Terminator terminal emulator
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 20 of 40 terminal emulators by recommenders
A tiling terminal emulator that people recommend for easy split-screen layouts and drag-and-drop panels. Critics say it is slow and sometimes crashes.
A tiling terminal emulator that people recommend for easy split-screen layouts and drag-and-drop panels. Critics say it is slow and sometimes crashes.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 92%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 12 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy split-screen tiling workflow
“being able to drag and drop panels to create layouts is such a strong workflow”
Comment from 1 Mar 2026 in “Ghostty – Terminal Emulator” “tiling managers like Terminator are, to me, the most efficient”
Comment from 29 Apr 2026 in “Your Terminal Is Burning Battery Like It's Mining Bitcoin” “splitting screens is much easier work flow”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Horizon – GPU-accelerated infinite-canvas terminal in Rust” - Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Share Your Best Use Cases for Termux (2024)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow performance
“my main terminal emulator is the bog slow but reliable Terminator”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Ghostty is now non-profit” Crashes frequently
“Terminator wouldn‘t crash every other week”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Horizon – GPU-accelerated infinite-canvas terminal in Rust”
Other terminal emulators people recommend
The four most recommended other terminal emulators, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghostty | 401 | 158 | 72% | 12 | 3 mo22 owners | Approved |
| Termux | 188 | 31 | 86% | 12 | 1 yr6 owners | Approved |
| iTerm2 | 95 | 69 | 58% | 12 | 10 yrs4 owners | — |
| Warp terminal | 84 | 86 | 49% | 11 | 1 yr5 owners | — |
| Terminator terminal emulatorThis page | 12 | 1 | 92% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
13 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's inarguable that Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, and Terminator 2 are all better written than the Avatar films”
“they are surprised how good those movies are”
“The top 3 support audio, sixel, RIP, and others as well.”
“The Terminator didn't help either”
“no clue why people preferred that over the original terminator movie”
“I found the first terminator better and more "logical" and more consistent”
“Terminator failed on a basic premise: Skynet becoming self-aware.”
“tiling managers like Terminator are, to me, the most efficient”
“Terminator wouldn‘t crash every other week”
“splitting screens is much easier work flow”
“being able to drag and drop panels to create layouts is such a strong workflow”
“switched to Terminator. Much easier!”
“my main terminal emulator is the bog slow but reliable Terminator”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.