Ghostty vs kitty
Ghostty
ghostty.org
kitty
sw.kovidgoyal.netSide by side
| Figure | Ghostty | kitty |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Terminal Emulators | 8.3 (#11) | 8.0 (#21) |
| Spec score · Terminal apps | 8.2 (#13) | 8.3 (#10) |
| GPU acceleration | Yes | Yes |
| Product | Ghostty is a fast, feature-rich, native terminal emulator. | kitty is a GPU-based terminal emulator designed for keyboard users. |
| Rendering | Ghostty uses Metal on macOS and OpenGL on Linux for GPU-accelerated rendering. | kitty uses OpenGL for rendering and supports Unicode, true color, bold and italic fonts, and text formatting. |
| Scripting API | Yes | Yes |
| Shell integrations | Automatic shell integration is provided for bash, elvish, fish, nushell, and zsh. | The documentation describes integrations with zsh, fish, and bash for features such as navigating prompts and viewing command output. |
| Split panes | Yes | Yes |
| SSH support | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Ghostty has no support team or dedicated support resources; help is community-provided through GitHub Discussions and Discord. | The official documentation includes a frequently asked questions page covering usage and troubleshooting topics. |
| Supported platforms | macOS,Linux | Linux,macOS |
Plans
In their own words
Ghostty
Ghostty is a free, open-source terminal emulator for macOS and Linux. It renders with Metal on macOS and OpenGL on Linux for GPU acceleration, while native interface components provide multiple windows, tabs, and split panes. Its shared libghostty core handles terminal emulation, fonts, and rendering through a cross-platform C ABI. Ghostty includes hundreds of themes and can follow system light and dark modes automatically. It supports the Kitty graphics protocol for terminal images and provides automatic shell integration for bash, elvish, fish, nushell, and zsh. SSH integration can forward environment variables and install Ghostty terminfo entries on remote hosts. macOS Secure Keyboard Entry helps protect passwords from other processes, and official macOS binaries are signed and notarized. Ghostty is licensed under MIT and fiscally sponsored by Hack Club, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Community help is available through GitHub Discussions and Discord; there is no dedicated support team. The Ghostty plan is free, described as free and open source with no commercial backing.