Terminal Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Terminal for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Tabby Terminal, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Terminal and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Terminal are OpenSSH, iTerm2, PowerShell and Kitty terminal.

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Terminal alternatives are mainly Terminal Emulators but may also be SSH Clients or Shells.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Terminal.
Terminal iconTerminal
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Terminal (also referred to as Terminal.app) is a terminal emulator included in Apple's Mac OS X operating system. It originated in Mac OS X's predecessors, NEXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, and allows the user to interact with...

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Terminal alternatives page was last updated Aug 3, 2024
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  1. Tabby Terminal icon
    Tabby Terminal icon

    Tabby Terminal

     95 likes
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    Tabby is an infinitely customizable cross-platform terminal app for local shells, serial, SSH and Telnet connections.

    97 Tabby Terminal alternatives
    Tabby Terminal screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Tabby Terminal screenshot 1
    Tabby Terminal screenshot 2

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  SSH
    2.  Support for SFTP
    3.  Command line interface
    4.  Multiple Servers
    5.  Dark Mode
    6.  Serial-port
    7.  Portable
    8.  Electron based
    9.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    10.  Works Offline
    11.  Tabbed interface
    12.  Ad-free
    13.  Syntax Highlighting
    14.  Support for scripting
    15.  Autocompletion
    16.  Persistent History
    Tabby Terminal iconTerminal Icon

    Tabby Terminal VS Terminal

    Is Tabby Terminal a good alternative to Terminal?
     

    • Tabby Terminal is the most popular Mac alternative to Terminal.

    • Tabby Terminal is Free and Open SourceTerminal is Free and Proprietary
    • Tabby Terminal is CustomizableTerminal is not according to our users
  2. OpenSSH icon
    OpenSSH icon

    OpenSSH

     371 likes
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    OpenSSH is a free version of the SSH connectivity tools that technical users rely on. OpenSSH encrypts all traffic (including passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other attacks.

    61 OpenSSH alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • iPhone
    • BSD
    • Cygwin
    • Haiku

    OpenSSH Features

    1.  SSH
    2.  Support for SFTP
    3.  Cross-Platform
    4.  Jailbreak required
    5.  Bundled with macOS
    OpenSSH iconTerminal Icon

    OpenSSH VS Terminal

    Is OpenSSH a good alternative to Terminal?
     
    Comments about OpenSSH as an Alternative to Terminal
     
    RemovedUser

    It's not a terminal emulator.

    Negative comment •Aug 3, 2024
    1
    Terminal Icon
    OpenSSH icon

    • OpenSSH is the most popular iPhone alternative to Terminal.

    • OpenSSH is Free and Open SourceTerminal is Free and Proprietary
  4. iTerm2 icon
    iTerm2 icon

    iTerm2

     166 likes
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    iTerm2 is a replacement for Terminal and the successor to iTerm. It works on Macs with macOS 10.10 or newer. iTerm2 brings the terminal into the modern age with features you never knew you always wanted.

    79 iTerm2 alternatives
    By Itself

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Autocomplete
    Split Panes
    +9
    Paste History

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  SSH
    2.  Integrated Search
    3.  Key binding
    4.  Supports Python
    5.  Support for scripting
    6.  Notifications
    7.  Multiple Profiles
    8.  Split windows
    9.  Quake-style
    10.  Multiple languages
    iTerm2 iconTerminal Icon

    iTerm2 VS Terminal

    Is iTerm2 a good alternative to Terminal?
     
    Comments about iTerm2 as an Alternative to Terminal
     
    Guest

    Cleaner interface, endless customisation with oh-my-zsh, works perfectly.

    Positive comment •Nov 22, 2017
    1
    quadratic

    iTerm2's UI is more clean and intuitive, but it still allows for more power and customization than the default terminal.

    Positive comment •Sep 10, 2018
    0
    Terminal Icon
    iTerm2 icon

    • Almost everyone thinks iTerm2 is a great Terminal alternative.

    • iTerm2 is Free and Open SourceTerminal is Free and Proprietary
    • iTerm2 is Customizable and LightweightTerminal is not according to our users
  5. PowerShell icon
    PowerShell icon

    PowerShell

     187 likes
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    PowerShell (including Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core) is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on the .NET Framework.

    65 PowerShell alternatives
    PowerShell screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    PowerShell Features

    1.  Support for scripting
    2.  PowerShell Scripting
    3.  Optimized for Windows
    4.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    5.  Autocompletion
    PowerShell iconTerminal Icon

    PowerShell VS Terminal

    Is PowerShell a good alternative to Terminal?
     
  6. Kitty terminal icon
    Kitty terminal icon

    Kitty terminal

     46 likes
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    Kitty ( not to be confused with KiTTY ) is a powerful, cross-platform GPU-based terminal emulator. It offloads rendering to the GPU and uses OpenGL for fast, cross-platform performance with built-in tiling layouts as well as graphic, unicode...

    79 Kitty terminal alternatives
    Kitty terminal screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Kitty terminal screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  GPU based
    2.  Font Ligature Support
    3.  Split-screen view
    4.  Command line interface
    5.  Tiling Layouts
    6.  Full keyboard shortcuts
    7.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    8.  Syntax Highlighting
    Kitty terminal iconTerminal Icon

    Kitty terminal VS Terminal

    Is Kitty terminal a good alternative to Terminal?
     
