Can Kitty display images directly in the terminal?

Yes, Kitty can display high-resolution images, including animated GIFs, directly within the terminal window thanks to its unique terminal graphics protocol. This functionality is typically accessed using the `icat` kitten, a built-in extension that requires ImageMagick to be installed.

Where is Kitty's configuration file located and how do I edit it?

Kitty's primary configuration file is `~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf`. You can edit it with any text editor. If the file doesn't exist, you can create it or generate a default, commented version by running `kitty +kitten config` or pressing `Ctrl+Shift+F2` (or `Cmd+,` on macOS) within Kitty.

What are 'kittens' and how do they extend Kitty's functionality?

'Kittens' are small, scriptable Python programs that extend Kitty's capabilities. They can add features like interactive Unicode input, clipboard management, file comparison, or specific text processing tools. Users can also create their own kittens to tailor Kitty to their unique workflows.

Does Kitty support tabs and window splits like tmux?

Yes, Kitty has robust built-in support for tabs and window splits, offering a native multiplexing experience. You can create new tabs with `Ctrl+Shift+t` and split windows (`Ctrl+Shift+Enter`) horizontally or vertically. This often eliminates the need for an external terminal multiplexer like tmux.

How do I change fonts and enable ligatures in Kitty?

Fonts and ligatures are configured in `kitty.conf`. Set `font_family` to your desired font (e.g., `Fira Code`) and use `font_features` to enable specific ligature sets (e.g., `FiraCode-Retina +zero +onum`). You can preview available fonts using the `kitty +kitten chose_fonts` command.

Is Kitty cross-platform, and can I use the same configuration everywhere?

Yes, Kitty is designed to be cross-platform, running on macOS, Linux, and various BSD distributions. Its configuration file is plain text, making it easy to synchronize and use the same `kitty.conf` across different operating systems, ensuring a consistent user experience.

Does Kitty have good remote control capabilities, especially over SSH?

Kitty features a powerful remote control system that allows it to be manipulated from shell scripts or other applications, even when connected via SSH. This enables dynamic changes to the terminal, such as altering colors, opening new windows, or sending text between sessions, from a remote host.

How can I customize Kitty's keyboard shortcuts?

All keyboard shortcuts in Kitty are customizable within the `kitty.conf` file using the `map` directive. You can remap existing shortcuts or define new ones for various actions, including launching commands, switching tabs, or interacting with kittens, tailoring it to your preferences.

What is Kitty's stance on terminal multiplexers like tmux or Zellij?

Kitty's developers advocate against using external terminal multiplexers, as Kitty itself provides robust built-in features for tabs, splits, and session management. They argue that Kitty's native implementations offer better performance and integration than layering an external multiplexer.

Can I integrate Kitty with my shell (e.g., ZSH, Fish)?

Yes, Kitty integrates seamlessly with popular shells like Bash, ZSH, and Fish. You can specify your preferred shell in `kitty.conf` by setting the `shell` option to the full path of the shell binary, ensuring Kitty launches with your chosen shell every time without affecting system defaults.

How do I manage the scrollback buffer in Kitty?

You can configure the scrollback history size in `kitty.conf` using `scrollback_lines`. Additionally, Kitty offers a pager mode (`Ctrl+Shift+h` by default) that allows you to view the entire scrollback buffer in a separate editor or pager, making it easy to search, copy, and analyze past output.

BUNDL

AI Builder

JavaScript is disabled. Some interactive features require JavaScript. Core content is still available below.

Loading…

Kitty

Name: Kitty
Availability: InStock

GPU-based terminal emulator

Developer ToolsFreeOpen Source

Kitty screenshot — Kitty — Official Website

Quick Take: Kitty

4.7

Kitty stands out as a top-tier terminal emulator, particularly for power users and developers seeking a blend of high performance and extensive customization. Its GPU-accelerated rendering delivers a remarkably fast and fluid experience, while native multiplexing and the 'kitten' extension system provide powerful workflow enhancements. Although its text-based configuration might present a slight learning curve, the depth of control and the vibrant community support make it an incredibly rewarding choice for those willing to invest in its setup. Kitty consistently offers a modern, efficient, and visually appealing command-line environment.

