Alacritty vs Kitty
A side-by-side of two tools in the same category. Facts come from each vendor's own pages, checked 2026-10-21.
| Alacritty | Kitty | |
|---|---|---|
| platforms | macOSWindowsLinux | macOSLinux |
| price | FreeFree (seen 2026-10-20); no price on the site, Apache-2.0/MIT on GitHub | FreeFree (seen 2026-10-20); no price on the site, GPL-3.0 on GitHub, development funded by donations |
| source | Open source | Open source |
| SSH | – no | ✓ yes |
| Tabs | – no | ✓ yes |
| Split panes | – no | ✓ yes |
| SFTP | – no | – no |
| Port forwarding | – no | ? not verified |
| Scripting / API | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| AI agents | – no | – no |
| MCP | – no | – no |
| Cloud sync | – no | – no |
Kitty is stronger at
- ssh kitten wraps ssh with per-host settings in ssh.conf: environment variables, file copy, shell integration and terminfo on the remote
- Scriptable with kitten @ remote control over a UNIX socket, plus Python kittens for diff, icat, file transfer and more
- Multiple layouts including Splits, Stack, Tall and Grid, plus the kitty graphics protocol for inline images
Alacritty is stronger at
- Same TOML-configured terminal on BSD, Linux, macOS and Windows (Windows needs ConPTY, build 1809+)
- Vi mode, scrollback search and regex hints for keyboard-driven selection and link opening
- Multi-window mode runs several windows in one process to save resources
which to pick
- pick Kitty if
- Linux or macOS users who want a scriptable GPU terminal with built-in layouts instead of tmux locally.
- pick Alacritty if
- Users who want a lean terminal and already handle layouts with tmux or a tiling window manager.
- skip Kitty if
- Windows users, or anyone wanting a saved-host SSH manager with SFTP and tunnels.
- skip Alacritty if
- Anyone who wants built-in tabs, splits, saved SSH hosts or a GUI settings screen.