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?
What Is Kitty Terminal?
Kitty is a fast, feature-rich, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator for Linux and macOS. It uses the GPU for rendering, which makes it significantly faster than traditional CPU-rendered terminals, especially when displaying large amounts of text or running programs with heavy terminal output.
Key Features
GPU rendering via OpenGL provides smooth scrolling and fast text display even with thousands of lines of output. Kitty supports ligatures, emoji, true color, and all modern Unicode features. It includes built-in tiling (splits and tabs), image display directly in the terminal (using the kitty graphics protocol), and remote control via a socket API.
The configuration is file-based (kitty.conf) with extensive customization options for fonts, colors, keybindings, and behavior. Kitty also supports SSH integration with automatic shell integration on remote hosts.
Kitty vs Alacritty
Both are GPU-accelerated terminals. Kitty offers more built-in features (tabs, splits, image display, remote control). Alacritty is more minimal and relies on tmux for multiplexing. Kitty uses OpenGL; Alacritty uses cross-platform graphics APIs.
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 Review4.2
★
★
★
★
★
39 reviews
Rating Breakdown
Ease of Use
★
★
★
★
★
3.4
Features
★
★
★
★
★
4.7
Value for Money
★
★
★
★
★
5.0
Customer Support
★
★
★
★
★
3.1
Overall Experience
★
★
★
★
★
4.1
Recent Reviews
J
James Garcia
May 10, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
A game-changer for terminal work
Kitty has transformed my workflow. The GPU acceleration makes scrolling through logs incredibly smooth, and the native ligature support makes working with coding fonts a pleasure. Its performance is noticeably snappier than other terminals I've used, and features like easy …
C
Casey Lee
May 06, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
Finally found my perfect terminal emulator
Kitty's GPU acceleration makes it incredibly smooth and responsive, even when running multiple tabs with resource-heavy applications. The built-in ligature support and smooth scrolling are fantastic for coding and reading long documents. It's highly configurable with a sane default setup …
M
Morgan King
May 06, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
A Terminal That's Both Beautiful and Blazing Fast
Kitty has completely replaced my default terminal. The GPU acceleration makes scrolling through large logs feel instant and buttery smooth, which is a game-changer for my daily development work. The out-of-the-box ligature support makes my code look fantastic, and its …
C
Casey Davis
May 02, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
Fast and rich, but with some rough edges
Kitty's speed is incredible, and the built-in features like ligatures and true color support are fantastic for modern development. However, the configuration can feel rigid and non-standard compared to other terminals, and I've encountered occasional odd graphical glitches on macOS …
E
Emma Garcia
May 02, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
The terminal that finally makes me want to leave iTerm
Kitty's performance is genuinely transformative. Scrolling through large log files or running complex commands is buttery smooth thanks to its GPU acceleration. Features like ligatures and proper Unicode support work perfectly out of the box, which was a constant headache …
Rating Distribution
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