Kitty terminal
Kitty is a fast, GPU-based terminal emulator for Linux/macOS/Windows. It has features like ligatures, tabs, smooth scrolling and Unicode support out of the box.
Kitty: Fast GPU-Based Terminal Emulator
A fast terminal emulator with features like ligatures, tabs, smooth scrolling and Unicode support, available for Linux/macOS/Windows
What is Kitty terminal?
Kitty is a terminal emulator that prioritizes speed, efficiency, and modern features. Some key aspects of Kitty:
- It utilizes GPU rendering to draw text, making everything from scrolling to opening new tabs much faster than traditional terminals.
- Supports Unicode and emoji out of the box with font ligatures for readability.
- Tab support allows opening multiple terminal sessions in a single window.
- Many customization options like colors, fonts, keybindings for power users.
- Works across Linux, macOS, and Windows with the same feature set.
- Open source and extensible with Python-based configuration.
Overall, Kitty aims to provide a lightweight and performant terminal that feels modern, smooth, and optimized for developers, making shell work more pleasant and productive.
Kitty terminal Features
Features
- GPU-accelerated text rendering
- Support for ligatures and glyphs
- Tabbed interface
- Keyboard-driven interface
- Smooth scrolling
- Unicode support
- Background transparency
- Configurable keyboard shortcuts
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Very fast rendering
Highly customizable
Lightweight and low resource usage
Excellent font rendering quality
Supports modern terminal features
Cons
Less plugins and extensions compared to some terminals
Configuration can be complex for new users
Limited platform support (Linux, macOS, Windows only)
Official Links
Reviews & Ratings
Login to Review4.1
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24 reviews
Rating Breakdown
Ease of Use
★
★
★
★
★
3.3
Features
★
★
★
★
★
4.6
Value for Money
★
★
★
★
★
4.9
Customer Support
★
★
★
★
★
3.0
Overall Experience
★
★
★
★
★
3.9
Recent Reviews
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Olivia Hall
Apr 11, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
The terminal that got me to finally switch from iTerm2
Kitty's GPU acceleration makes scrolling through logs and large outputs buttery smooth where other terminals stutter. The built-in ligature support makes coding beautiful, and the tab management feels intuitive right out of the box. For a free product, it delivers …
A
Ava Davis
Apr 11, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
Kitty is a performance powerhouse, but not for beginners
The speed is incredible and terminal apps feel incredibly responsive even on older hardware. The font rendering with ligatures is absolutely gorgeous, and the GPU acceleration makes scrolling through massive log files buttery smooth. However, the configuration is a beast. …
Olivia Harris
Apr 10, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
The gold standard for a terminal, both powerful and beautiful
Kitty has become my daily driver after trying plenty of other terminals. The performance is buttery smooth, with scrolling and rendering feeling instant. My favorite features are the powerful 'kittens' for scripting and the excellent ligature support for programming fonts, …
Liam Lee
Apr 09, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
Fast but Frustrating
Kitty's performance is undeniably impressive—the smooth scrolling and GPU acceleration make it feel incredibly responsive, and the built-in ligatures and Unicode support are great for coding. However, the configuration is a headache; even simple changes require editing config files in …
C
Cameron Johnson
Apr 05, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
Blazing Fast and Beautiful
I've used Kitty as my daily driver terminal for over a year now on macOS, and it's simply phenomenal. The performance is the real star – it's incredibly fast and smooth, even when I'm running a busy development environment. The …
Rating Distribution
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