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Sources & Methodology

Every number in the comparison table sourced and explained. Where data is community-reported rather than officially published, confidence is noted accordingly.

Workload assumption

All RAM figures assume a comparable workload. Actual usage scales with open tabs, file count, and active extensions.

High — verified from official source or direct measurement Medium — community-reported, multiple consistent sources Low — isolated reports, not broadly reproducible

AgentMux

Rust + CEF (Chromium 146)
Download size
~152 MB
Measured from v0.33.6 portable ZIP release on agentmuxai/agentmux GitHub releases. Includes Chromium 146 CEF runtime (~130 MB) + launcher + backend sidecar.
High
Install size
~152 MB
Portable ZIP — no installer. Extracted size matches download size.
High
RAM
150-350 MB
Self-reported from development team. Includes CEF host process + agentmuxsrv-rs sidecar. No independent third-party benchmark yet — early alpha.

CEF (Chromium 146) accounts for the majority of RAM. The Rust backend (agentmuxsrv-rs) itself uses ~15-40 MB. Agent processes (Claude Code, Codex CLI, etc.) are separate processes not included in this figure.

Medium
Startup
<1s
CEF host launches frontend from local dist/ directory. Backend sidecar ready in <500ms. No network requests at startup.
Medium
Runtime note
Chromium 146 (CEF) + Rust backend
As of v0.33.0, AgentMux uses CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework) rather than a platform webview. Electron apps bundle Chromium + Node.js (~200 MB Chromium + ~30 MB Node). AgentMux bundles Chromium 146 (~130 MB) but no Node.js — the backend is a Rust binary (4.4 MB). No V8 runtime, no npm, no garbage collector in the backend layer.

Download size is comparable to Warp (~205 MB) and less than Cursor (~230 MB). The key runtime difference from Electron is: no Node.js, no V8 GC in the backend, Rust ownership model prevents heap growth over long sessions.

High

Warp

Rust + GPU
Download size
~205 MB
Measured from warp.dev download page (macOS DMG, 2025)
High
Install size
~450 MB
Warp.app on-disk size including bundled Rust runtime, GPU shader assets, and frameworks
Medium
RAM
150-400 MB
Community reports from Warp Discord and Reddit r/warp. Fresh launch ~150 MB; multiple panes/sessions ~300-400 MB.

Warp has not published official memory benchmarks.

Medium
RAM spike warning
3+ GB reported
Warp GitHub issues — specific reports of memory not being freed after closing panes

Reported as non-reproducible by Warp team in some cases. Represents a known class of issue, not typical baseline.

Low / Community

Wave Terminal

Electron (Go + TS)
Download size
~155-200 MB
GitHub releases v0.14.1: Windows .exe = 156 MB, Linux .deb = 155 MB, macOS arm64 .dmg = 194 MB, macOS x64 .dmg = 202 MB.
Medium
Install size
~300 MB+
Typical Electron app size. No official install size published.
Medium
RAM
200-500 MB
Standard Electron framework overhead range. Wave has no published benchmarks.

Electron apps typically run 200-500 MB depending on renderer/process count.

Medium
Stack note
Electron (Go + TS)
github.com/wavetermdev/waveterm language breakdown: 49.9% Go (backend), 41.5% TypeScript (frontend), Electron for desktop shell.
High

Zed

Rust + custom GPUI
Download size
~80 MB
zed.dev downloads — macOS DMG measured at ~75-80 MB
High
Install size
~220 MB
Zed.app bundle measured on disk
High
RAM
100-250 MB
Zed blog benchmarks (zed.dev/blog/zed-decoded-performance): ~50% less memory than comparable Electron editors on equivalent projects.

Zed's own benchmarks. No independent third-party replication published.

Medium
Startup
<1s
Zed's own benchmarks and widely confirmed in community threads
High

Cursor

Electron (VS Code fork)
Download size
~230 MB
cursor.com download page — macOS, measured 2025
High
Install size
500 MB+
Cursor.app bundle + supporting files, measured post-install
High
RAM
400 MB-3 GB+
Cursor community forum, Reddit r/cursor. Fresh launch with project: ~400-600 MB. AI context loaded + background indexing: 1-3 GB+.

Cursor's AI indexing and embedding features add significant memory overhead beyond VS Code baseline.

Medium
Long session warning
20-40+ GB over multi-day sessions
Cursor community forum threads and GitHub issues — reported progressive memory growth without release

Represents worst-case scenarios. Not reproducible in all environments. Cursor has addressed some of these in recent releases.

Low / Community

Windsurf

Electron (Code OSS fork)
Download size
~220 MB
codeium.com/windsurf download page, macOS, measured 2025
High
Install size
~800 MB
Windsurf.app bundle measured on disk. Previous ~2 GB figure conflated install size with cache directories.
Medium
RAM
500 MB-4 GB+
Community reports from Reddit r/Windsurf and Codeium Discord. Baseline: ~500-800 MB. With Cascade AI context: 1-3 GB. Large project peaks: 4+ GB.

Windsurf recommends 16 GB RAM system requirement in their docs.

Medium
Language server spike
10 GB+ on large codebases
Codeium Discord and Reddit r/Windsurf — reported on large monorepos with full Cascade context enabled

Represents a specific configuration (large monorepo + full Cascade context). Not representative of typical use.

Low / Community

A note on AgentMux numbers

AgentMux is in early alpha. Our memory figures are self-reported from development builds and have not been independently benchmarked. We will update this page as the project matures and third-party benchmarks become available. We hold ourselves to the same sourcing standard as every other app listed here.

See a number that's wrong? Open an issue on GitHub.

github.com/agentmuxai/agentmux