Ghostty

Fast native terminal

open sourceDevelopment

Ghostty is a terminal by Mitchell Hashimoto (HashiCorp co-founder): GPU rendering, native macOS interface, and sane defaults that need no config file. It launches instantly, sips memory, and requires no account. A great pick if Warp feels bloated.

Official site

// Install

Your Mac

Homebrew in /opt/homebrew

brew install --cask ghostty

// What it is for

A native macOS interface: real system tabs, panes, and full-screen mode, not a web wrapper
GPU rendering keeps scrolling through huge logs smooth
Configured by a single text file that lives in your dotfiles next to .zshrc
Starts almost instantly and barely uses memory in the background

// Common questions

Ghostty or iTerm2?

Ghostty is faster and feels more like a native app; iTerm2 goes deeper on configuration with triggers, tmux integration, and profiles that run launch commands. Pick Ghostty for speed, iTerm2 for depth.

Where does Ghostty keep its config?

In ~/.config/ghostty/config — a plain text file of key-value pairs. Keep it in your dotfiles repo and every new Mac gets your familiar terminal right after the clone.

// Alternatives

iTerm2Terminal replacement WarpAI-powered block terminal

// New Mac setup step

TerminalThe stock Terminal.app works, but you will spend hours in it. Pick one: Ghostty is the fastest and leanest, iTerm2 offers the deepest settings and a decade of trust, Warp brings blocks and AI suggestions.

All apps