The best terminal emulators, according to hackers

40 terminal emulators recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.

All terminal emulators

GhosttyA fast, polished, native-feeling terminal for macOS and Linux that works well with little configuration, though critics cite weak search and scrollback and terminfo trouble over SSH.401recommend
TermuxA free Android terminal that works like a small Linux system in your pocket, good for SSH, coding and command-line tools, though Android's sandbox and API restrictions limit it.188recommend
iTerm2A mature, highly configurable macOS terminal valued for its tmux integration, global hotkey window and notifications, though critics cite repeated SSH-integration security flaws and sluggish performance.95recommend
Warp terminalPraised for block-based output, command suggestions, and easy editing in a modern terminal; critics say it pushes AI features, login and analytics.84recommend
Kitty terminal emulatorPeople recommend Kitty for its speed, customisation, inline image display and SSH clipboard support. The most common caveat is that some find the maintainers' behaviour abrasive.79recommend
WezTermPeople recommend WezTerm as a fast, consistent cross-platform terminal that is configured and scripted in Lua. The most common caveat is font rendering problems.59recommend
Windows TerminalRecommended as a capable tabbed terminal for Windows and WSL that has improved, with good font rendering. Common caveat: early versions were slow, and advanced settings need hand-edited config.48recommend
cmuxGhostty-based terminal with project workspaces and notifications, liked for running many AI coding agents at once; critics find it weak over SSH and resource-heavy.47recommend
macOS TerminalRecommended as a fast, capable default that comes with macOS and covers most needs, though critics say it lacks features like truecolor support.44recommend
Blink ShellAn iPhone and iPad terminal with built-in SSH and mosh and good tmux support, which people say works well for remote servers. The main caveat is that it costs money, as a subscription or an upfront price.39recommend
KonsoleMature, fast terminal that works well and has the features people need, and it is flexible to configure. Main caveat: setup takes effort and the interface feels dated.39recommend
AlacrittyFast, lightweight, GPU-rendered terminal that people find simple, reliable and cross-platform. Common caveat: no tabs or pane splitting, so people pair it with tmux or Zellij.38recommend
GhostelEmacs terminal emulator built on libghostty that people find faster and more capable than vterm and eat. Critics note a compiled Zig module that can fail to build.34recommend
RattyFree terminal emulator with inline 3D graphics, liked for its retro look and novelty beyond plain text. Critics doubt its practical uses and find the interaction awkward.31recommend
Foot terminal emulatorFast, lightweight terminal that launches quickly and stays stable, well suited to tiling window managers. Restarting its daemon can kill open terminals.24recommend
xtermRecommended for its accurate DEC VT terminal emulation, light memory use and low latency. The most common caveat is that it requires Xorg.19recommend
cool-retro-termRecommended for its authentic CRT look and nostalgic visuals; critics say it is not a very good terminal, with bugs and missing features.19recommend
vtermPeople recommend it as a fast terminal emulator inside Emacs that they use daily. Critics often find it slow, clunky or buggy, and several prefer Ghostel.15recommend
SaggarMac terminal that organizes sessions around projects like git repos, with an omni search bar and remote control. Most common caveat: it requires an account and is not open source.15recommend
Terminator terminal emulatorA tiling terminal emulator that people recommend for easy split-screen layouts and drag-and-drop panels. Critics say it is slow and sometimes crashes.12recommend
eat (Emacs Terminal Emulator)Recommended as a reasonably fast terminal emulator inside Emacs and Eshell with full terminal emulation, though full-screen TUIs like vim run slowly.12recommend
Rio terminalPeople recommend Rio for its simpler, more capable window model, instant launch and sixel support. The most common caveat is subtle usability issues that become too much for some users.10recommend
st (suckless terminal)Fast, lightweight, hackable terminal that starts instantly and uses little RAM. It is minimal: no scrolling or tabs, so features come from patches.10recommend
xfce4-terminalSmall, fast Linux terminal that starts instantly and fits the Xfce desktop; caveat: some hotkeys such as Hyper-modifier combinations are unsupported.10recommend
Ghostty-based terminal with vertical tabs and notificationsGhostty-based terminal adding vertical tabs and per-pane notifications, though critics report buggy tab switching and copy-selection problems.10recommend
FaceoffFree terminal app for following NHL games, praised as fun and as a missing interface for sports.10recommend
Shitty terminalFast terminal emulator praised for flicker-free macOS resizes, performance and a thorough parser and test suite. Critics mostly object to its crude name and its AI-generated code.9recommend
a-ShellA free terminal app for iPad and iPhone that gives a shell with Python, pip packages and Unix utilities, useful for running scripts on iOS. Critics say it is limited next to Termux and feels more like a toy than a tool.8recommend
Waffle terminalPeople recommend Waffle as a lean native macOS terminal that auto-tiles sessions into a grid and groups them by repo. Its source is publicly inspectable.8recommend
Ptyxis TerminalRecommended as a handy GNOME terminal with features gnome-terminal lacks and scriptable settings. Main caveat: small differences in hotkeys and rendering from similar terminals.7recommend
GNOME TerminalRecommended as a capable default terminal that works well for everyday use and is free. Critics most often call it slow or bloated.6recommend
urxvtPeople recommend urxvt as a light, fast terminal that handles Unicode well and runs many instances with little memory. Critics say some features need extra hacks.6recommend
Yaw terminalPeople recommend Yaw as a terminal built around AI coding CLIs, auto-splitting panes when an agent like Claude Code starts and offering a shareable Yaw Mode config.6recommend
Linux Terminal app for AndroidBuilt-in Debian Linux environment on Android 15 that gives a full shell and can run a desktop. Critics say it is buggy and only works on some devices.6recommend
Terminal ClickRecommended as a handmade, author-built native terminal with GUI and TUI working together. Critics say it lacks polish compared with Ghostty.6recommend
Tern terminalDevelopers say it gives more control than simply asking an AI, and that it is pleasant to use. The main caveat is a waitlist with no public download.6recommend
YakuakeA drop-down terminal that slides down from the screen edge on a hotkey, favoured for staying out of the way until needed. Critics note it feels dated and hotkey behaviour varies between terminal apps.5recommend
xterm.jsRecommended as a cross-platform web terminal emulator, used in the VS Code terminal, with no performance limits reported. Critics cite problems with large terminals and long scrollbacks.5recommend
Terminology terminal emulatorFast, free terminal emulator with built-in file browsing and video playback that people find useful. Critics question why it exists.5recommend
Emacs-libgtermEmacs terminal emulator built on libghostty-vt, called a good proof of concept. Main caveat: it was fully vibe coded, which some consider unsuitable for sensitive use.5recommend