Best For

•Developers and power users who prioritize speed and efficiency.
•Users who prefer keyboard-driven workflows and deep customization.
•Anyone needing robust multiplexing, image display, and scripting capabilities.
•Cross-platform users seeking a consistent terminal experience.

Install with Homebrew

brew install --cask kitty

What is Kitty?

Kitty is a free and open-source, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator designed for Linux, macOS, and some BSD distributions. It prioritizes performance by offloading rendering to the GPU, offering a highly responsive user experience. Written in a mix of C, Python, and Go, Kitty is known for its extensive features, including advanced text rendering, tiling capabilities, and a unique extensibility model through 'kittens' (small terminal programs).

Deep Dive: Kitty's Architecture, History, and Ecosystem

Kitty is a modern terminal emulator whose design philosophy emphasizes performance, extensibility, and keyboard-driven interaction, distinguishing it within the competitive terminal landscape.

History & Background

Kitty was initially released in 2017 by Kovid Goyal, who is also known for developing the Calibre e-book management software. It emerged as a response to the perceived limitations and performance bottlenecks of existing terminal emulators, aiming to leverage modern hardware capabilities. From its inception, Kitty focused on GPU acceleration and a highly customizable, text-based configuration, quickly gaining traction among power users seeking a faster and more flexible command-line experience.

How It Works

Kitty's architecture is a carefully engineered blend of C, Python, and Go, optimized for both performance and flexibility. Performance-critical components, such as the core rendering engine, are written in C to ensure maximum speed and efficiency. The higher-level features, UI logic, and extensibility framework (for 'kittens') are implemented in Python, allowing for easy scripting and customization. Go is utilized for command-line 'kittens,' providing compiled performance for these utility programs. Crucially, Kitty renders everything using OpenGL, avoiding reliance on large, complex UI toolkits for a leaner footprint.

Ecosystem & Integrations

The Kitty ecosystem is built around its core application, a robust configuration system, and a powerful 'kitten' framework. Kittens are small, scriptable Python programs that extend Kitty's functionality, ranging from image display (`icat`) and file diffing to advanced clipboard management and interactive Unicode input. The terminal also features a unique graphics protocol, enabling applications to render rich pixel graphics directly within the terminal. This extensibility, combined with an active community sharing configurations and themes, fosters a dynamic environment for users to tailor Kitty to their precise needs.

Future Development

Kitty maintains a consistent development cycle with regular updates, as evidenced by its stable release 0.44.0 in November 2025. The project's roadmap typically focuses on enhancing performance, refining existing features, and expanding the capabilities of its terminal graphics protocol and 'kitten' ecosystem. While specific long-term future features are not always explicitly published in a traditional roadmap document, continuous integration and community engagement on GitHub suggest ongoing efforts to push the boundaries of terminal emulator functionality and responsiveness.

Key Features

GPU Acceleration

Kitty leverages your graphics processing unit (GPU) for rendering, resulting in exceptionally fast and smooth performance, especially when handling graphically intensive output or scrolling large files. This offloading significantly reduces CPU strain and input latency compared to traditional terminal emulators.

Built-in Multiplexer (Tabs & Splits)

Unlike many minimalist terminals, Kitty includes native support for tabs and window splitting, allowing users to manage multiple shell sessions within a single OS window. This integrated multiplexing capability provides a powerful workspace organization without relying on external tools like tmux.

Kittens (Scriptable Extensions)

Kitty's functionality is highly extensible through 'kittens,' which are small, scriptable Python programs. These kittens can add new features like image display (`icat`), interactive Unicode input, file comparison (`diff`), or even clipboard management, allowing for deep customization.

True Color & Ligature Support

The emulator supports true color (24-bit, over 16 million colors) for rich visual fidelity, alongside advanced text formatting features. It also offers excellent support for programming font ligatures, where character sequences like `->` or `===` are rendered as single, cohesive glyphs, enhancing code readability.

