Tern terminal
Shares rank 31 of 40 terminal emulators by recommenders
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.
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.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not 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: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 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
More control than asking the AI
“It gives you more control in certain cases than simply asking the AI”
Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Toolkit to help you get started with Spec-Driven Development” “It's a model that gives real leverage”
Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Toolkit to help you get started with Spec-Driven Development” Pleasant to use so far
“Early days, but I'm finding it very nice to use.”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Gemini 4 Carbon” “this is the best I've found so far”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “OpenCode 2.0”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Waitlist, no public download
“It's unfortunate that there's waitlist and no download for tern.”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Gemini 4 Carbon”
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 | — |
| Tern terminalThis page | 6 | 2 | 75% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Wow, that site is gorgeous”
“It's unfortunate that there's waitlist and no download for tern.”
“Early days, but I'm finding it very nice to use.”
“this is the best I've found so far”
“I'd look into Dahon and Tern for a basic folding bike.”
“I remember someone with a folding Tern that struggled to carry it onto the train”
“It gives you more control in certain cases than simply asking the AI”
“It's a model that gives real leverage”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.