kitty

Fast, feature-rich GPU terminal for Linux and macOS with layouts, graphics and Python extensions.

Verified facts: 4 of 4
Alternatives ranked: 5
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About kitty

kitty is a GPU-based terminal emulator written by Kovid Goyal, the developer of the Calibre e-book manager. It renders with OpenGL using threaded rendering and SIMD instructions to stay fast and low-latency, and it builds in features that many people otherwise get from tmux: tabs, multiple windows inside a tab, several tiling layouts and startup sessions. Small Python programs called kittens add things like viewing images in the terminal, diffing files, browsing Unicode, editing remote files over SSH and choosing themes. kitty created the widely adopted terminal graphics protocol and an extended keyboard protocol, so tools such as image previewers often support it first. Configuration lives in a plain text file and the terminal can be controlled remotely from scripts. It is free and GPL-3.0 licensed. It does not support Windows, and its author is firm about design choices, so some requests, like certain tmux behaviours, are declined.

Best for: Linux and Mac users who want a fast, scriptable terminal with built-in tiling.

What works

Very fast GPU rendering with low latency
Built-in tabs, splits and layouts reduce the need for tmux
Kittens and remote control make it highly scriptable

Why people leave

No Windows support
Config file only, no settings UI
Opinionated defaults and design decisions

Top kitty alternatives

See all 5

1
Ghostty
Native macOS and GTK interface with similar speed and simpler config.
66.5
2
WezTerm
Comparable features with Windows support and Lua configuration.
62.6
3
Alacritty
Stripped-down and fast, for people who prefer tmux for tiling.
59.6
4
foot
Lightweight Wayland-native option for Linux desktops.
57.2
5
iTerm2
Mature macOS terminal with a settings UI instead of a config file.
55.3

Why people left kitty

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kitty: common questions

Is kitty free?

Yes. kitty is free, open-source software.

Is kitty open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at kovidgoyal/kitty.

What platforms does kitty run on?

kitty is available for Linux and macOS.

What are the best alternatives to kitty?

The highest-ranked kitty alternatives right now are Ghostty, WezTerm and Alacritty. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 kitty alternatives

kitty facts

4 of 4 verified

License: GPL-3.0; Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab); “License: GPL-3.0 (GNU General Public License v3.0).”
Rendering: GPU with SIMD instructions; Checked Oct 25, 2026sw.kovidgoyal.net(opens source in a new tab); “Fast Uses GPU and SIMD vector CPU instructions”
Platforms: Linux, macOS, BSDs; Checked Oct 25, 2026sw.kovidgoyal.net(opens source in a new tab); “Cross-platform Linux macOS Various BSDs”
Extensions: Kittens written in Python; Checked Oct 25, 2026sw.kovidgoyal.net(opens source in a new tab); “Extend with kittens using the Python language”