What is the main difference between Alacritty and Kitty?

Alacritty and Kitty 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 Kitty?

The choice between Alacritty and Kitty 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 Kitty?

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

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Alacritty vs Kitty

Learn how Alacritty and Kitty 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
64,882
Forks
3,518
Last commit
11 hours ago
Repository age
10 years
License
Apache-2.0

Activity score

98/100

View Repository

Kitty

High-performance terminal emulator with GPU acceleration, graphics support, and advanced scripting capabilities for developers and system administrators.

Visit Kitty Read more

Stars
33,872
Forks
1,423
Last commit
12 hours ago
Repository age
10 years
License
GPL-3.0

Activity score

95/100

View Repository

Detailed Comparison

Both Alacritty and Kitty 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 leads in popularity with 64,882 stars vs 33,872 stars for Kitty. The 92% higher star count indicates stronger community adoption. In terms of developer contributions, Alacritty has 3,518 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.

Comparable

Development Activity

Both projects show recent activity, with Alacritty last updated 11 hours ago and Kitty 12 hours ago.

Comparable

Technology Stack

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

Comparable

Project Maturity

Both projects started around the same time, with Alacritty beginning 10 years ago and Kitty 10 years ago.

Comparable

Licensing

The projects use different licenses: Alacritty is licensed under Apache-2.0 while Kitty uses GPL-3.0. Consider the licensing requirements when choosing for your project.

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