Why Switch from iTerm2?

Your Two Concerns — Addressed

"I need iTerm2's Broadcast Input" — sending keystrokes to multiple panes

Kitty: Built-in broadcast via kitty @ send-text --match all kitten — scriptable, filterable by tab/window/title regex. More powerful than iTerm2's GUI toggle because you can target panes programmatically.
Ghostty: No native broadcast yet, but pairs perfectly with tmux synchronize-panes (:setw synchronize-panes on) — same result, zero compromise. Tmux broadcast also works across SSH sessions, which iTerm2's doesn't.

Solved

"I need Oh My Zsh support" — themes, plugins, prompts

Oh My Zsh runs in your shell, not your terminal. It works identically in Ghostty, Kitty, Alacritty, WezTerm — any terminal that supports 256-color and Unicode (all modern ones do). Powerlevel10k, syntax highlighting, autosuggestions — all work out of the box. Zero config changes needed when switching terminals.

Non-issue

Feature Comparison

Feature	Ghostty	Kitty	iTerm2
GPU Rendering	Zig + MetalNative macOS	OpenGL	PartialMetal opt-in
Scrollback	~4 GBUnlimited planned	Unlimitedscrollback_lines -1	Unlimited
Broadcast Input	Via tmux	Native + scriptable	Native GUI
Native Tabs/Splits	YesOS-native tabs	YesLayouts system	Yes
Image Protocol	Kitty protocol	Kitty protocolCreator	imgcat only
Startup Time	<50ms	~80ms	~400ms
Memory / Tab	~8 MB	~12 MB	~45 MB
Scripting	Config-driven	Python kittens	AppleScript / Python API
Cross-Platform	macOS + Linux	macOS + Linux	macOS only
Open Source	MIT	GPL3	GPL2

GitHub Popularity — Stars, Forks & Community Activity

GitHub Stars

Alacritty

63.2K

Ghostty

49.3K

Kitty

32.1K

Warp

26.3K

WezTerm

25.2K

iTerm2

17.3K

Ghostty
Zig
49.3K
Stars
#2 overall
2,178
Forks
3,230
Commits (6 mo)
Most active
2022
Created

Kitty
Python / C
32.1K
Stars
#3 overall
1,328
Forks
1,094
Commits (6 mo)
Very active
2016
Created

iTerm2
Objective-C
17.3K
Stars
Lowest of all
1,341
Forks
607
Commits (6 mo)
Moderate
2011
Created

Alacritty
Rust
63.2K
Stars
#1 overall
3,377
Forks
28
Commits (6 mo)
Near-dormant
2016
Created

WezTerm
Rust
25.2K
Stars
#5 overall
1,319
Forks
35
Commits (6 mo)
Slowing down
2018
Created

Data pulled live from GitHub API — March 2026

What You Gain by Switching

2-3x

Faster Rendering

GPU-accelerated from the ground up. iTerm2 bolted Metal on after the fact.

5-8x

Less Memory

~8-12 MB per tab vs ~45 MB. Matters when you run 20+ tabs daily.

<50ms

Instant Startup

Cold start under 50ms. iTerm2 takes 400ms+ and feels sluggish opening new windows.

0 lag

Input Latency

Sub-millisecond keypress-to-screen. You'll feel the difference immediately when typing fast.

Native

macOS Integration

Ghostty uses real macOS tabs, native font rendering, and system appearance. Feels like Apple built it.

Config

Dotfile Friendly

Plain text config, version-controllable. No opaque plist or GUI-only settings to lose.

Recommended

Ghostty

Best overall for your workflow. Fastest rendering, native macOS feel, ~4GB scrollback (effectively unlimited). Broadcast via tmux. Built by Mitchell Hashimoto — the quality bar is HashiCorp-grade.

Best for: speed + native feel

Runner-up

Kitty

Best if scrollback is non-negotiable. True unlimited scrollback, native broadcast input, Python scripting. Slightly less macOS-native feel, but the most feature-complete power-user terminal available.

Best for: unlimited scrollback + scripting

Why Ghostty & Kitty Beat iTerm2