Image Display (Graphics Protocol)

Kitty pioneered a unique terminal graphics protocol that enables the display of high-resolution images and even animated GIFs directly within the terminal window. This feature, often used with the `icat` kitten, is invaluable for previewing images, diagrams, or screenshots without leaving the command line.

Single, Self-Documenting Configuration File

All of Kitty's settings are managed through a single, human-editable text file (`kitty.conf`), typically located in `~/.config/kitty/`. This file is extensively commented and self-documenting, making configuration straightforward and easy to track with version control systems.

Remote Control & Scripting

Kitty offers a robust remote control system, allowing it to be controlled from shell prompts or scripts, even over SSH. This enables programmatic manipulation of terminal functions such as changing colors, opening new windows, setting titles, and sending/receiving text between sessions.

Hyperlink Support

The emulator automatically detects and enables clickable hyperlinks within the terminal output. Users can interact with URLs, file paths, and other patterns to open them in a browser, editor, or perform custom actions, greatly streamlining workflows involving external resources.

Who Should Use Kitty?

1Software Developers & Engineers

Developers often manage multiple processes, compile code, and interact with version control systems. Kitty's integrated tabs and splits allow them to keep a backend server running in one pane, a frontend build in another, and their code editor open, all within a single, highly responsive terminal window, enhancing productivity.

2System Administrators & DevOps Professionals

Professionals managing servers or cloud infrastructure benefit from Kitty's remote control capabilities and session management. They can connect to multiple remote machines via SSH, automate tasks, and even share terminal sessions, all while maintaining a consistent and performant experience across different environments.

3Power Keyboard Users

Individuals who prefer to navigate and control their environment primarily with the keyboard will appreciate Kitty's design philosophy. Almost all controls are keyboard-driven, and extensive customization options for shortcuts and keybindings allow for a highly efficient, mouse-minimal workflow.

4Content Creators & Technical Writers

For those who frequently work with markdown, documentation, or presentations, Kitty's image display capabilities are a significant advantage. They can preview diagrams, screenshots, or generated graphs directly in the terminal, eliminating the need to switch to a separate image viewer.

How to Install Kitty

Installing Kitty on macOS can be done via various methods, with Homebrew being the most common and recommended approach for ease of management.

Install Homebrew (if not already installed)

Open your macOS Terminal application and paste the following command: `/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"`. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the Homebrew installation, including adding it to your PATH.

Install Kitty using Homebrew

Once Homebrew is installed, open a new terminal session and execute the command: `brew install kitty`. Homebrew will download and install the latest stable version of Kitty, including its dependencies.

Manual Installation (Alternative)

Alternatively, you can download the `.dmg` file directly from Kitty's GitHub releases page and install it like any other macOS application by dragging it to your Applications folder. Ensure you download the correct version for your macOS architecture.

Launch Kitty

After installation, you can launch Kitty from your Applications folder, Launchpad, or by typing `kitty` in your existing terminal (if Homebrew linked it to your PATH) or via Spotlight search.

Pro Tips

• Ensure Homebrew is updated (`brew update && brew upgrade`) before installing to get the latest version and avoid conflicts.
• If installing manually, create a symlink in a directory included in your PATH (e.g., `~/.local/bin`) to easily launch Kitty from any shell.
• After installation, consider generating the default configuration file to explore all available options: `kitty +kitten config` or `Ctrl+Shift+F2`.

Configuration Tips

Mastering the `kitty.conf` File

Kitty's configuration resides in `~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf`. The default file is heavily commented, serving as an excellent reference. To customize, copy the default configuration from `/usr/share/doc/kitty/kitty.conf` (on Linux) or generate it via `kitty +kitten config` and uncomment/modify desired lines.

Customizing Fonts and Ligatures

To enhance readability, specify `font_family`, `font_size`, and enable `font_features` for ligatures in your `kitty.conf`. For example, `font_family Fira Code` and `font_features FiraCode-Retina +zero +onum` can be used. You can preview fonts with `kitty +kitten chose_fonts`.

