Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Kitty terminal VS ConEmu

Compare Kitty terminal VS ConEmu and see what are their differences

Kitty terminal logo Kitty terminal

Super fast, GPU and OpenGL based terminal emulator with tiling support

ConEmu logo ConEmu

ConEmu-Maximus5 is a full-featured local terminal for Windows devs, admins and users. Get better console window with tabs, splits, Quake style, copy+paste, DosBox and PuTTY integration, and much more.
  • Kitty terminal Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-21
  • ConEmu Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-22

Kitty terminal features and specs

  • Performance
    Kitty is designed to be a fast and efficient terminal, with support for GPU rendering. This can provide smoother and quicker display updates, especially beneficial for intensive command-line tasks.
  • Features
    Kitty offers a rich set of features including support for tabs, multiple layouts, and extensions. It also supports features like ligatures, image display, and sixel graphics.
  • Customization
    Kitty is highly customizable, allowing users to modify key bindings, color schemes, and more through its comprehensive configuration files.
  • Remote Control
    Kitty provides a remote control framework, which allows users to script and control the terminal from the command line or other external programs.
  • Platform Support
    Kitty is available on multiple platforms including Linux, macOS, and Windows (through WSL), making it versatile for various operating systems.
  • Active Development
    The terminal is actively maintained by its developers, ensuring regular updates, bug fixes, and the addition of new features.

Possible disadvantages of Kitty terminal

  • Learning Curve
    Given its extensive feature set and customization options, there can be a steep learning curve for new users unfamiliar with its configuration and advanced features.
  • Configuration Complexity
    The extensive customization options, while powerful, can be overwhelming and may require a considerable amount of time to configure to a user's liking.
  • Font Support
    Although Kitty supports font ligatures and several other advanced font features, some users have reported occasional issues with font rendering and compatibility.
  • Resource Usage
    While designed for performance, the use of GPU rendering can mean higher resource usage compared to simpler terminals, which might be noticeable on older hardware.
  • Documentation
    Though extensive, the documentation can sometimes be challenging to navigate for new users, making it harder to find specific information or solutions to particular problems.
  • No Native Windows Support
    Kitty does not have native Windows support; it runs on Windows through the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). This might not be ideal for users looking for a fully native Windows terminal experience.

ConEmu features and specs

  • Customizability
    ConEmu offers a high degree of customizability, allowing users to tailor the interface, keyboard shortcuts, colors, and behavior to suit their workflow.
  • Tab Management
    The application supports multiple tabs, permitting users to manage various command-line sessions within a single window, enhancing multitasking capabilities.
  • Integrations
    ConEmu can integrate with various shells such as Command Prompt, PowerShell, Git Bash, Cygwin, and more, thus making it a versatile tool for a wide range of needs.
  • Quake-style Mode
    This feature allows users to quickly summon and hide the terminal with a specific key combination, similar to the drop-down console in Quake games.
  • Split View
    ConEmu offers split-view functionality, which allows users to see and interact with multiple terminal panes simultaneously.
  • Portable Mode
    The application can be used in portable mode, enabling users to carry their ConEmu settings and preferences across different machines without installation.

Possible disadvantages of ConEmu

  • Complex Setup
    For new users, the initial configuration can be somewhat complex and may require a steep learning curve to leverage all features effectively.
  • Windows Only
    ConEmu is exclusive to the Windows operating system, limiting its usage for individuals who work across multiple OS platforms.
  • Resource Intensive
    Compared to some lightweight terminal emulators, ConEmu can be more demanding on system resources, which may be a concern for users on lower-end hardware.
  • Occasional Stability Issues
    Some users have reported occasional crashes or instability, particularly when dealing with complex configurations or extensive usage.
  • Lack of Built-in SSH
    Unlike some terminal emulators, ConEmu does not come with built-in SSH capabilities, necessitating the use of third-party tools for SSH sessions.

Analysis of Kitty terminal

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Kitty is a highly regarded terminal emulator that is considered good by many users.

Why this product is good

  • Kitty is fast, feature-rich, and supports GPU rendering, which can improve performance. It is highly customizable, supports modern terminal features, and has a friendly and active community. Additionally, it supports features like tabs, layouts, and window management, which many users find convenient.

Recommended for

  • Users who require a fast and efficient terminal emulator.
  • Those who need advanced features and customization options.
  • Developers who appreciate GPU acceleration for rendering.
  • Anyone looking for a terminal emulator with active community support.

Analysis of ConEmu

Overall verdict

  • Yes, ConEmu is a good option for users seeking a powerful and customizable terminal emulator on Windows. Its feature-rich environment and active development community make it a solid choice.

