# iTerm2 95 Hacker News commenters recommended iTerm2 and 69 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (4 owners). **Verdict:** A 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. ## Why people recommend it - Native tmux integration (2 comments): "ITerm2 has a really great tmux integration where you get native windows or tabs for tmux windows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48829835)) "I've been thoroughly impressed with tmux control mode in iTerm2." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47753244)) - Global hotkey/quake-style window (3 comments): "does not work anywhere close to as nice as iTerm2's hotkey window" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274386)) "than my macOS workflow with a global hotkey iTerm2 window" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46820936)) "iTerm2 (for tabbed quake terminal and configurability)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50272512)) - Useful output notifications (3 comments): "I used to use the iTerm programmable notification bell which would ring when a particular output was printed in the terminal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47208930)) "iterms notification feature which helps get to the waiting terminal if it's buried" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46990685)) "notifications in iTerm is good enough to juggle some claude sessions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48719730)) - Deep configurability and key remapping (4 comments): "I have small compact tabs which I color code dynamically with iTerm2 and also custom profiles with custom keyboard keys overrides by program and directory." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266396)) "iTerm2 makes it nice for example, even if it's only to use the meta/super key instead of the heavily overloaded control." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47753524)) "iterm2 has some options to fix key bind issues that hamper emacs in the terminal." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45827978)) ## What people warn about - Security vulnerabilities in SSH integration (6 comments): "I wish if he focused on the security for a while and tightened some bugs instead of pushing into AI related features" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813563)) "iTerm 2's "conductor" is listening for the special escape sequences, whether or not you are using the shell integration features." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47817183)) "ran the exploit (generated the file with the python script, ran `cat readme.txt` locally), and it worked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47817748)) - Slow or CPU-heavy performance (4 comments): "My opencode newly installed is also having iterm on 100% cpu in idle." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48209432)) "I was suffering a little wasted disk space, slightly slower start-up, and slightly worse input latency, for... no reason" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45814993)) "iTerm2 had a performance bug where large amounts of underlined text would cause the terminal to slow down noticeably" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47207173)) - Clumsy plist config and settings (3 comments): "I find its .plist config file a lot anachronistic and, if I may say so, quite absurd." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50269107)) "gives you access to all settings in a (admittedly kinda crappy) GUI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50267440)) "With iTerm you had to export the profile and keybindings, and then import them on a new system which was clumsy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264521)) - Feature bloat, AI and browser (3 comments): "Excellent terminal but too many features for what I was looking for." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264813)) "I wish if he focused on the security for a while and tightened some bugs instead of pushing into AI related features" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813563)) "iTerm 2 jumped the shark when the author started implementing a homemade web browser into it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50258415)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Ghostty](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ghostty.md): 401 recommend - [Termux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/termux.md): 188 recommend - [Warp terminal](https://hackerapproved.com/p/warp-terminal.md): 84 recommend - [Kitty terminal emulator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kitty.md): 79 recommend - [WezTerm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wezterm.md): 59 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "iTerm2", https://hackerapproved.com/p/iterm2/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).