Performance Numbers
| Emulator | Startup Time (ms) | Memory at Rest (MB) | Scrollback Perf | GPU Rendering |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghostty 1.1 | 48 | 38 | Excellent | Metal |
| Alacritty 0.14 | 62 | 41 | Excellent | OpenGL |
| Kitty 0.35 | 95 | 64 | Good | OpenGL |
| Wezterm (nightly) | 140 | 82 | Good | WebGPU |
| Internal testing · April 2026 · macOS 15.3, M3 Pro | ||||
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Ghostty | Alacritty | Kitty | Wezterm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in multiplexer | No | No | Yes | Yes (tabs+panes) |
| Config format | Custom (simple) | TOML | Python | Lua |
| Image protocol | Yes | No | Kitty protocol | Yes |
| Ligature support | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Native macOS feel | Strong | Minimal | Minimal | Moderate |
Font Rendering Notes
Font rendering is subjective. We tested JetBrains Mono and Fira Code at 13px and 14px.
Ghostty: Best subpixel rendering on macOS of the four. Ligatures render cleanly. At small sizes, text feels crisper than the others. This is subjective but consistent across multiple people on our team.
Alacritty: Rendering is clean but ligatures are unsupported by design. If you use a ligature font, you'll see individual characters. Some people prefer this; it's a deliberate choice.
Kitty: Solid rendering. The Kitty image protocol means terminal image display works better here than anywhere else if you're using tools that support it (like timg or Neovim image plugins).
Wezterm: WebGPU rendering is good but the startup cost is real. Font rendering is comparable to Kitty. The Lua config gives you more control over rendering options than any of the others.
What We Use
This is opinion, clearly labelled. @mschubert_dev switched to Ghostty from iTerm2 in Q4 2025 and hasn't gone back. The performance numbers and the macOS-native feel are the reasons. @rkovacs_ml uses Kitty for the image protocol support (ML work involves looking at plots). Neither of us uses Wezterm, though its configuration flexibility would make it the choice if we needed significant customization.
Alacritty is a reasonable minimalist choice, especially if you're on Linux. The memory numbers are competitive and the simplicity is real. The lack of ligatures is a genuine trade-off if you've been using a ligature font.