Applying Themes and Color Schemes

Kitty supports various themes. You can interactively browse and apply themes using `kitty +kitten themes`. This kitten allows you to preview themes and set separate schemes for dark, light, or no-preference modes, dynamically adjusting with your system's appearance settings.

Optimizing Multiplexing Layouts

Utilize Kitty's built-in layouts for efficient workspace management. Define `enabled_layouts` in your config (e.g., `splits,stack`) and map keys to `toggle_layout` or `new_window_with_cwd` for quick window and tab creation. This can often replace external multiplexers.

Setting up Command Finish Notifications

For long-running commands, enable desktop notifications by uncommenting and configuring `notify_on_cmd_finish` in your `kitty.conf`. Set it to `invisible` to notify only when the window is not visible, or `unfocus` if the window lacks keyboard focus, improving workflow awareness.

Alternatives to Kitty

Several terminal emulators offer robust functionality, but each has distinct characteristics compared to Kitty.

iTerm2

iTerm2 is a highly popular and feature-rich terminal for macOS, known for its extensive GUI-based settings and deep macOS integration. While it offers many advanced features like split panes and robust customization, Kitty generally surpasses it in raw GPU-accelerated performance and text rendering speed, especially on older hardware.

Alacritty

Alacritty is another blazing-fast, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator, written in Rust, that prioritizes raw speed and minimalism. It's often considered faster than Kitty in some benchmarks but lacks built-in features like tabs and splits, requiring external multiplexers like tmux. Kitty provides a better balance of performance and integrated features.

WezTerm

WezTerm is a cross-platform GPU-accelerated terminal emulator configurable with Lua, offering immense flexibility and advanced features like multiplexing and rich text. While highly powerful and customizable, its Lua-based configuration can be more complex than Kitty's plain text file, potentially increasing the learning curve for some users.

Ghostty

Ghostty is a newer, cross-platform terminal emulator focusing on speed, native UI, and modern features. It aims for a balance of performance and user-friendliness with intuitive settings. While promising, Kitty has a more established ecosystem of 'kittens' and a longer track record of development and community contributions.

Pricing

Free, Open-Source

Kitty is entirely free and open-source software, licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 3.0. There are no paid versions, subscriptions, or premium features; all functionalities are available to every user.

Pros

✓Exceptional Speed and Performance: GPU acceleration provides extremely low latency and high throughput, making it feel incredibly responsive.
✓Feature-Rich Out of the Box: Includes native tabs, window splits, and a powerful multiplexer, reducing reliance on external tools like tmux.
✓Highly Customizable: Configuration is done via a single, well-commented text file, allowing extensive personalization of appearance and behavior.
✓Extensible with 'Kittens': A unique plugin system enables adding advanced functionalities like inline image display and specialized text processing.
✓Excellent Text Rendering: Supports true color, font ligatures, Unicode, and custom text formatting for a visually rich experience.
✓Cross-Platform Availability: Works seamlessly across macOS, Linux, and various BSDs, ensuring a consistent environment.
✓Powerful Remote Control: Offers robust scripting and remote control capabilities, even over SSH, for advanced automation and integration.
✓Active Development and Community: Benefits from continuous updates and a responsive maintainer, ensuring ongoing improvements and support.

Cons

✗Steep Learning Curve for Configuration: While powerful, the text-based configuration can be less beginner-friendly than GUI-based settings.
✗Non-Standard Keyboard Shortcuts: Default keybindings can be counterintuitive for users accustomed to macOS or iTerm2, requiring remapping.
✗No Built-in Hotkey/Visor Window: Lacks a native global hotkey or visor mode for quick access, a feature often desired by power users.
✗Potential for SSH Terminfo Issues: Requires transferring terminfo entries to remote servers for full functionality, which can be a minor hurdle.
✗Less Beginner-Friendly than Some Alternatives: Its focus on power users means some quality-of-life features found in other terminals might require manual setup.
✗GPU Acceleration Can Be a Con in Specific Scenarios: May not function under VNC sessions or unaccelerated X11 displays, limiting its use in certain remote desktop environments.