Why this product is good

  • ConEmu is considered a good terminal emulator because it offers a wide range of features including extensive customization options, support for multiple tabs, and compatibility with various shells such as PowerShell, Command Prompt, and WSL. It enhances productivity by allowing users to configure hotkeys, split the terminal window, and create complex workflows, making it a versatile tool for developers and system administrators.

Recommended for

    ConEmu is recommended for developers, system administrators, and power users who need a flexible and feature-rich terminal emulator. It's particularly useful for users who frequently work with multiple command-line tools or need advanced window management capabilities.

Kitty terminal videos

Kitty Is A Fast And Feature Rich Terminal Emulator

ConEmu videos

Development Tools: ConEmu

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Kitty terminal and ConEmu)
SSH
36 36%
64% 64
Terminal Tools
50 50%
50% 50
Server Management
29 29%
71% 71
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Kitty terminal and ConEmu

Kitty terminal Reviews

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ConEmu Reviews

7 Best Free Terminal Emulators For Windows 10/11 in 2022
It is free and open-source software that is built on the popular console emulator known as ConEmu. It is used to add enhancements from clink that provide bash style completion. Moreover, it also presents UNIX capabilities by extending them with PowerShell, MinnTTY, myysgit and Cygwin.
30 best PuTTY alternatives for SSH clients for 2020
Cmder is a straight-forward terminal emulator for Windows. The program runs on Windows and it is a combination of the ConEmu terminal emulation program with a Unix-like scripting language that works on Windows. The terminal emulator doesn’t have any encryption, so it would only be suitable for connections on private networks. The tool also lacks a file transfer system.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Kitty terminal should be more popular than ConEmu. It has been mentiond 93 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Kitty terminal mentions (93)

  • Optimizing My Dev Workflow in 2025
    Initially, I used the Mac's built-in Terminal, but encountered issues with font loading. This led me to explore alternative terminal options. I initially chose Kitty, but after the official release of Ghostty, I made the switch. It has been running flawlessly for me. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • iTerm2 Critical Security Fix
    Kitty (https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty) has been my go to for many years and with tmux it's fantastic. I have heard a lot of great things about https://ghostty.org/ but haven't had a chance to check it out. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Preview images, videos, fonts, PDFs ... in Vifm.
    The terminal I am currently using is st but I have also tested this "Vifm" enhancement in kitty and alacritty. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Show HN: Shpool, a Lightweight Tmux Alternative
    Oh, this might be the missing piece of the puzzle for me to get rid of tmux! I've been using screen/tmux for a long time. Recently I switched to kitty[0] locally. I like kitty a lot! But I've been stuck with tmux on my servers for session persistence. [0]: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
    Besides the usual Firefox/Chrome, Spotify, etc I use the following: - Karabiner-Elements for key remapping, specifically, for making caps lock into ctrl/esc. I don't know of anything else that does this job. Everyone who remaps keys seems to use this. - Kitty as my terminal of choice. I spend most of my time logged in remotely to a server via ssh where I attach to a tmux session. Kitty was easy enough to... - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
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ConEmu mentions (19)

  • Dos Navigator – an orthodox file manager
    The sources for the awesome Dos Navigator are published on Github. An updated fork named Necromancer's Dos Navigator [NDN] can be found here: http://ndn.muxe.com/ An alternative to DN/NDN, that is in active development, is Far Manager: https://www.farmanager.com/ All of them, especially Far, work well in ConEmu (https://conemu.github.io/) or cmder (https://cmder.app/) Maybe interested people or nostalgic ones can... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Any user with Win 7 user + Vim at terminal+airline_with_Powerline_symbols?
    On Windows 7 your best bet is to install a modern terminal emulator like ConEmu: https://conemu.github.io/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • The amount of times I have accidentally done this...
    On my work system I have local admin but Windows Store is blocked by policy. One of my coworkers over on the DBA team had me install ConEmu which has some nice features similar to to Windows Terminal. Also, Posh-Git is a nice addition to have on top. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Name the tools you can't live without!
    Conemu if your a fan of that quake style terminal and tabbed terminals. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Steps of entering the IT world? Learn Python Or Operating systems first?
    If you do, try out this thing; https://conemu.github.io/. Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Kitty terminal and ConEmu, you can also consider the following products

wezterm - GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal emulator and multiplexer made with Rust.

MobaXterm - Enhanced terminal for Windows with X11 server, tabbed SSH client, network tools and much more

iTerm2 - A terminal emulator for macOS that does amazing things.

PuTTY - Popular free terminal application. Mostly used as an SSH client.

Tabby.sh - Tabby is a free and open source SSH, local and Telnet terminal with everything you'll ever need.

GNOME Terminal - GNOME Terminal is a terminal emulator for GNOME desktop.