Kitsmith / Compare / Ghostty vs iTerm2
MacGhostty vs iTerm2
Ghostty vs iTerm2: verdict, pricing, and specs compared, so you can pick the right one for your Mac.
At a glance
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.
iTerm2
FreeThe 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.
Spec comparison
Ghostty
- Price
- Free
- Pricing model
- Free
- License
- Open source
- Placement
- Screen
- Channels
- Homebrew · Direct
- Category
- Utilities
iTerm2
- Price
- Free
- Pricing model
- Free
- License
- Open source
- Placement
- Screen
- Channels
- Homebrew · Direct
- Category
- Utilities
The verdict
Both are completely free and open source, so this is a newer-vs-proven choice. Ghostty is the GPU-accelerated newcomer — built from scratch in Swift by Mitchell Hashimoto (a HashiCorp co-founder) as a personal project, with the Kitty graphics protocol for inline images. iTerm2 is the longer-running default upgrade from Terminal.app, maintained by one developer (George Nachman) since the 2010s, with split panes, regex search, and profile-based triggers that have had over a decade to mature. Pick Ghostty if you want the fastest rendering and don’t mind newer, still-settling software; pick iTerm2 if you want the deeper, more battle-tested feature set.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Ghostty if…
- Pick Ghostty if GPU-accelerated rendering, built to be competitive with the fastest terminal emulators, is the priority
- Pick Ghostty if you want a fully native Swift/AppKit/SwiftUI app rather than a cross-platform wrapper
- Pick Ghostty if the Kitty graphics protocol — inline images, live light/dark mode notifications — is something you’ll use
- Pick Ghostty if you’re comfortable with support running through GitHub and community contributors rather than a company
Pick iTerm2 if…
- Pick iTerm2 if you want split panes and profile-based triggers with over a decade of track record behind them
- Pick iTerm2 if regex search over scrollback history is something you rely on
- Pick iTerm2 if you’d rather run software maintained continuously by one developer since the 2010s
- Pick iTerm2 if you’re on an older Mac — iTerm2 states a macOS 12.4 minimum versus Ghostty’s 13
Ghostty vs iTerm2 — questions people ask
Are Ghostty and iTerm2 both free?
Yes — both are free and open source, with no paid tier. Ghostty is MIT-licensed; iTerm2 is GPL v2.
Which one is faster?
Ghostty is built around GPU-accelerated rendering and pitches itself as competitive with the fastest terminal emulators available, per its own benchmarks discussion. iTerm2 doesn’t make an equivalent speed claim.
Who maintains each?
Ghostty was started by Mitchell Hashimoto (a HashiCorp co-founder) as a personal project, now with community contributors. iTerm2 has been maintained by George Nachman alone since it succeeded the original iTerm.