Community & Ecosystem

Kitty boasts an active and dedicated community, primarily centered around its GitHub repository, where the maintainer, Kovid Goyal, is highly responsive to issues and feature requests. The official documentation, accessible locally after installation or online, is comprehensive and well-regarded for its clarity and depth. Users frequently share their configurations, themes, and custom 'kittens' on platforms like Reddit (r/KittyTerminal, r/commandline) and various developer blogs, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of shared knowledge and customization. This collaborative environment ensures continuous improvement and a wealth of resources for both new and experienced users.

Video Tutorials

Getting Started with Kitty

TechSimplify170.4K views

NEW TO MAC? Mac Tutorial for Beginners 2025

MacVince • 1.3M views

NEW TO MAC? Watch this 6 Minutes Mac Tutorial

Apple Wale Bhaiya • 515.6K views

Mini Paper MacBook Pro #shorts

linnientt • 1.4M views

Frequently Asked Questions about Kitty

Kitty achieves its speed by leveraging GPU acceleration for rendering, offloading graphical tasks from the CPU. It also uses SIMD vector CPU instructions and threaded rendering, which minimizes latency and provides a very smooth scrolling experience, often outperforming CPU-bound terminals like older iTerm2 versions.

Our Verdict

4.7/5

Best for:Developers and power users who prioritize speed and efficiency.Users who prefer keyboard-driven workflows and deep customization.Anyone needing robust multiplexing, image display, and scripting capabilities.Cross-platform users seeking a consistent terminal experience.

About the Author

Alex Chen

Senior Developer Tools Specialist

Code Editors & IDEsTerminal EmulatorsVersion Control Tools

12+ years in software development · Former senior engineer at tech startups

Related Technologies & Concepts

GPU AccelerationTerminal EmulatormacOSLinuxPythonOpenGLFont LigaturesTrue ColorSSHtmux

Sources & References

Fact-Checked

Last verified: Feb 15, 2026

Key Verified Facts

Kitty is a free and open-source GPU-accelerated terminal emulator for Linux, macOS, and some BSD distributions.[3]
Kitty uses GPU offloading for rendering its windows, making it feel fast.[2]
Kitty supports supplemental programs called kittens that add features to kitty.[3]
Kitty supports true color, text formatting features, and ligatures.[3]
Kitty can display images with ImageMagick installed.[3]

1
kitty - ArchWiki
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
2
'kitty' Terminal Emulator | Space Bums
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
3
kitty (terminal emulator) - Wikipedia
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
4
Top 10 kitty Alternatives & Competitors in 2026 - G2
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
5
Kitty terminal Alternatives: Top 12 Terminal Emulators & Similar Apps | AlternativeTo
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
6
Kitty vs Alacritty: A Deep Dive Into Terminal Performance and Features - Oreate AI Blog
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
7
Install kitty on macOS with MacPorts
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
8
The Modern Terminals Showdown: Alacritty, Kitty, and Ghostty - The Miners - Codeminer42
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
9
Overview - kitty - Kovid Goyal
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
10
Switching from iTerm2 to Kitty - Wes Alvaro - Medium
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
11
My Kitty terminal config - Adam Chalmers
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
12
Using The Super Fast Kitty Terminal - marko.tech
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
13
kitty - the fast, featureful, GPU based terminal emulator : r/commandline - Reddit
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
14
Kitty Terminal: Quick and Powerful Guide for Linux Users! - YouTube
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
15
Moving from iTerm2 to Kitty for simplicity and performance - Blog of Marian Posaceanu
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
16
Kitty vs iTerm2 : r/KittyTerminal - Reddit
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
17
kitty - Kovid Goyal
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
18
Kitty Is Just Another Terminal… Until You Apply These Tweaks - YouTube
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
19
Kitty is the open-source Mac terminal that iTerm wishes it could be - How-To Geek
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
20
Why I switched from Alacritty to Kitty - linkarzu
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
21
Kitty vs Alacritty : r/linux4noobs - Reddit
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
22
iTerm2 vs Alacritty vs Kitty, which is "best" for my use? : r/macapps - Reddit
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
23
Install kitty - Kovid Goyal
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
24
Ranking The Most Popular Terminals - YouTube
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
25
How to install kitty terminal emulator - DEV Community
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
26
Kitty Terminal: My MUST HAVE conf Setup - YouTube
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
27
Mastering kitty terminal - Paul Nameless
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
28
Which Terminal Emulator Should You Use? | Sharp Writing
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
29
Quickstart - kitty - Kovid Goyal
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
30
Ghostty vs Kitty: Which Modern Terminal is the Best for Linux Users? - It's FOSS
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
31
Kitty Terminal Basics + Cheatsheet - DEV Community
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
32
Terminal graphics protocol - kitty - Kovid Goyal
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
33
Hints - kitty - Kovid Goyal
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
34
Kitty – a fast, featureful, GPU based terminal emulator | Hacker News
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
35
Install and Configure Kitty Terminal Emulator on Linux | macOS - CloudSpinx
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
36
Why does Alacritty terminal gets more attention than Kitty? #2701 - GitHub
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
37
I've been using Kitty for a month now. I really like it. It's slightly less usab... - Hacker News
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
38
Let's try Kitty layouts - Dunsap.com - DevBlog
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
39
Kitty – A fast, featureful, GPU based terminal emulator | Hacker News
Accessed Feb 15, 2026

