-text script you can edit and rerun. Terminalizer suits developers who want an animated gif of a command-line demo for a readme or blog post, while VHS suits developers who want a repeatable terminal demo for a readme or docs.

Are Terminalizer and VHS free?

Terminalizer: Free and open source. VHS: Free and open source.

Is Terminalizer or VHS more popular?

VHS has more GitHub stars (21.2k) than Terminalizer (16.2k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.

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.