  7. Alacritty icon
    Alacritty icon

    Alacritty

     56 likes
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    Alacritty is a blazing fast, GPU accelerated terminal emulator. It’s written in Rust and uses OpenGL for rendering to be the fastest terminal emulator available. Alacritty is available on GitHub in source form.

    76 Alacritty alternatives
    Alacritty screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Alacritty screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  GPU Support
    2.  No input delay
    3.  Portable
    4.  Command line interface
    5.  Support for scripting
    6.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    Alacritty iconTerminal Icon

    Alacritty VS Terminal

    Is Alacritty a good alternative to Terminal?
     
  9. Wave Terminal icon
    Wave Terminal icon

    Wave Terminal

     12 likes
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    Wave is an open-source, AI-native terminal built for seamless developer workflows with inline rendering, a modern UI, and persistent sessions.

    59 Wave Terminal alternatives
    Render images inline with Wave plugins.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Windows
    Our integrated editor, codeedit—leveraging Monaco, the engine behind VSCode—enables inline editing of both local and remote files.
    Wave AI in the command box.
    +3
    Render PDFs inline with Wave plugins.

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Support for MarkDown
    4.  No registration required
    5.  Command line interface
    6.  Works Offline
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Dark Mode
    9.  Comma Separated Values
    10.  AI-Powered
    Wave Terminal iconTerminal Icon

    Wave Terminal VS Terminal

    Is Wave Terminal a good alternative to Terminal?
     
  10. Hyper icon
    Hyper icon

    Hyper

     79 likes
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    Hyper™ is a beautiful and extensible, cross-platform terminal built on open web standards. It provides an elegant command-line experience that is consistent across all supported platforms which includes macOS, Windows and various Linux distributions like Fedora and Debian.

    91 Hyper alternatives
    Splitting terminals

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Electron / Atom Shell
    Hyper screenshot 1
    Hyper screenshot 2
    +3
    Windows running WSL

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Command line interface
    3.  Electron based
    4.  Split-screen view
    5.  Tiling Panes
    6.  Uses Packages
    7.  Plugin API
    8.  Divisible
    9.  Skinnable
    10.  Multiple Font Colors
    Hyper iconTerminal Icon

    Hyper VS Terminal

    Is Hyper a good alternative to Terminal?
     
  11. Warp Terminal icon
    Warp Terminal icon

    Warp Terminal

     18 likes
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    Warp is a blazingly fast, Rust-based terminal that makes you and your team more productive at coding and DevOps.

    14 Warp Terminal alternatives
    Warp Terminal screenshot 1

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Warp Terminal screenshot 1
    Warp Terminal screenshot 2
    +3
    Warp Terminal screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Autocompletion
    2.  Command palette
    3.  Real time collaboration
    4.  Rust
    5.  Syntax Highlighting
    6.  Command line interface
    7.  Works Offline
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  Support for scripting
    10.  No registration required
    11.  Dark Mode
    Warp Terminal iconTerminal Icon

    Warp Terminal VS Terminal

    Is Warp Terminal a good alternative to Terminal?
     
  12. WezTerm icon
    WezTerm icon

    WezTerm

     16 likes
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    A GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal emulator and multiplexer written by @wez and implemented in Rust

    91 WezTerm alternatives
    WezTerm screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    WezTerm screenshot 1
    WezTerm screenshot 2

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  GPU Acceleration
    2.  Lua scripting
    3.  Hyperlinks
    4.  Font Ligature Support
    5.  WSL integreation
    6.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    7.  Support for scripting
    8.  Split tabs
    9.  Multi panel
    WezTerm iconTerminal Icon

    WezTerm VS Terminal

    Is WezTerm a good alternative to Terminal?
     
  13. WindTerm icon
    WindTerm icon

    WindTerm

     15 likes
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    A professional SSH/Telnet/Serial/Shell/Sftp client for DevOps.

    51 WindTerm alternatives
    WindTerm screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    WindTerm screenshot 1
    WindTerm screenshot 2

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Support for SFTP
    2.  SSH
    3.  Portable
    4.  X server
    5.  Syntax Highlighting
    6.  Command palette
    7.  Cross-Platform
    8.  Outliner
    WindTerm iconTerminal Icon

    WindTerm VS Terminal

    Is WindTerm a good alternative to Terminal?
     
  14. Cool Retro Term icon
    Cool Retro Term icon

    Cool Retro Term

     37 likes
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    Terminal emulator which mimics the look and feel of the old cathode tube screens, designed for eye-candy with lots of graphic options.

    51 Cool Retro Term alternatives
    Cool Retro Term screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Cool Retro Term screenshot 1
    Cool Retro Term screenshot 2

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Works Offline
    3.  Dark Mode
    4.  No registration required
    Cool Retro Term iconTerminal Icon

    Cool Retro Term VS Terminal

    Is Cool Retro Term a good alternative to Terminal?
     
12 of 36 Terminal alternatives