# Ghostty vs Kitty Published January 1, 2026 · Updated August 10, 2026 Ghostty and Kitty are both Terminals on a Mac, so the pick depends on workflow. Pick Ghostty if you want your terminal to feel like a native Mac app that just happens to be fast. Pick Kitty if you want a tiled, scriptable cockpit you. As of October 2026, both install with brew install --cask ghostty and brew install --cask kitty. In August 2026 Ghostty and Kitty are both elite GPU terminals — fast, free, Tahoe-ready and generous with modern protocols. Ghostty wins the macOS nativeness and zero-friction speed crown; Kitty wins the tiling and Python-powered configurability crown. Neither charges money and neither compromises on speed. ## Head to head | Factor | Ghostty | Kitty | | --- | --- | --- | | Price | Free | Free | | Open Source | Yes | Yes | | Replaces | Warp ($20/month) | Warp ($20/month) | | Best for | terminal, gpu, zig | terminal, gpu, fast | | Install | brew install --cask ghostty | brew install --cask kitty | | Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools | ## Ghostty GPU-accelerated terminal emulator written in Zig Install: `brew install --cask ghostty` [Ghostty on Bundl](https://bundl.run/apps/ghostty) ## Kitty GPU-based terminal emulator Install: `brew install --cask kitty` [Kitty on Bundl](https://bundl.run/apps/kitty) ## Features - **Raw performance and latency.** Both are among the fastest terminals on macOS. Ghostty has a small Metal advantage on Tahoe; Kitty matches it in practice. - **Native platform feel.** For a Mac-native feel, Ghostty is the clear winner. - **Tiling and window management.** Kitty's layout engine is significantly more powerful for single-window tiling. - **Protocol and graphics support.** Parity on modern protocols — both render inline images, hyperlinks and grapheme clusters correctly. - **Configuration and scriptability.** Kitty is more programmable; Ghostty is simpler to tune for non-programmers. - **Cross-platform coverage.** Kitty covers the two Unix platforms Ghostty does, with longer polish, and is the safer pick if you standardise Linux and Mac today. - **Maturity and ecosystem.** Kitty's longer track record means fewer surprises; Ghostty is catching up fast. - **Distribution and licensing.** Both are free with no paid gate. License only matters if you embed or redistribute — MIT versus GPL. ## FAQ ### Are both free and open source? Yes. Ghostty is MIT and Kitty is GPL, each free forever with all features. No paid edition or subscription exists for either. ### Do they both support inline images? Yes. Kitty invented the Kitty graphics protocol and Ghostty implements it fully alongside Sixel and synchronized rendering. Neovim image previews, lazygit and modern TUIs work in both. ### Which is more macOS-native on Tahoe 26.x? Ghostty. It uses Swift/AppKit and Metal on macOS, with native tabs and Quick Look, and is notarised for Tahoe. Kitty uses its own OpenGL chrome — polished but not platform-native. ### Which is better for tiling without tmux? Kitty. Its built-in tiling layouts, splits and remote control let you manage many panes inside one window without tmux. Ghostty has clean native splits but not full tiling layouts. Pair Ghostty with tmux if tiling is essential. ### Does Ghostty support Windows in 2026? Not stably as of August 2026. Ghostty is macOS and Linux today with Windows in progress per release notes. Kitty is macOS and Linux as well. For Windows you would use another terminal or WSL. ### Which has lower latency? Both report sub-millisecond class input latency on Apple Silicon Tahoe and feel instant in practice. Benchmarks show single-digit percentage differences; pick on UX, not a few milliseconds. ## Sources - [Ghostty - official site](https://ghostty.org/) - [ghostty-org/ghostty on GitHub](https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty) - [Ghostty documentation](https://ghostty.org/docs) - [Kitty - official documentation](https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/) - [kovidgoyal/kitty on GitHub](https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty) - [Kitty graphics protocol](https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/graphics-protocol/) - [Best GPU terminals for Mac 2026 - Tower and community](https://www.git-tower.com/blog/best-git-client/) ## Related - [Ghostty vs iTerm2](https://bundl.run/compare/ghostty-vs-iterm2) - [Ghostty vs Alacritty](https://bundl.run/compare/ghostty-vs-alacritty) - [Ghostty vs Warp](https://bundl.run/compare/ghostty-vs-warp) - [Alacritty vs Kitty](https://bundl.run/compare/alacritty-vs-kitty) - [WezTerm vs Kitty](https://bundl.run/compare/wezterm-vs-kitty) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://bundl.run/#organization", "name": "Bundl.run", "url": "https://bundl.run", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://bundl.run/og-image.png", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }, "description": "The Ninite for Mac. 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