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Guake

Drop-down terminal for GNOME that slides in and out with a single hotkey.

Open sourceTerminal emulators
Visit GuakeSee 4 alternatives
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About Guake

Guake is a drop-down terminal for Linux desktops, inspired by the console in the game Quake. Press a hotkey, F12 by default, and a terminal slides down from the top of the screen; press it again and it disappears, so a shell is always one keystroke away without managing windows. It supports tabs, split panes, multiple monitors, transparency, colour palettes, quick-open of file paths and custom commands, with settings in a graphical preferences window. Guake is written in Python with GTK 3 and the VTE library, is free under the GPL-2.0 and is available in most distribution repositories. It works best on GNOME and other X11 sessions; on Wayland, global hotkeys and window placement can need extra setup. People who want a drop-down terminal on KDE usually pick Yakuake instead, and many full terminals now offer a similar quick-terminal mode.

Best for: GNOME users who want a terminal that drops down on a hotkey.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Always one keystroke away
  • Tabs, splits and multi-monitor support
  • Graphical preferences

Why people leave

  • Hotkeys can be awkward on Wayland
  • Linux only
  • Many terminals now include a similar quick mode

Top Guake alternatives

See all 4
  1. 1Yakuake logo
    Yakuake

    The KDE equivalent, built on Konsole.

    66.5
  2. 2Tilix logo
    Tilix

    Tiling terminal that also has a Quake-style mode.

    62.6
  3. 3kitty logo
    kitty

    Fast terminal that can run as a quick-access panel.

    59.6
  4. 4Ghostty logo
    Ghostty

    Includes a quick terminal drop-down along with full windows.

    57.2

Why people left Guake

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Reviews

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Guake: common questions

Is Guake free?

Yes. Guake is free, open-source software.

Is Guake open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at Guake/guake.

What platforms does Guake run on?

Guake is available for Linux.

What are the best alternatives to Guake?

The highest-ranked Guake alternatives right now are Yakuake, Tilix and kitty. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 4 Guake alternatives