Bubble Tea vs OpenTUI
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 TypeScript library for building terminal user interfaces, with a Zig core.
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 OpenTUI if you need…
- Developers building terminal applications in TypeScript
- React developers who want to build terminal interfaces with a familiar component model
- Solid developers who want a terminal renderer for Solid
- Teams building interactive command-line tools that need mouse and keyboard controls
Side-by-side
| Bubble Tea | OpenTUI | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 45.6k | 13.7k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Go | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days 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.
OpenTUI
OpenTUI is a library for building text-based interfaces that run in a terminal. You write the interface in TypeScript, directly or through React or Solid, and lay out boxes and text with flexbox. It includes selects, inputs, and scroll boxes with keyboard and mouse controls, and the README also mentions sound, images, and 3D graphics. The README states that OpenCode uses it in production.
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
OpenTUI
- Developers building terminal applications in TypeScript
- React developers who want to build terminal interfaces with a familiar component model
- Solid developers who want a terminal renderer for Solid
- Teams building interactive command-line tools that need mouse and keyboard controls
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
OpenTUI
- Lets you write terminal interfaces in TypeScript, with optional React or Solid renderers
- Offers a flexbox layout model and built-in interactive components with keyboard and mouse support
- Is MIT licensed and has a large star count and an active repository
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
OpenTUI
- People who only need a simple one-off command-line script, since the library adds a rendering layer to learn
- Anyone who needs a graphical desktop or web interface rather than a terminal one
- Developers who cannot use Bun and Zig for the development workflow the README describes
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
OpenTUI
- The README does not give a detailed beginner tutorial, so setup may take some exploration
- Development requires Bun 1.4.1 or later and Zig 0.16.0, which adds toolchain requirements
- The README is truncated and does not fully document the feature set or platform support
Getting started
OpenTUI
Install dependencies from the repository root
bun installFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Bubble Tea and OpenTUI?
Bubble Tea: A Go framework for building interactive terminal apps using the Elm Architecture. OpenTUI: A TypeScript library for building terminal user interfaces, with a Zig core. Bubble Tea suits go developers who want to build interactive command-line tools with a visual interface, while OpenTUI suits developers building terminal applications in typescript.
Are Bubble Tea and OpenTUI free?
Bubble Tea: Free and open source. OpenTUI: Free and open source.
Is Bubble Tea or OpenTUI more popular?
Bubble Tea has more GitHub stars (45.6k) than OpenTUI (13.7k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Bubble Tea and OpenTUI?
Other options people compare them with include tview, termui, RxSwift, lo, Ink.
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.