Kitty vs WezTerm
Learn how Kitty and WezTerm 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.
Learn how Kitty and WezTerm 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.
Kitty
Last 30 days
Last commit
10 hours agoRepository age
10 yearsVersion
v0.48.2License
GPL-3.0Repository
kovidgoyal/kitty
WezTerm
Last 30 days
Last commit
13 hours agoRepository age
9 yearsLicense
MITRepository
wezterm/wezterm
Detailed Comparison
Both Kitty and WezTerm have their unique strengths and serve similar purposes effectively. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, growth, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.
Both Kitty and WezTerm have their unique strengths and serve similar purposes effectively. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, growth, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.
Community & Popularity
Both tools have similar popularity levels, with Kitty having 34,759 stars and WezTerm having 28,755 stars on GitHub. In terms of developer contributions, WezTerm has 1,705 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.
Growth Momentum
WezTerm is growing faster, adding 556 stars in the last 30 days (+2%) against adding 501 stars for Kitty (+1.5%). WezTerm is the smaller project of the two, so it is closing the gap rather than extending a lead.
Development Activity
Both projects show recent activity, with Kitty last updated 10 hours ago and WezTerm 13 hours ago.
Technology Stack
Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with JavaScript, CSS, Bash, Python, C, Objective-C, GLSL. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Kitty uses Golang, MATLAB while WezTerm leverages Rust.
Project Maturity
Kitty has been in development longer, starting 10 years ago, compared to WezTerm which began 9 years ago. This 1.3-year head start suggests Kitty may have more mature features and established processes.
Licensing
WezTerm uses the MIT license, which is more permissive than Kitty's GPL-3.0 license, potentially offering greater flexibility for commercial use and integration.
Use Cases & Features
Both tools serve similar use cases in Terminal Emulators. However, they also have distinct specializations: WezTerm extends into Terminal Multiplexers.
Sevalla – Deploy your app before your coffee gets cold. It’s that easy. Try Sevalla with $50 free credit.