# Ratty

31 Hacker News commenters recommended Ratty and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free 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.

## Why people recommend it

- Retro, brutalist visual design (5 comments): "I'm not sure why I'd use it, but I enjoyed the visual and loved the brutalist design of the website" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48102469)) "It's like someone crossed an 80s Silicon Graphics workstation with a Vic-20." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48101323)) "Brilliant. The dream lives on! This is the best form of paying respects." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48094503))
- Long-awaited idea finally realized (3 comments): "I have been waiting for a proper implementation of this since forever." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48100566)) "one truly noble project emerges" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48094802)) "i have been waiting for this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48095504))
- Fun to use (2 comments): "You had me at spinning rat cursor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48094723)) "Damn this was really fun to use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48095724))
- Conveys more information in less space (2 comments): "I like this. No reason the terminal should only support text." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48094022)) "It's the ability to convey more information in less space." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48096295))

## What people warn about

- Few practical use cases (3 comments): "I'm struggling to see many use cases here other than 3d graphs. I really don't need a spinning 3d rat cursor." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48093967)) "Can anyone explain why this is novel? It seems pretty basic?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48094366)) "It's a solution in search of a problem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48098524))
- Gimmicky and indulgent visuals (2 comments): "Emojis in a terminal are a step too far for me. This is just... Indulgent." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48093938)) "no Rust needed, no 3D crap" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48094058))
- Heavy on battery and resources (2 comments): "Another terminal to murder your battery life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48096282)) "Friggin waste of resources" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48096502))
- Awkward interaction and tab layout (2 comments): "The 'tab' layout is pretty atrocious even as a one-shot run through of fitting most of the control areas" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48108538)) "Interaction is absolutely not ideal." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48108515))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Ghostty](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ghostty.md): 401 recommend
- [Termux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/termux.md): 188 recommend
- [iTerm2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iterm2.md): 95 recommend
- [Warp terminal](https://hackerapproved.com/p/warp-terminal.md): 84 recommend
- [Kitty terminal emulator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kitty.md): 79 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Ratty", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ratty-terminal-emulator/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).