Alternatives to iTerm2
The Mac terminal power standard
iTerm2 ranks #4 of 9 in Terminal emulators, with an Alt Score of 82. It is licensed under GPL-2.0 and available on macOS. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
macOS users who work extensively in the terminal — developers, sysadmins, and power users — who want more capability than the built-in Terminal app.
A free, open-source terminal emulator with split panes, tabs, and a global hotkey window. It adds search with regex, autocomplete, copy mode, instant replay (scrollback time travel), triggers for automated actions on pattern matches, tmux integration, and shell integration for directory/command awareness. Supports 24-bit color, Unicode/emoji, inline images, and per-host configuration profiles.
Download and run the app on macOS 12.4+; configure profiles, keybindings, and triggers through Preferences to match your workflow. Sessions run in split panes or tabs within a window, with features like shell integration and triggers activating automatically based on your terminal output.
Why people leave iTerm2
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Terminal emulators checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Terminal emulators checklist | iTerm2 | WezTerm | kitty | Tabby | Warp | Windows Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| GPU acceleration | ||||||
| Tabs & splits | ||||||
| Ligatures support | ||||||
| Configuration format | ||||||
| Session restore | ||||||
| Search in scrollback | ||||||
| Themes | ||||||
| Multiplexer built in | ||||||
| Cross-platform | ||||||
| Open source |
Every fact and feature listed for iTerm2 is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License GPL-2.0 verified 2026-07-11
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991
https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2/blob/master/LICENSE -
Platforms macOS verified 2026-07-11
iTerm2 is a terminal emulator for Mac OS X that does amazing things.
https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2 -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
Built on June 2, 2026
https://iterm2.com/downloads.html -
GPU acceleration Yes verified 2026-07-11
If you are on 3.2 or later, ensure the GPU renderer is enabled and that it can be used per the restrictions described at Metal Renderer.
https://iterm2.com/faq.html -
Tabs & splits Yes verified 2026-07-11
Divide a tab up into multiple panes, each one showing a different session. You can slice vertically and horizontally and create any number of panes in any imaginable arrangement.
https://iterm2.com/features.html -
Ligatures support Yes verified 2026-07-11
Some fonts, such as FiraCode, support ligatures if enabled in iTerm2. You can enable ligatures in Prefs > Profiles > Text.
https://iterm2.com/documentation-fonts.html -
Configuration format Partial verified 2026-07-11
The preferences dialog contains the following sections:
https://iterm2.com/documentation-preferences.html -
Session restore Yes verified 2026-07-11
Session restoration works by running your jobs within long-lived servers rather than as child processes of iTerm2.
https://iterm2.com/documentation-restoration.html -
Search in scrollback Yes verified 2026-07-11
iTerm2 comes with a robust find-on-page feature.
https://iterm2.com/features.html -
Themes Yes verified 2026-07-11
iTerm2 ships with some color presets, which you may load from this popup menu.
https://iterm2.com/documentation-preferences-profiles-colors.html -
Multiplexer built in Partial verified 2026-07-11
iTerm2 is integrated with tmux, allowing you to enjoy a native user interface with all the benefits of tmux's persistence.
https://iterm2.com/documentation-tmux-integration.html -
Cross-platform No verified 2026-07-11
iTerm2 is a terminal emulator for Mac OS X that does amazing things.
https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2 -
Open source Yes verified 2026-07-11
iTerm2 is distributed under the [GPLv3](LICENSE) license.
https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2/blob/master/README.md
FAQ
Yes. WezTerm, kitty and Tabby have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
WezTerm, kitty and Tabby — every license claim links its source.