Ratatui
A Rust library for building text-based user interfaces that run in a terminal.
- Stars
- 23.1k
- Forks
- 820
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- Rust
- Last update
- 5 days ago
- Type
- Library
What it is
Ratatui is a Rust crate (library) for building terminal user interfaces, the text-based screens you see in command-line tools, dashboards, and interactive console programs. It gives developers a way to draw layouts and widgets in the terminal without writing low-level screen code. The README describes it as simple and flexible, and it was forked from the tui-rs crate in 2023 to continue that work.
- Create a new terminal app from the official cargo-generate templates
- Render text and widgets inside a terminal frame with a simple render function
- Study the widget and app examples to learn how to structure a TUI program
Great for
- Rust developers building interactive command-line tools or dashboards
- Developers who want a terminal UI library with an active community and documentation
- Developers targeting small embedded devices via no_std and a backend such as Mousefood
Not ideal for
- People who want a finished end-user application rather than a library to build one (no ready-made app is described in the README)
- Developers not using Rust, since this is a Rust crate
- Projects that need a GUI in a window rather than a terminal interface
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: Rust and Cargo
Install cargo-generate
cargo install --locked cargo-generateGenerate a project from the Ratatui templates
cargo generate ratatui/templates - 2
Run it
- Install cargo-generate using the command in the README.
- Run cargo generate ratatui/templates and select the Hello World template.
- Build and run the generated project with Cargo.
- Press any key to exit the Hello World example.
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Browse the widget examples in the repository to learn available widgets
- Read the Ratatui website tutorials for step-by-step concepts
- Use the awesome-ratatui list to find real apps built with the library for inspiration
- For no_std targets, enable the layout-cache feature as described in the README
Downloads
Strengths
- Official templates and a documentation site help newcomers get started quickly
- Published on crates.io with full API docs on docs.rs and a changelog
- Supports no_std targets such as microcontrollers, per the README
Trade-offs
- Requires knowledge of Rust to use, so it is not a tool for non-programmers
- The README is truncated here, so detailed API behavior and platform support are not verified from this source
- Being a library, you must build and maintain your own application on top of it
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ratatui (this) | 23.1k | Library | intermediate | 5 days ago | Rust developers building interactive command-line tools or dashboards |
| Terminal.Gui | 11.3k | Library | intermediate | 6 days ago | C# / .NET developers building terminal tools with forms, tables or menus |
| tui-rs | 10.9k | Library | intermediate | 3.3 years ago | Rust developers who want to build a terminal dashboard and are willing to use existing code |
| FTXUI | 10.9k | Library | intermediate | 4 days ago | C++ developers who want interactive text-based tools in the terminal |
| yazi | 43.2k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | People who already spend time in a terminal and want a faster way to browse folders |
| textual | 37.6k | Framework | beginner | 27 days ago | Python developers who want a terminal app with buttons, tables and forms |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.