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devglow vs the alternatives
There are many ways to manage dev processes on macOS — terminal tabs, tmux / cmux, pm2, port killer utilities. Here's how devglow compares to each, and where it fits alongside them.
| Feature | devglow | tmux / cmux | Terminal | pm2 | Port killers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start / stop processes | |||||
| Kill port conflicts | manual | manual | |||
| Built-in log viewer | scrollback | CLI | |||
| Log search (⌘F) | search mode | grep | |||
| Multiple processes | panes | tabs | |||
| MCP server (AI agents) | |||||
| Per-project commands | tmuxinator | ||||
| GUI interface | |||||
| macOS native | varies | ||||
| Any shell command | Node.js | ||||
| Persists after reboot | tmux-resurrect | ||||
| No config files | varies |
How does devglow compare to tmux / cmux?
tmux and cmux are terminal multiplexers. They let you run multiple shell sessions inside one terminal window, switch between them with keystrokes, and detach so they keep running after you close the window.
devglow doesn't replace them. It runs alongside them.
tmux is for the work you're actively attached to. REPLs, AI coding agents, ssh sessions, vim. The text streams you want eyes on.
devglow is for the work you'd rather not look at. The next dev, the vite, the cargo watch. Named processes that persist across reboots, with logs you can search later when something breaks.
Different layer. tmux holds your active terminal. devglow holds your background services. Many devglow users (the maker included) run both.
How does devglow compare to terminal tabs?
The classic approach: open a terminal tab for each process.npm run dev in one tab,npm run api in another, maybe a third for docker compose up.
It works. But you end up with 5+ tabs, you lose track of which is which, and you have to re-type or find each command after a reboot.
devglow saves your commands permanently. One click (or keystroke) to start everything. Logs are searchable. No tab soup.
How does devglow compare to pm2?
pm2 is a powerful process manager built for Node.js, primarily designed for production deployments. It excels at clustering, zero-downtime reloads, and process daemonization.
devglow is built for local development. It runs any shell command (not just Node.js), has a visual GUI you can drive without leaving your menu bar, and ships with an MCP server so AI tools can control your processes.
Use pm2 for production.Use devglow for local dev.
How does devglow compare to port killer apps?
Port killer apps (Kill Port, KillPorts, Port Manager, etc.) solve one specific problem: finding and killing processes that occupy ports. They're great at that.
devglow starts where port killers end. Yes, it detects and kills port conflicts — but it also starts your processes, streams their logs, and lets AI agents control everything via MCP.
Think of it this way: Port killers are a screwdriver. devglow is a workbench.
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