Research queries: Kitty terminal emulator macOS review; Kitty terminal features; Kitty terminal installation macOS; Kitty terminal pricing; Kitty terminal pros and cons; Kitty terminal alternatives; Kitty terminal configuration tips; Kitty terminal community; Kitty terminal FAQs; Kitty terminal architecture; Kitty terminal history; Kitty terminal plugins extensions; Kitty terminal roadmap github; Kitty terminal expert tips; Kitty terminal vs iTerm2; Kitty terminal vs Alacritty

Compare Kitty

More Developer Tools

Zed

Explore More on Bundl

All Apps Comparisons Free Alternatives Collections

Similar Apps

Cursor

AI-first code editor built on VS Code

Claude Code

AI-powered development environment by Anthropic

Codex

AI coding assistant and IDE

Windsurf

AI-powered code editor by Codeium

Zed

High-performance multiplayer code editor

Visual Studio Code

Open-source code editor by Microsoft

Read our complete guide to the best developer tools for Mac

Kitty

GPU-based terminal emulator

Developer ToolsFreeOpen Source

Quick Take: Kitty

4.7

Best For

•Developers and power users who prioritize speed and efficiency.
•Users who prefer keyboard-driven workflows and deep customization.
•Anyone needing robust multiplexing, image display, and scripting capabilities.
•Cross-platform users seeking a consistent terminal experience.

Install with Homebrew

brew install --cask kitty

What is Kitty?

Deep Dive: Kitty's Architecture, History, and Ecosystem

Kitty is a modern terminal emulator whose design philosophy emphasizes performance, extensibility, and keyboard-driven interaction, distinguishing it within the competitive terminal landscape.

History & Background

How It Works

Ecosystem & Integrations

Future Development

Key Features

GPU Acceleration

Built-in Multiplexer (Tabs & Splits)

Kittens (Scriptable Extensions)

True Color & Ligature Support

Image Display (Graphics Protocol)

Single, Self-Documenting Configuration File

Remote Control & Scripting

Hyperlink Support

Who Should Use Kitty?

1Software Developers & Engineers

2System Administrators & DevOps Professionals

3Power Keyboard Users

4Content Creators & Technical Writers

How to Install Kitty

Installing Kitty on macOS can be done via various methods, with Homebrew being the most common and recommended approach for ease of management.

Install Homebrew (if not already installed)

Install Kitty using Homebrew

Manual Installation (Alternative)

Launch Kitty

After installation, you can launch Kitty from your Applications folder, Launchpad, or by typing `kitty` in your existing terminal (if Homebrew linked it to your PATH) or via Spotlight search.

