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Windows Terminal VS Ghostty

Compare Windows Terminal VS Ghostty and see what are their differences

Contents:
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  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

Windows Terminal logo Windows Terminal

A new command line interface for Windows machines

Ghostty logo Ghostty

A fast, feature-rich, and cross-platform terminal emulator
  • Windows Terminal Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-10
Not present

Windows Terminal features and specs

  • Unified Interface
    Windows Terminal provides a single interface to access Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Azure Cloud Shell, making it easier to manage multiple command-line tools in one place.
  • Customizable
    The terminal supports a wide range of customization options including themes, colors, and font styles, which allows users to personalize their terminal environment.
  • Tabbed Interface
    The inclusion of tabs allows users to open multiple terminal sessions in a single window, significantly improving multitasking capabilities.
  • Performance
    Built using modern frameworks and technologies, Windows Terminal offers enhanced performance and responsiveness compared to older terminal applications.
  • Regular Updates
    Being an actively developed open-source project, Windows Terminal benefits from regular updates that introduce new features and fix issues.
  • Rich Text and Emoji Support
    The terminal supports rich text, Unicode, and emojis, enhancing the user experience when working with diverse content.
  • Integration with Modern Development Tools
    Seamless integration with modern development tools enhances workflows for developers and IT professionals.

Possible disadvantages of Windows Terminal

  • Learning Curve
    The extensive range of features and customization options can be overwhelming for new users, requiring time to learn and adapt.
  • Resource Usage
    Compared to traditional terminals, Windows Terminal can consume more system resources due to its advanced features and graphical interface.
  • Occasional Instability
    As an evolving project, users might encounter occasional bugs or stability issues, especially with new updates.
  • Limited Backward Compatibility
    Some older scripts and legacy applications might not be fully compatible with Windows Terminal, requiring adjustments.
  • Dependency on Modern Windows Versions
    Windows Terminal requires a modern version of Windows (Windows 10 or later), making it unavailable for users on older systems.
  • Configuration Complexity
    Advanced configuration might require editing JSON files, which can be complex and error-prone for less experienced users.

Ghostty features and specs

  • Easy-to-Use Interface
    Ghostty offers a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate, making it accessible for users of all experience levels.
  • Enhanced Privacy
    The platform emphasizes user privacy, ensuring that personal data is kept secure and not shared without consent.
  • Multiple Platforms Supported
    Ghostty supports a wide range of platforms, allowing users to connect and share content across different networks seamlessly.
  • Customizable Features
    Users have the option to customize settings and features, enabling them to tailor their experience to their specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of Ghostty

  • Limited Free Version
    The free version of Ghostty offers limited features, which may restrict functionality for users not willing to upgrade to a paid plan.
  • Occasional Downtime
    Some users have reported occasional downtime or connectivity issues, which can disrupt the user experience.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic interface is easy to use, some advanced features require a learning curve and may be more complex for new users.
  • Subscription Cost
    Users may find the subscription cost for premium features to be relatively high compared to similar services.

Analysis of Windows Terminal

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Windows Terminal is regarded as a significant improvement over the traditional Command Prompt or other native terminals in Windows. It offers a more contemporary experience that caters to the needs of developers and advanced users, improving productivity with its robust feature set.

Why this product is good

  • Windows Terminal is considered good by many users due to its modern and customizable interface, support for multiple tabs and panes, and integration with various shells like PowerShell, Command Prompt, and WSL. It provides features such as GPU accelerated text rendering, background transparency, and extensive configuration options through a settings JSON file. Additionally, it supports a wide range of character sets and symbols, making it versatile for developers and power users.

Recommended for

    Windows Terminal is highly recommended for developers, IT professionals, and power users who frequently use command-line tools and require a more flexible and efficient terminal environment.

Windows Terminal videos

+ Add

Windows Terminal Review and Customization Tricks

More videos:

  • Review - The NEW Windows Terminal is Finally Released! - Here's Why It's Awesome
  • Review - The New Windows Terminal ROCKS! Let's customize it!

Ghostty videos

+ Add

Ghostty is Probably The Best Terminal Emulator I've Ever Used

More videos:

  • Review - so i tried ghostty...
  • Review - Ghostty is a Fast and Feature-Rich Terminal

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Windows Terminal and Ghostty)

Windows Terminal

Ghostty

SSH
86 86%
SSH
14% 14
Terminal Tools
84 84%
Terminal Tools
16% 16
Server Management
82 82%
Server Management
18% 18
Developer Tools
100 100%
Developer Tools
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ghostty should be more popular than Windows Terminal. It has been mentiond 4 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.

Windows Terminal mentions (2)

  • Blocking all Calculators with windows server GPOs
    Note that you'd need to block your users from Command Prompt (cmd.exe), PowerShell and the PowerShell ISE (32 and 64 flavours for both) PS> 7*12-9 returns 75, making sure it also blocks access via Windows Terminal (or Windows Terminal is disallowed from installation/execution). Source: over 3 years ago
  • Windows Terminal - What is it, and how can it make you productive with Azure?
    I'm amazed that as I'm writing this, that Windows Terminal is almost two years old now! Windows Terminal was first announced in May 2019 in an early release stage, and later available in preview that Summer through the Microsoft Store. Windows Terminal is a modern app, decoupling the concept of a terminal and a shell, allowing you to spin up the shell that you prefer to use in a friendly, fast and productive... - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

Ghostty mentions (4)

  • Compiling a Neural Net to C for a 1,744× speedup
    That's why I say it is about being lazy. I'm writing the way I do because I know that whether it is tomorrow, next week, or 6 months from now, I'm going to need to make changes that are going to make things very different from where they are today. I don't think of it so much as having foresight about the future so much as I'm just frustrated at having to constantly dig myself out of a hole and this makes that a... - Source: Hacker News / 8 days ago
  • 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
  • TIL: Ghostty — a new and quite promising terminal emulator
    At the same time, in the internal Slack of the company I work for, my colleague asked the security team whether we have any policies about the apps, as they'd like to start using Ghostty as their terminal emulator. I took a look at it, and it immediately caught my attention: a fresh look, a zero-config setup, platform-native UI (discovered in details in the “Ghostty Is Native—So What?” post by Gregory Anders) and... - Source: dev.to / 5 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

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Windows Terminal and Ghostty, you can also consider the following products

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

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

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

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

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

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

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