Terminology terminal emulator
Shares rank 37 of 40 terminal emulators by recommenders
Fast, free terminal emulator with built-in file browsing and video playback that people find useful. Critics question why it exists.
Fast, free terminal emulator with built-in file browsing and video playback that people find useful. Critics question why it exists.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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
Built-in file browsing and video playback
“it's a better experience in literally every way imaginable than firing up fucking dolphin”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” “you can happily still explore all your files there even if they are videos”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” “terminology has had that (and video playback, too) for a LONG time”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” - Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16”
Fast with many terminal features
“it's fast and has more or less all of the features you'd expect of a terminal”
Comment from 1 Mar 2026 in “Ghostty – Terminal Emulator” “it can already do shit you never even imagined was possible”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” “it's superior to a more conventional terminal emulator”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” Praised as admirable and gorgeous
“It's really quite an admirable effort worthy of respect.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” “What a gorgeous and functional Terminal emulator.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” Useful to its author and others
“i added this because it's useful. to me. and apparently to quite a few other people.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” “which is demonstrably superior by several metrics which I and others care about”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Seen as unnecessary or unwanted
“As long as I need some E terminal, or a particular terminal that is "popular with the kids", I really don't see at all why this is a good idea”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” “I'd definitely dislike to see all that arriving in major desktop environments.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16”
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 | — |
| Terminology terminal emulatorThis page | 5 | 2 | 71% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“which is demonstrably superior by several metrics which I and others care about”
“i added this because it's useful. to me. and apparently to quite a few other people.”
“It's really quite an admirable effort worthy of respect.”
“I'd definitely dislike to see all that arriving in major desktop environments.”
“it can already do shit you never even imagined was possible”
“it's a better experience in literally every way imaginable than firing up fucking dolphin”
“As long as I need some E terminal, or a particular terminal that is "popular with the kids", I really don't see at all why this is a good idea”
“And it especially can't do it as seamlessly as terminology.”
“it's superior to a more conventional terminal emulator”
“you can happily still explore all your files there even if they are videos”
“terminology has had that (and video playback, too) for a LONG time”
“What a gorgeous and functional Terminal emulator.”
“it felt kind of sluggish and consumed quite a bit of resources”
“it's fast and has more or less all of the features you'd expect of a terminal”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.