What is the main difference between Alacritty and iTerm 2?

Alacritty and iTerm 2 are both terminal emulators but differ in their approach, features, and target audience. Compare their GitHub stats, technology stack, and community adoption to make the best choice.

Which is better: Alacritty or iTerm 2?

The choice between Alacritty and iTerm 2 depends on your specific needs, technical requirements, and team preferences. Both are quality open source solutions with active communities.

Can I migrate from Alacritty to iTerm 2?

Migration between Alacritty and iTerm 2 is possible but requires careful planning. Consider data export/import capabilities, feature parity, and potential workflow changes.

Stellar Hosted – Managed Open Source software hosting in the EU: secure, compliant, fast.

Start using Open Source today

Learn more

Alacritty vs iTerm 2

Learn how Alacritty and iTerm 2 differ in their key features, development activity, technology stack and community adoption, so you can decide which of these terminal emulators is best for you.

Alacritty

Modern cross-platform terminal emulator with OpenGL acceleration, extensive configuration options, and vi mode support for enhanced productivity.

Visit Alacritty Read more

Stars
64,051
Forks
3,458
Last commit
13 days ago
Repository age
10 years
License
Apache-2.0

View Repository

Auto-fetched 2 hours ago.

iTerm 2

Feature-rich terminal replacement for macOS with split panes, search, autocomplete, and extensive customization options for enhanced productivity.

Visit iTerm 2 Read more

Stars
17,549
Forks
1,379
Last commit
19 hours ago
Repository age
15 years
License
GPL-2.0

View Repository

Auto-fetched 2 hours ago.

Detailed Comparison

Both Alacritty and iTerm 2 have their unique strengths and serve similar purposes effectively. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.

Alacritty wins

Community & Popularity

Alacritty significantly outpaces iTerm 2 in community adoption with 64,051 stars compared to 17,549 stars on GitHub. This 3.6x difference suggests Alacritty has a much larger and more active community. In terms of developer contributions, Alacritty has 3,458 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.

Comparable

Development Activity

Both projects show recent activity, with Alacritty last updated 13 days ago and iTerm 2 19 hours ago.

Comparable

Technology Stack

Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with Bash. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Alacritty uses Rust, GLSL while iTerm 2 leverages JavaScript, CSS, Python, C, Objective-C, Ruby, C++, Swift, MATLAB.

iTerm 2 wins

Project Maturity

iTerm 2 has been in development longer, starting 15 years ago, compared to Alacritty which began 10 years ago. This 4.9-year head start suggests iTerm 2 may have more mature features and established processes.

Comparable

Licensing

The projects use different licenses: Alacritty is licensed under Apache-2.0 while iTerm 2 uses GPL-2.0. Consider the licensing requirements when choosing for your project.

Comparable