What it is
A macOS/Linux terminal emulator written in Zig. GPU-rendered, native UI, no Electron. Config is a flat key=value file.
Performance
Scrollback through 100k lines of output: Ghostty is instant. iTerm2 hitches visibly. This alone justifies the switch for log-heavy work.
Config experience
font-family = "JetBrains Mono"
font-size = 14
theme = "catppuccin-mocha"
window-padding-x = 12
Simple, discoverable, reloads without restart.
Missing pieces
- No session manager (use tmux/zellij)
- No built-in SSH tab management
- macOS app is sandboxed — some shell integrations need workarounds
Verdict
My daily terminal on macOS. The performance advantage over iTerm2 is real and consistent.