Alternatives to kitty
GPU-accelerated terminal with tabs, splits, graphics and a kitten scripting system. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
kitty
GPU-accelerated terminal with tabs, splits, graphics and a kitten scripting system.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as kitty.
WezTerm
A GPU-accelerated terminal that is also a multiplexer, configured in Lua and the same on every platform.
WezTerm also offers tabs, splits and an image protocol, adds a Windows build and remote multiplexing over SSH, and is configured in Lua under the MIT license.
Ghostty
A GPU-accelerated terminal that uses the real native interface of the platform instead of drawing its own.
Ghostty uses native window chrome with GPU rendering on macOS and Linux under an MIT license, but has no built-in multiplexer, so it pairs with tmux or Zellij.
Alacritty
A deliberately minimal OpenGL terminal that leaves multiplexing and tabs to other programs and just draws text fast.
Alacritty adds a Windows build and Vi mode with scrollback search, but has no tabs or built-in multiplexer by design and describes itself as beta.
iTerm2
macOS terminal replacement with split panes, search and session restore.
iTerm2 replaces kitty on macOS only, offering split panes, instant replay and native tmux control mode, though its many settings make first configuration daunting.
Contour Terminal
Run shell sessions in a GPU-rendered terminal emulator.
Contour Terminal is a GPU-rendered terminal with tabs, ligatures and Unicode support that adds a Windows build, licensed Apache-2.0 instead of GPL-3.0.
Warp
Rust terminal with block-based output, AI assistance and shared workflows.
Warp is a Rust terminal with command blocks, AI assistance and a Windows build, though hosted AI and collaboration features need separate accounts and plans.
Rio
Use a configurable terminal emulator across desktop platforms.
Rio is an MIT-licensed configurable terminal emulator that adds a Windows build alongside macOS and Linux support.
Also worth comparing
These listings name kitty as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Hyper
A terminal built on web technologies, extended with JavaScript plugins and themed with CSS.
kitty is a GPU-accelerated terminal with tabs, splits and kittens for scripting, but has no Windows build and uses a text configuration file instead of CSS themes.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
tmux
Keeps terminal sessions alive on a server after you disconnect, and splits one window into many.
Zellij
A terminal multiplexer that tells you its own shortcuts on screen, so you can use it on day one.
Nerd Fonts
A collection of programming fonts patched with thousands of icons, plus a patcher for adding them to other fonts.
Gogh
A collection of hundreds of terminal color schemes, installed into your terminal with a single command.
