Ghostty vs WezTerm
A side-by-side of two tools in the same category. Facts come from each vendor's own pages, checked 2026-10-21.
| Ghostty | WezTerm | |
|---|---|---|
| platforms | macOSLinux | macOSWindowsLinux |
| price | FreeFree (seen 2026-10-20); sponsor page states it is free and open source, donation-funded | FreeFree (seen 2026-10-20); no price on the site, MIT license on GitHub, sponsor page linked |
| source | Open source | Open source |
| SSH | – no | ✓ yes |
| Tabs | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| Split panes | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| SFTP | – no | – no |
| Port forwarding | – no | – no |
| Scripting / API | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| AI agents | – no | – no |
| MCP | – no | – no |
| Cloud sync | – no | – no |
WezTerm is stronger at
- Embedded SSH client (wezterm ssh): new tabs and panes reuse the existing session channel, so no repeated authentication
- Multiplexer domains (Unix, SSH, TLS) keep remote tabs alive; TLS domains reconnect automatically after a drop
- Same Lua-configured terminal on Windows, macOS, Linux and BSD, with a built-in serial port command
Ghostty is stronger at
- Native windows, tabs and splits (Metal on macOS, OpenGL on Linux), with hundreds of bundled themes and light/dark auto-switching
- Supports the Kitty graphics and keyboard protocols, ligatures and grapheme clustering
- ssh-terminfo shell integration installs its terminfo entry on remote hosts on first connect and falls back to xterm-256color on failure
which to pick
- pick WezTerm if
- Users who want one Lua-scripted terminal with built-in multiplexing and SSH on Windows, macOS and Linux.
- pick Ghostty if
- Mac or Linux users who want a fast native terminal with sensible defaults and little configuration.
- skip WezTerm if
- People who want a GUI host manager, SFTP browser or tunnel manager.
- skip Ghostty if
- Windows users, or anyone who wants saved SSH hosts, SFTP or tunnels built into the terminal.