The long-running free, open-source replacement for macOS’s built-in Terminal — split panes, real search, and deep customization, maintained by one developer since the 2010s.
Our take
The default upgrade pick for anyone who wants more than Terminal.app without paying anything — split panes, regex search, and profile-based triggers, with no paid tier, ever. It moves slower on flashy rendering tricks than a newer entrant like Ghostty, but its feature set and stability have a much longer track record behind them.
- Price
- Free
- License
- Open source
- Requires
- macOS 12.4 or newer
- Get it via
- Homebrew · Direct
- Developer
- George Nachman
Do you use iTerm2?
Who made this
iTerm2’s own site is written in his voice — "you can find the source code on GitHub... send me email" — and the source lives under his GitHub account, gnachman.
What it does
Split panes
Divide a single window into multiple terminal panes.
Search
Search scrollback history with regex support.
Profiles & triggers
Per-profile settings, plus triggers that react to text patterns in terminal output.
The deal
- Free, open source (GPL v2 license)
- No subscription or paid tier
iTerm2 — questions people ask
Is iTerm2 free?
Yes, free and open source (GPL v2), with no paid tier.
Who makes iTerm2?
George Nachman, the sole maintainer since it succeeded the original iTerm.
What macOS version does iTerm2 need?
macOS 12.4 or newer, per the developer’s own site.
Is iTerm2 free?
Yes — iTerm2 is free.
Does iTerm2 work alongside a notch app like Alcove?
Yes — iTerm2 lives in the screen, so it runs happily alongside any Dynamic Island hub or notch app.
Where can I download iTerm2?
iTerm2 is available via Homebrew, Direct.
Is iTerm2 open source?
Yes — iTerm2 is open source.
Reviews
No public ratings yet. Reader reviews are coming to Kitsmith soon.
Listing hand-verified August 27, 2026 from the developer's site and public sources.
How iTerm2 compares
Also in terminals
Ghostty
FreeA fast, native terminal emulator built by Mitchell Hashimoto (HashiCorp co-founder) as a personal project — GPU-accelerated, with a shared Zig core so the macOS GUI is written in Swift, not a cross-platform wrapper.
Warp
Free (core terminal); paid AI plans from $18/mo pay-as-you-go, per the developer’s pricing pageA block-based, AI-oriented terminal with a free core app and paid plans layered on top for built-in coding-agent usage.
Tabby
FreeA free, open-source, highly configurable terminal with an integrated SSH client, serial terminal, and plugin system, for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
WezTerm
FreeA free, open-source, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator and multiplexer written in Rust, with built-in remote multiplexing and Lua-based configuration.