# Tern terminal

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Tern terminal and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Developers 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.

## Why people recommend it

- More control than asking the AI (2 comments): "It gives you more control in certain cases than simply asking the AI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45869413)) "It's a model that gives real leverage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45865096))
- Pleasant to use so far (2 comments): "Early days, but I'm finding it very nice to use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50284808)) "this is the best I've found so far" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50095490))

## What people warn about

- Waitlist, no public download (1 comments): "It's unfortunate that there's waitlist and no download for tern." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50289607))

## 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, "Tern terminal", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tern/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).