$ termdex

Terminal · Kovid Goyal

Kitty

GPU-based terminal for Linux, macOS and BSD with tabs, split layouts, a remote-control API and Python kittens. Its ssh kitten wraps system ssh to set up shell integration and copy files.

Official site

~/facts

platforms
macOSLinux
price
FreeFree (seen 2026-10-20); no price on the site, GPL-3.0 on GitHub, development funded by donations
source
Open sourceLicence: GPL-3.0
github
kovidgoyal/kitty 35.4k stars, seen 2026-10-20

~/features

✓ documented · – absent or not in its feature list · ? not verified

+ strengths

  • 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

! weak points

  • No Windows support is documented in the pages read
  • ssh kitten is a wrapper, not a client: it needs system OpenSSH, can fail or run slowly on BSD hosts with limited shells, and typing before the remote prompt may be lost
  • Remote persistence is not provided; the FAQ says kitty does what tmux does except remote persistence

~/who it is for

best for
Linux or macOS users who want a scriptable GPU terminal with built-in layouts instead of tmux locally.
look elsewhere if
Windows users, or anyone wanting a saved-host SSH manager with SFTP and tunnels.

~/sources

Checked 2026-10-20. Prices and features change; the vendor's page is the authority.

Not verified