Pro Tips

• Ensure Homebrew is updated (`brew update && brew upgrade`) before installing to get the latest version and avoid conflicts.
• If installing manually, create a symlink in a directory included in your PATH (e.g., `~/.local/bin`) to easily launch Kitty from any shell.
• After installation, consider generating the default configuration file to explore all available options: `kitty +kitten config` or `Ctrl+Shift+F2`.

Configuration Tips

Mastering the `kitty.conf` File

Customizing Fonts and Ligatures

Applying Themes and Color Schemes

Optimizing Multiplexing Layouts

Setting up Command Finish Notifications

Alternatives to Kitty

Several terminal emulators offer robust functionality, but each has distinct characteristics compared to Kitty.

iTerm2

Alacritty

WezTerm

Ghostty

Pricing

Free, Open-Source

Pros

✓Exceptional Speed and Performance: GPU acceleration provides extremely low latency and high throughput, making it feel incredibly responsive.
✓Feature-Rich Out of the Box: Includes native tabs, window splits, and a powerful multiplexer, reducing reliance on external tools like tmux.
✓Highly Customizable: Configuration is done via a single, well-commented text file, allowing extensive personalization of appearance and behavior.
✓Extensible with 'Kittens': A unique plugin system enables adding advanced functionalities like inline image display and specialized text processing.
✓Excellent Text Rendering: Supports true color, font ligatures, Unicode, and custom text formatting for a visually rich experience.
✓Cross-Platform Availability: Works seamlessly across macOS, Linux, and various BSDs, ensuring a consistent environment.
✓Powerful Remote Control: Offers robust scripting and remote control capabilities, even over SSH, for advanced automation and integration.
✓Active Development and Community: Benefits from continuous updates and a responsive maintainer, ensuring ongoing improvements and support.

Cons

✗Steep Learning Curve for Configuration: While powerful, the text-based configuration can be less beginner-friendly than GUI-based settings.
✗Non-Standard Keyboard Shortcuts: Default keybindings can be counterintuitive for users accustomed to macOS or iTerm2, requiring remapping.
✗No Built-in Hotkey/Visor Window: Lacks a native global hotkey or visor mode for quick access, a feature often desired by power users.
✗Potential for SSH Terminfo Issues: Requires transferring terminfo entries to remote servers for full functionality, which can be a minor hurdle.
✗Less Beginner-Friendly than Some Alternatives: Its focus on power users means some quality-of-life features found in other terminals might require manual setup.
✗GPU Acceleration Can Be a Con in Specific Scenarios: May not function under VNC sessions or unaccelerated X11 displays, limiting its use in certain remote desktop environments.

Community & Ecosystem

Video Tutorials

Getting Started with Kitty

TechSimplify170.4K views

NEW TO MAC? Mac Tutorial for Beginners 2025

MacVince • 1.3M views

NEW TO MAC? Watch this 6 Minutes Mac Tutorial

Apple Wale Bhaiya • 515.6K views

Mini Paper MacBook Pro #shorts

linnientt • 1.4M views

Frequently Asked Questions about Kitty

Our Verdict

4.7/5

About the Author

Alex Chen

Senior Developer Tools Specialist

Code Editors & IDEsTerminal EmulatorsVersion Control Tools

12+ years in software development · Former senior engineer at tech startups

Related Technologies & Concepts

GPU AccelerationTerminal EmulatormacOSLinuxPythonOpenGLFont LigaturesTrue ColorSSHtmux

Sources & References

Fact-Checked

Last verified: Feb 15, 2026

Key Verified Facts

Kitty is a free and open-source GPU-accelerated terminal emulator for Linux, macOS, and some BSD distributions.[3]
Kitty uses GPU offloading for rendering its windows, making it feel fast.[2]
Kitty supports supplemental programs called kittens that add features to kitty.[3]
Kitty supports true color, text formatting features, and ligatures.[3]
Kitty can display images with ImageMagick installed.[3]