Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to The worst ANSI renderer, except for all the others

A tool that lets you render beautiful graphics in both modern and classic terminal environments; this is the version 1.0 release announcement.

Chafa is a tool for rendering images as ANSI art in both modern and classic terminal environments. Version 1.0 introduces new symbol ranges including ASCII and Braille, improved image preprocessing, and a… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. The worst ANSI renderer, except for all the others launched in 2019; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1AA
   ANSI art renderer in JavaScript/Canvas▲47

   2012 · atdt.github.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Durdraw – a modern ANSI art editor for modern Unix terminals▲154

   I've been working on an ANSI art editor off and on for a while. It works like a traditional ANSI text editor, except it supports 256 colors, Unicode and CP437 encoding, frame-based animation, custom UI themes, terminal mouse input, HTML and IRC color output, and runs in Utf-8 terminals. It's written in Python and curses, and is fairly portable across Unix systems. If you have ever used TheDraw or Aciddraw, the user interface is similar. It can also load/convert, view, edit and save most CP437 (MS-DOS style) ANSI art in a Utf-8 terminal, so you can view ANSI artscene packs in the comfort…

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Term.everything – Run any GUI app in the terminal▲1,094

   I made a built-from scratch Wayland Compositor to display any GUI app* in the terminal! I think there is a lot of unexplored potential in custom Wayland compositors, a lot of really cool things you can embed existing applications into! So, I started with embedding apps into the terminal because that is the easiest input/output (output is just utf-8 and I use the great `chafa` library for that, and I just read from stdin for the input). If you have any other ideas for cool Wayland compositors, let me know. I purposedly wrote 80% the app in Typescript to appeal to the most developers and…

   2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Chafa.py – Terminal Graphics with Python▲6

   Hey HN! I've been working on Python bindings for the C-API provided by the terminal image-visualizer chafa. Chafa allows you to view very reasonable approximations of images in your favourite terminal emulator by converting them to characters or, if your terminal is capable, kitty&#x2F;sixels&#x2F;iterm2 image protocols. Chafa.py aims to be intuitive and produce very readable code. I hope you like it <3

   2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   An ASCII 3D Rendering Engine▲211

   Render 3D models (OBJ, glTF, GLB, STL, .vox) as ASCII art — in the browser, in React or Vue, or straight in your terminal. A three.js-style API with no WebGL and no canvas: just text in a single <pre>.

   Jun 2026 · glyphcss.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Building terminal dashboards using ASCII/ANSI art and JavaScript▲305

   Build terminal dashboards using ascii/ansi art and javascript - yaronn/blessed-contrib

   2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Ansiwave, an ANSI art and MIDI music mashup▲103

   A modern BBS. Contribute to ansiwave/ansiwave development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8WB
   Web-based ANSI art viewer▲29

   My love letter to ANSI art. Full width rendering, scrolling by baud rate, text is selectable, and more. There are some example links at the top if you're feeling lucky.

   Mar 2026 · sure.is · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Terminal-Rendered ASCII Shaders▲46

   CPU rendered ASCII art shader writing tool with hot reloading. - danthedaniel/js-shaders

   2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    ANSI-Saver – A macOS Screensaver▲104

    Hi, I've been working on something I've been thinking for long time but since I had no experience with macOS screen savers I always posponed. Now thanks to Claude I was able to create a screensaver that scroll ANSI files while your computer is idle. It allow to use local ANS files or packs directly from 16colo.rs. Repo: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;lardissone&#x2F;ansi-saver

    Mar 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    DASCA▲85

    Creative effects processor for designers

    Feb 2026 · dasca.studio · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Midjourney Omni Reference▲281

    Precise element control in v7 images

    2025 · updates.midjourney.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Hyper 2▲450

    The second generation of the Hyper terminal

    2018 · hyper.is · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Freeze▲118

    Generate images of code and terminal output

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Skia-canvas, a browserless implementation of the Canvas API for Node.js▲187

    A multi-threaded, GPU-powered, 2D vector graphics environment for Node.js - samizdatco/skia-canvas

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Anima 4.0▲193

    Transform Sketch/Figma/XD to React code.

    2020 · animaapp.com · its alternatives →

17. 17CP
    Choose Photo. Make Ascii▲116

    2012 · dchang.mit.edu · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Yotako▲131

    Your tool to translate design into mobile apps and websites

    2018 · yotako.io · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Anima▲230

    Translate design to Vue code & save on front-dev grunt work

    2021 · animaapp.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    A little eye-candy for the terminal (in Go)▲56

    Print your name in style. Contribute to arsham/figurine development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Fio: 3D World editor/game engine – inspired by Radiant and Hammer▲96

    A liminal brush-based CSG editor and game engine with unified (forward) renderer inspired by Radiant and Worldcraft&#x2F;Hammer Compact and lightweight (target: Snapdragon 8CX, OpenGL 3.3) Real-time lighting with stencil shadows without the need for pre-baked compilation

    Mar 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Draw-a-UI, a whiteboard that converts a sketch to HTML▲43

    Draw a mockup and generate html for it. Contribute to SawyerHood/draw-a-ui development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

23. 23FV
    Floro – Visual Version Control▲81

    Hi HN, we’re building Floro (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;floro.io), an open-source, offline-first visual version control system that allows you to merge and diff graphical content. Demo video here: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=5fjixBNKUbM. We were a YC W21 startup (Cheqout) that originally worked on restaurant tech. We ended up pivoting after the pandemic and decided to build Floro due to a lot of problems we encountered while working on Cheqout. We struggled a lot with string content and dark mode, especially when it came to static assets. We were a cross-platform product, so…

    2024 · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Hit That, render the web in your terminal▲59

    :fist: Render beautiful pixel perfect representations of websites in your terminal - bevacqua/hit-that

    2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →