A serial terminal is software that allows communication with devices through a serial port, often used for debugging embedded systems and interacting with hardware like microcontrollers. It essentially acts as a bridge, displaying data sent to and received from the connected device and enabling users to send commands or data to the device
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 15 useful serial terminal tools for Linux. Our findings are captured in the ratings chart below in the classic LinuxLinks-style. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.
Let’s explore the 15 serial terminals. Click the links in the table below to learn all about each client.
| Serial Terminal Tools | |
|---|---|
| Serial Studio | Cross-platform telemetry dashboard and real-time data visualization tool |
| SerialTest | Test tool for serial port, Bluetooth, TCP and UDP |
| GTKTerm | Simple, graphical serial port terminal emulator |
| COMTool | Cross platform serial debug tool |
| moserial | Clean, friendly GTK-based serial terminal for the GNOME desktop |
| minicom | Text-based modem control and terminal emulation program |
| PuTTY | SSH and telnet client |
| seriot | Serial monitor and serial plotter |
| QSerial | Cross-platform serial port utility |
| ttysterm | Minimalist terminal program |
| ssterm | Simple console-based serial port terminal |
| SerialTool | Serial-Port/TCP/UDP debugging tool |
| opencu | Minimalistic serial terminal emulator |
| HTerm | Uses wxWidgets, fmt, and spdlog |
| CuteCom | Graphical serial terminal |
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. Spotted a useful open source Linux program not covered on our site? Please let us know by completing this form. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |