{"slug": "terminal-app", "name": "Terminal.app", "category": "terminal", "category_name": "Terminal and shell", "description": "Apple's built-in terminal emulator that ships with macOS.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 10, "warners": 2, "score": 3.442, "rising": 1.02, "first": "2025-11-04", "latest": "2026-10-28", "why": "HN commenters like it as a tidy, built-in macOS terminal that is good enough for simple needs, especially paired with tmux, with handy Cmd+F search and rare support for DEC double-width modes.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2], "listed": true, "loved": ["Simple, good enough", "Cmd+F search"], "caveat": "Slow rendering", "short_quote": "terminal.app. It is fast and that is basically all i need from a terminal emulator", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://support.apple.com/guide/terminal/welcome/mac", "pricing": "free", "aliases": ["Terminal.app", "Terminal"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like it as a tidy, built-in macOS terminal that is good enough for simple needs, especially paired with tmux,", "cites": [{"id": 778407508, "item_id": 48650469, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48650469", "by": "kdtsh", "date": "2026-06-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Terminal - it\u2019s tidy and works well. Many swear by iTerm2; I find Terminal good", "excerpt": "Homebrew and mise-en-place are the only must have apps for me (both of which are not .app applications). Everything else is pretty well context-dependant and/or built in. For me, the better-than-you-think built in apps are: - Reminders - I haven\u2019t gone all in on any other task management software, but I don\u2019t bother because Reminders does everything I need - Mail - it is fiddly and idiot proof to a fault, but provide", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?"}, {"id": 732952672, "item_id": 45809542, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45809542", "by": "dmaa", "date": "2025-11-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "terminal.app. It is fast and that is basically all i need from a terminal emulator", "excerpt": "I used iterm2 for ages, but then somehow defaulted to terminal.app. It is fast and that is basically all i need from a terminal emulator, everything else is taken care of by tmux.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulator", "switched_from": "iTerm2", "story": "State of Terminal Emulators in 2025: The Errant Champions"}, {"id": 804230657, "item_id": 50264416, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264416", "by": "commandersaki", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I don't ask much from a terminal as evidenced by using Terminal.app for almost 2 decades", "excerpt": "I don't know about the others as I used Terminal.app on mac since Panther, but Ghostty has been a pretty good upgrade, at first offering 24-bit colour which Terminal.app didn't have at the time of its release. I also like the shell integration such as easy selection of command output. I don't ask much from a terminal as evidenced by using Terminal.app for almost 2 decades, but Ghostty has not once been an issue and i", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}]}, {"text": " with handy Cmd+F search and rare support for DEC double-width modes.", "cites": [{"id": 755332705, "item_id": 47208294, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47208294", "by": "thallavajhula", "date": "2026-03-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the lack of support for the CMD+F feature that I use Terminal.app", "excerpt": "When Ghostty was publicly announced, I used it for a few months and gave up on it due to the lack of support for the CMD+F feature that I use Terminal.app. This is a critical feature for me while tailing logs on my local. I tried the workaround of capturing the text into a text file and then searching it. It just didn't work for my workflow and dropped it. Ghostty is great otherwise. But, without the CMD+F, it's of n", "context": "", "use_case": "tailing logs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty \u2013 Terminal Emulator"}, {"id": 802605410, "item_id": 50162838, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "by": "rbanffy", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "their terminal is one of the very few that respect double-wide and double-height DEC modes", "excerpt": "I have been using corporate issue Macs for more than a decade now and, while the software isn\u2019t perfect, it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS. It\u2019s a bit rough around the edges, with some apps getting closer in feature set to their mobile counterparts (and thus less flexible), but they are still good compared to their Windows and Unix competitors. Apple Music is still a decent", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "use_case": "running scripts with DEC modes", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 15.8.2 Breaks OpenGL"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is that it is slow,", "cites": [{"id": 804269572, "item_id": 50266848, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266848", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Terminal.app is dog slow", "excerpt": "If you\u2019re fine using iTerm just use iTerm. In my case I used iTerm for years and kinda liked it, but not completely. I\u2019d been looking for an alternative for years but couldn\u2019t find one I like (Alacritty doesn\u2019t support pane splitting, Wezterm has full code config which I hate, Kitty doesn\u2019t look good on Mac, Terminal.app is dog slow\u2026). Ghostty just fits my needs pretty much exactly.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804237009, "item_id": 50264813, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264813", "by": "alemanek", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS terminal had issues keeping up with Claude Code.", "excerpt": "It being super responsive is the reason I switched to it. MacOS terminal had issues keeping up with Claude Code. It would frequently be super slow rendering the text output or sometimes just stop altogether. When looking at options I looked at speed and simplicity. Ghostty fit the bill but I did evaluate iterm as well. Excellent terminal but too many features for what I was looking for. I live in the terminal but am ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}]}, {"text": " struggling to keep up with heavy output from tools like Claude Code.", "cites": [{"id": 804237009, "item_id": 50264813, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264813", "by": "alemanek", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS terminal had issues keeping up with Claude Code.", "excerpt": "It being super responsive is the reason I switched to it. MacOS terminal had issues keeping up with Claude Code. It would frequently be super slow rendering the text output or sometimes just stop altogether. When looking at options I looked at speed and simplicity. Ghostty fit the bill but I did evaluate iterm as well. Excellent terminal but too many features for what I was looking for. I live in the terminal but am ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Simple, good enough", "summary": "Long-time users say it is tidy and covers everything they need from a terminal.", "quotes": [{"id": 778407508, "item_id": 48650469, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48650469", "by": "kdtsh", "date": "2026-06-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Terminal - it\u2019s tidy and works well. Many swear by iTerm2; I find Terminal good", "excerpt": "Homebrew and mise-en-place are the only must have apps for me (both of which are not .app applications). Everything else is pretty well context-dependant and/or built in. For me, the better-than-you-think built in apps are: - Reminders - I haven\u2019t gone all in on any other task management software, but I don\u2019t bother because Reminders does everything I need - Mail - it is fiddly and idiot proof to a fault, but provide", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?"}, {"id": 732952672, "item_id": 45809542, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45809542", "by": "dmaa", "date": "2025-11-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "terminal.app. It is fast and that is basically all i need from a terminal emulator", "excerpt": "I used iterm2 for ages, but then somehow defaulted to terminal.app. It is fast and that is basically all i need from a terminal emulator, everything else is taken care of by tmux.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulator", "switched_from": "iTerm2", "story": "State of Terminal Emulators in 2025: The Errant Champions"}, {"id": 804230657, "item_id": 50264416, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264416", "by": "commandersaki", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I don't ask much from a terminal as evidenced by using Terminal.app for almost 2 decades", "excerpt": "I don't know about the others as I used Terminal.app on mac since Panther, but Ghostty has been a pretty good upgrade, at first offering 24-bit colour which Terminal.app didn't have at the time of its release. I also like the shell integration such as easy selection of command output. I don't ask much from a terminal as evidenced by using Terminal.app for almost 2 decades, but Ghostty has not once been an issue and i", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}]}, {"label": "Cmd+F search", "summary": "Its built-in search is a critical feature for one user tailing local logs.", "quotes": [{"id": 755332705, "item_id": 47208294, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47208294", "by": "thallavajhula", "date": "2026-03-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the lack of support for the CMD+F feature that I use Terminal.app", "excerpt": "When Ghostty was publicly announced, I used it for a few months and gave up on it due to the lack of support for the CMD+F feature that I use Terminal.app. This is a critical feature for me while tailing logs on my local. I tried the workaround of capturing the text into a text file and then searching it. It just didn't work for my workflow and dropped it. Ghostty is great otherwise. But, without the CMD+F, it's of n", "context": "", "use_case": "tailing logs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty \u2013 Terminal Emulator"}]}, {"label": "DEC modes", "summary": "It is one of the few terminals that respect double-wide and double-height DEC modes.", "quotes": [{"id": 802605410, "item_id": 50162838, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "by": "rbanffy", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "their terminal is one of the very few that respect double-wide and double-height DEC modes", "excerpt": "I have been using corporate issue Macs for more than a decade now and, while the software isn\u2019t perfect, it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS. It\u2019s a bit rough around the edges, with some apps getting closer in feature set to their mobile counterparts (and thus less flexible), but they are still good compared to their Windows and Unix competitors. Apple Music is still a decent", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "use_case": "running scripts with DEC modes", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 15.8.2 Breaks OpenGL"}]}, {"label": "True color", "summary": "A user switched back from iTerm once macOS Tahoe added true color support.", "quotes": [{"id": 767130368, "item_id": 47945648, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945648", "by": "deafpolygon", "date": "2026-04-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This, among many other reasons, is why I still use Terminal.app.", "excerpt": "This, among many other reasons, is why I still use Terminal.app. I switched to iTerm for true color, but when Tahoe added it to Terminal.app- I switched back.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on macOS", "switched_from": "iTerm", "story": "Your Terminal Is Burning Battery Like It's Mining Bitcoin"}]}, {"label": "Permission separation", "summary": "One user keeps Terminal as a primary terminal, separate from iTerm for AI work, to control permissions.", "quotes": [{"id": 799037680, "item_id": 49939855, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49939855", "by": "jshier", "date": "2026-10-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is why I use Terminal as my primary terminal, and iTerm as my AI terminal.", "excerpt": "This is why I use Terminal as my primary terminal, and iTerm as my AI terminal. iTerm gets no permissions, I move specific things to Terminal to do it. Plus I can then style them to optimize for the different usages. And iTerm has better harness hooks anyway. I would still like to see not only more granular permissions, but single use permissions. Once I grant iTerm access to Documents for whatever reason, it always ", "context": "macOS user", "use_case": "primary terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Updates to Full Disk Access in macOS"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Slow rendering", "summary": "Several users call it slow, with text rendering lagging or stalling under heavy output.", "quotes": [{"id": 804269572, "item_id": 50266848, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266848", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Terminal.app is dog slow", "excerpt": "If you\u2019re fine using iTerm just use iTerm. In my case I used iTerm for years and kinda liked it, but not completely. I\u2019d been looking for an alternative for years but couldn\u2019t find one I like (Alacritty doesn\u2019t support pane splitting, Wezterm has full code config which I hate, Kitty doesn\u2019t look good on Mac, Terminal.app is dog slow\u2026). Ghostty just fits my needs pretty much exactly.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804237009, "item_id": 50264813, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264813", "by": "alemanek", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS terminal had issues keeping up with Claude Code.", "excerpt": "It being super responsive is the reason I switched to it. MacOS terminal had issues keeping up with Claude Code. It would frequently be super slow rendering the text output or sometimes just stop altogether. When looking at options I looked at speed and simplicity. Ghostty fit the bill but I did evaluate iterm as well. Excellent terminal but too many features for what I was looking for. I live in the terminal but am ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}]}, {"label": "Late true color", "summary": "It lacked 24-bit color until a recent macOS release, which pushed users to alternatives.", "quotes": [{"id": 804230657, "item_id": 50264416, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264416", "by": "commandersaki", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I don't ask much from a terminal as evidenced by using Terminal.app for almost 2 decades", "excerpt": "I don't know about the others as I used Terminal.app on mac since Panther, but Ghostty has been a pretty good upgrade, at first offering 24-bit colour which Terminal.app didn't have at the time of its release. I also like the shell integration such as easy selection of command output. I don't ask much from a terminal as evidenced by using Terminal.app for almost 2 decades, but Ghostty has not once been an issue and i", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 767130368, "item_id": 47945648, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945648", "by": "deafpolygon", "date": "2026-04-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This, among many other reasons, is why I still use Terminal.app.", "excerpt": "This, among many other reasons, is why I still use Terminal.app. I switched to iTerm for true color, but when Tahoe added it to Terminal.app- I switched back.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on macOS", "switched_from": "iTerm", "story": "Your Terminal Is Burning Battery Like It's Mining Bitcoin"}]}], "who": [{"by": "rbanffy", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "date": "2026-10-20"}, {"by": "jshier", "context": "macOS user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49939855", "date": "2026-10-02"}], "tags": ["for macOS users", "for tmux users", "for log tailing"], "use_cases": ["terminal on macos", "terminal emulator", "running scripts with dec modes", "primary terminal", "terminal", "tailing logs"], "compared": [{"slug": "iterm2", "name": "iTerm2", "co": 6, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ghostty", "name": "Ghostty", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "kitty", "name": "Kitty", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "homebrew", "name": "Homebrew", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "safari", "name": "Safari", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50261998", "title": "Ghostty 1.4", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50141909", "title": "macOS 15.8.2 Breaks OpenGL", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49937631", "title": "Updates to Full Disk Access in macOS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48643848", "title": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47941517", "title": "Your Terminal Is Burning Battery Like It's Mining Bitcoin", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47206009", "title": "Ghostty \u2013 Terminal Emulator", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 2, "warn": 2}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804297762, "item_id": 50268610, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50268610", "by": "skydhash", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It's xterm on OpenBSD, konsole on Fedora KDE, terminal.app on MacOS", "excerpt": "This days I don't really care about the terminal I use. It's xterm on OpenBSD, konsole on Fedora KDE, terminal.app on MacOS,... As long as I can use cli and the few TUI software I use.