Ghostty vs iTerm2
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, ratings, and alternatives.
Ghostty is a native terminal emulator built to be fast, GPU-accelerated, and feature-rich out of the box, without needing a pile of plugins or config tweaks to feel modern. It ships with sensible defaults for font rendering, tabs, splits, and quick terminal access, aiming to give both terminal newcomers and power users a snappy experience from the first launch. The project is free and open source, with prebuilt binaries for macOS and Linux and the source available for anyone who wants to build it themselves or contribute. It has quickly become a popular alternative to older terminal emulators among developers who spend most of their day in a shell.
iTerm2 is a free, open source terminal emulator for macOS, built as a replacement for Apple's Terminal app and the successor to the original iTerm. It runs on Macs with macOS 12.4 or newer and is released under the GPL v2 license with its source code available on GitHub. The app is aimed at people who spend a lot of time at the command line, offering split panes, a hotkey window, search with regular expressions, autocomplete, Instant Replay to scroll back through cleared terminal output, tagged profiles, triggers, shell integration, inline image display, and a built-in password manager, among many other configuration options.
- Completely free and open source
- Noticeably faster than many older terminal emulators
- Good defaults with minimal setup required
- Active development and community
- Completely free and open source
- Extremely deep customization and power-user features
- Actively maintained with GPL-licensed source on GitHub
- Long track record as the standard macOS Terminal replacement
- No official Windows build at this time
- Younger project than long-established terminals with a smaller plugin ecosystem
- Configuration is file-based rather than GUI-driven
- macOS only, no Windows or Linux version
- No paid support tier since it is a volunteer-run open source project
- Requires macOS 12.4 or newer, so older Macs cannot run the latest version
More alternatives & similar tools
Alternatives to Ghostty
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Alternatives to iTerm2
View all →The Verdict
AI-generated from listing dataiTerm2 is the mature, macOS‑only terminal with extensive power‑user features; Ghostty offers a faster, cross‑platform experience but with fewer built‑in conveniences.
Key differences
- •Platform support: iTerm2 macOS‑only vs Ghostty macOS + Linux.
- •Performance: Ghostty uses GPU acceleration for smoother scrolling; iTerm2 relies on standard rendering.
- •Feature depth: iTerm2 includes instant replay, password manager, triggers, and global search; Ghostty provides basic split panes and fast startup.
- •Customization UI: iTerm2 offers deep GUI‑driven settings; Ghostty is configured via files only.
Pricing & value
Both are free and open source, offering comparable cost advantage.
Ease of use / learning curve
Ghostty ships with sensible defaults and minimal setup, while iTerm2 requires more GUI navigation to configure.
Features & depth
iTerm2 provides instant replay, password manager, triggers, global search, and extensive pane management not listed for Ghostty.
Platform coverage
Ghostty runs on macOS and major Linux distributions; iTerm2 runs only on macOS 12.4+.
Support
iTerm2 offers bug tracker, discussion forum, and email contact; Ghostty’s support channels are not specified.
Security & privacy
iTerm2 stores passwords securely in macOS Keychain; Ghostty’s security features are not specified.
Choose Ghostty if…
Developers on macOS or Linux who prioritize speed and low‑setup terminals.
Choose iTerm2 if…
macOS‑only power users needing advanced terminal capabilities and built‑in security tools.
Common questions
Can I run iTerm2 on Linux or Windows?
No, iTerm2 requires macOS 12.4 or newer.
Which terminal offers better performance for scrolling large outputs?
Ghostty uses GPU acceleration for smoother, faster scrolling.
Do either terminals provide password management?
iTerm2 includes a built‑in password manager that uses the macOS Keychain; Ghostty does not specify this feature.