asciinema

Record and share your terminal sessions, the simple way

About asciinema

asciinema is a free, open-source solution for recording terminal sessions and sharing them on the web. Instead of heavy screen video, it captures lightweight text-based recordings that viewers can pause, copy from, and embed in documentation, blog posts, or talks. A small recorder runs in your terminal, and sessions can be hosted on asciinema.org or a self-hosted server, making it popular with developers demonstrating command-line tools and workflows.

asciinema website preview

Live preview of asciinema.org via the WordPress mShots service — it can take a few seconds to generate on a first visit.

asciinema: strengths & things to check

Strengths

Completely free to use — this directory lists no paid plan for it.
Covers terminal, screen recording, open source, cli, sharing — see the focus areas listed in its key facts.
Has 6 close alternatives in the same category on this page, so switching or comparing is easy.

Things to check

Free tools can change their model or shut down — avoid locking critical work into it without an export path.
Current plan prices are not listed here (they change too often to print reliably) — confirm the exact price on the official site.
It is one of 1164 tools in the Developer Tools category here — compare it against the alternatives below before you commit.

Derived from this listing's own data (pricing model, focus areas and category) — not a hands-on review score.

asciinema pricing

Pricing model	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.
Free access	Yes — fully free
Current plan prices	Listed on the official site — prices change, so this directory links out instead of printing a number that may already be stale.
Official site	asciinema.org

asciinema key facts

Category: Developer Tools
Pricing: Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.
Focus areas: terminal, screen recording, open source, cli, sharing
Official site: asciinema.org

asciinema FAQ

How much does asciinema cost?

Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it. Current plans and prices are listed on the official site (asciinema.org).

What is asciinema used for?

Record and share your terminal sessions, the simple way Its focus areas in the Developer Tools category: terminal, screen recording, open source, cli, sharing.

Where can I try asciinema?

On its official site, asciinema.org — the Visit Official Site button above goes straight there.

asciinema vs alternatives

	asciinema	Contour	direnv	electerm
Pricing	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.
Focus areas	terminal, screen recording, open source, cli, sharing	terminal, open source, gpu, emulator	environment, shell, cli, open source	terminal, ssh, sftp, open source
Official site	asciinema.org	contour-terminal.org	direnv.net	electerm.github.io
Directory status	Listed	Listed	Listed	Listed

Side-by-side from each listing's own directory data. Full alternative cards are below.

About the Developer Tools category

Editors, platforms, and services developers rely on to build and ship software. The Developer Tools category on Tools Hub currently lists 1164 tools. Alongside asciinema, it includes HomeButler, cgit, MantisBT, Capacity.

FreeDeveloper Toolsterminalscreen-recordingopen-sourceclisharing

Alternatives to asciinema

Tools in the same Developer Tools category that share focus areas with asciinema — worth comparing before you commit:

Developer Tools

Contour

Modern terminal emulator with GPU rendering and profiles

Freeterminalopen-sourcegpuemulator

Developer Tools

direnv

Load environment variables per directory automatically

Freeenvironmentshellcliopen-source

Developer Tools

electerm

Terminal, SSH, and file manager in one open-source app

Freeterminalsshsftpopen-source

Developer Tools

Terminal JSON viewer with mouse support and themes

Freejsonterminalviewercli

Developer Tools

K9s

Terminal UI for observing and managing Kubernetes clusters in real time

Freekubernetesterminalcli

Developer Tools

Kakoune

Modal editor focused on selections and efficiency

Freeeditormodalopen-sourceterminal

More in Developer Tools

Comparing tools in the Developer Tools category? These related listings are worth a look: HomeButler — Manage your homelab from chat with one binary; cgit — A hyperfast web frontend for Git repositories written in C; MantisBT — Open source issue tracker balancing simplicity and power.