Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

wezterm VS iTerm2

Compare wezterm VS iTerm2 and see what are their differences

wezterm logo wezterm

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

iTerm2 logo iTerm2

A terminal emulator for macOS that does amazing things.
  • wezterm Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-02
  • iTerm2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-10-29

wezterm features and specs

  • Performance
    WezTerm is known for its high performance and low resource usage, making it suitable for heavy terminal workloads.
  • Cross-Platform
    WezTerm supports multiple operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing for a consistent terminal experience across different environments.
  • Modern Features
    It offers modern features like GPU acceleration, ligature support, and configurable color schemes, providing a better user experience.
  • Extensibility
    WezTerm is highly configurable and extensible through its Lua scripting interface, letting users tailor the terminal to their workflow.
  • Multiplexing
    It has built-in support for terminal multiplexing, which allows users to split windows and manage multiple terminal sessions more efficiently.
  • Active Development
    The project is actively maintained and regularly updated with new features and bug fixes.

Possible disadvantages of wezterm

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The extensive configurability and scripting capabilities can be overwhelming for new users who are not familiar with Lua or advanced terminal configurations.
  • Sparse Documentation
    The documentation, while improving, is still not as comprehensive as some other terminals, which can make initial setup and customization challenging.
  • Young Project
    Being relatively newer compared to some other terminal emulators, it may lack some features that long-established users might expect.
  • Limited Community Support
    Due to its younger status and niche user base, there might be less community support and fewer third-party resources compared to more mature terminal emulators.

iTerm2 features and specs

  • Versatility
    iTerm2 supports a wide range of features such as split panes, multiple tab management, and hotkey-activated terminal windows, making it highly versatile for different workflows.
  • Customization
    Offers extensive customization options, including themes, color schemes, and key bindings, allowing users to tailor the terminal to their preferences.
  • Advanced Features
    Includes advanced functionality like instant replay, which allows users to rewind their terminal session, and integration with automation tools like AppleScript.
  • Performance
    Designed to be efficient and responsive, ensuring it performs well even with multiple sessions and tabs open simultaneously.
  • Integrations
    Seamless integration with macOS features such as native notifications, fullscreen mode, and support for external editors.
  • Community Support
    Active community and comprehensive documentation, which can be very helpful for troubleshooting and learning advanced configurations.

Possible disadvantages of iTerm2

  • Mac-Only
    iTerm2 is exclusive to macOS, which means users on other operating systems cannot utilize its features.
  • Complexity
    The sheer number of features and customization options can be overwhelming for beginners, requiring a learning curve to utilize efficiently.
  • System Resource Usage
    iTerm2 may consume more system resources compared to simpler terminal emulators, which could be a concern on lower-end hardware.
  • Update Frequency
    Occasional updates can introduce bugs or unexpected behavior, requiring users to adjust settings or find workarounds.

wezterm videos

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iTerm2 videos

Customizing iterm2 with ZSH and PowerLevel9k | Z shell Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to wezterm and iTerm2)
SSH
40 40%
60% 60
Terminal Tools
44 44%
56% 56
Server Management
34 34%
66% 66
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare wezterm and iTerm2

wezterm Reviews

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iTerm2 Reviews

  1. Useful

    I've had so many problems with terminal in my Mac.. thanks for this tool. It's like really useful

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Fast|Convenience|Fastest, safest, and cheapest
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    None

MobaXterm for Mac: Best Alternatives to MobaXterm for Mac
You can choose a Hotkey and register it as a shortcut to open the iTerm2. When you are using other application, just press the Hotkey and it will bring iTerm (terminal) to the foreground of your screen. So the iTerm2 is the best alternative to MobaXterm for Mac which will be always available for you.
30 best PuTTY alternatives for SSH clients for 2020
The iTerm2 system is available for Macs. Specifically, the program can run on Mac OS 10.10 and higher. This interface shows different terminal sessions through a split screen method, allowing you to tile sessions side by side. To lessen confusion, the active panel shows in full resolution, while the others dimmed. You can set up keyboard shortcuts to navigate through the...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, iTerm2 should be more popular than wezterm. It has been mentiond 111 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.

wezterm mentions (47)

  • Make Wezterm Mimic Tmux
    A month ago, I came across WezTerm, a new GPU-accelerated, cross-platform terminal emulator written in Rust (and Iโ€™m not a Rust fanboy, for real!). It piqued my interest, so I decided to give it a try. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • In your opinion, what is the text-editor equivalent of Openbox?
    2) Examples of text editors that make use of features of the gui window manager the text editor is run under: gvim, gedit, leafpad[5], overleaf[6] 3) text editor with 'run-time' presentation extension of protocols such as html : vim live server[7] 4) write one's own custom interface to use with bashed[8] ---- [0] : intro to terminal multiplexers (part 1) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0upAE692fY [1] :... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Executable Blog Posts: Second Take
    I used Lua for years to configure my awesomewm desktop environment. Then, I started using it to configure my Wezterm. Since I bumped into an Emacs bug (lsp-mode bug to be fair), I switched quickly to Neovim after 20 years of Emacs, and I am using Lua to configure my Neovim. Last but not least, OpenResty gives my Nginx superpowers with Lua. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • WezTerm: an actually good config key binding recipe
    While WezTerm is a great terminal with sane defaults, it doesn't provide The default key binding to open the configuration file and edit it. That is Understandable, everyone may have their own preference for that. Here we will Figure out the recipe that would work everywhere and abide by modern standards. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Superfile โ€“ A fancy, petty terminal file manager
    I very well might be in the minority of Linux users, but I don't particularly care about the answers to most of these questions. I just want it to work. Give me solid defaults[0]. I'm not saying you shouldn't be able to override those defaults. That's an important feature of Linux. My first experience running a cool-looking TUI file manager yesterday (I actually ended up trying yazi first) was that I got a lot of... - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
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iTerm2 mentions (111)

  • Must-have apps and services in 2024
    iTerm + fish. I wrote a post explaining my environment settings. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Unavoidable developer tools
    ๐ŸŽ macOS: The default Terminal.app is widely used, but iTerm2 is often preferred for its rich feature set and customization options. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Ask HN: How can I experiment with LLMs with a old machine?
    Make yourself comfortable with https://blogs.oracle.com/database/post/freedom-to-build-announcing-oracle-cloud-free-tier-with-new-always-free-services-and-always-free-oracle-autonomous-database https://gist.github.com/rssnyder/51e3cfedd730e7dd5f4a816143b25dbd https://www.reddit.com/r/oraclecloud/ or any other offer. Deploy some minimal Linux on them, or use what's offered. Plus optionally, if you don't want to... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Honukai Color Theme Goes IDE
    Honukai has long been my favorite iTerm, Oh My ZSH color theme, and I just assumed it existed for other use cases. But alas, I had to create them for myself. I adapted Oskar's work for Tabby terminal, ZED IDE and VS Code. You can get the files here. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • (Youtube blogpost) Building Tree Link app with Svelte and Tailwind CSS
    iTerm2 is a fast terminal emulator for macOS. Install one of Nerd Fonts for displaying fancy glyphs on your terminal. My current choice is Hack. And use it on your terminal app. For example, on iTerm2:. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing wezterm and iTerm2, you can also consider the following products

Konsole - Konsole is a free terminal emulator which is part of KDE Software Compilation.

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

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

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

KiTTY - KiTTY is a fork from version 0.70 of PuTTY. It adds extra features to PuTTY.

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.