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804269572, "item_id": 50266848, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266848", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Terminal.app is dog slow", "excerpt": "If you\u2019re fine using iTerm just use iTerm. In my case I used iTerm for years and kinda liked it, but not completely. I\u2019d been looking for an alternative for years but couldn\u2019t find one I like (Alacritty doesn\u2019t support pane splitting, Wezterm has full code config which I hate, Kitty doesn\u2019t look good on Mac, Terminal.app is dog slow\u2026). Ghostty just fits my needs pretty much exactly.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804237009, "item_id": 50264813, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264813", "by": "alemanek", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS terminal had issues keeping up with Claude Code.", "excerpt": "It being super responsive is the reason I switched to it. MacOS terminal had issues keeping up with Claude Code. It would frequently be super slow rendering the text output or sometimes just stop altogether. When looking at options I looked at speed and simplicity. Ghostty fit the bill but I did evaluate iterm as well. Excellent terminal but too many features for what I was looking for. I live in the terminal but am ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804230657, "item_id": 50264416, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264416", "by": "commandersaki", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I don't ask much from a terminal as evidenced by using Terminal.app for almost 2 decades", "excerpt": "I don't know about the others as I used Terminal.app on mac since Panther, but Ghostty has been a pretty good upgrade, at first offering 24-bit colour which Terminal.app didn't have at the time of its release. I also like the shell integration such as easy selection of command output. I don't ask much from a terminal as evidenced by using Terminal.app for almost 2 decades, but Ghostty has not once been an issue and i", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 802605410, "item_id": 50162838, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "by": "rbanffy", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "their terminal is one of the very few that respect double-wide and double-height DEC modes", "excerpt": "I have been using corporate issue Macs for more than a decade now and, while the software isn\u2019t perfect, it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS. It\u2019s a bit rough around the edges, with some apps getting closer in feature set to their mobile counterparts (and thus less flexible), but they are still good compared to their Windows and Unix competitors. Apple Music is still a decent", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "use_case": "running scripts with DEC modes", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 15.8.2 Breaks OpenGL"}, {"id": 799037680, "item_id": 49939855, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49939855", "by": "jshier", "date": "2026-10-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is why I use Terminal as my primary terminal, and iTerm as my AI terminal.", "excerpt": "This is why I use Terminal as my primary terminal, and iTerm as my AI terminal. iTerm gets no permissions, I move specific things to Terminal to do it. Plus I can then style them to optimize for the different usages. And iTerm has better harness hooks anyway. I would still like to see not only more granular permissions, but single use permissions. Once I grant iTerm access to Documents for whatever reason, it always ", "context": "macOS user", "use_case": "primary terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Updates to Full Disk Access in macOS"}, {"id": 778407508, "item_id": 48650469, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48650469", "by": "kdtsh", "date": "2026-06-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Terminal - it\u2019s tidy and works well. Many swear by iTerm2; I find Terminal good", "excerpt": "Homebrew and mise-en-place are the only must have apps for me (both of which are not .app applications). Everything else is pretty well context-dependant and/or built in. For me, the better-than-you-think built in apps are: - Reminders - I haven\u2019t gone all in on any other task management software, but I don\u2019t bother because Reminders does everything I need - Mail - it is fiddly and idiot proof to a fault, but provide", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?"}, {"id": 767130368, "item_id": 47945648, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945648", "by": "deafpolygon", "date": "2026-04-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This, among many other reasons, is why I still use Terminal.app.", "excerpt": "This, among many other reasons, is why I still use Terminal.app. I switched to iTerm for true color, but when Tahoe added it to Terminal.app- I switched back.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on macOS", "switched_from": "iTerm", "story": "Your Terminal Is Burning Battery Like It's Mining Bitcoin"}, {"id": 755332705, "item_id": 47208294, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47208294", "by": "thallavajhula", "date": "2026-03-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the lack of support for the CMD+F feature that I use Terminal.app", "excerpt": "When Ghostty was publicly announced, I used it for a few months and gave up on it due to the lack of support for the CMD+F feature that I use Terminal.app. This is a critical feature for me while tailing logs on my local. I tried the workaround of capturing the text into a text file and then searching it. It just didn't work for my workflow and dropped it. Ghostty is great otherwise. But, without the CMD+F, it's of n", "context": "", "use_case": "tailing logs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty \u2013 Terminal Emulator"}, {"id": 732952672, "item_id": 45809542, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45809542", "by": "dmaa", "date": "2025-11-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "terminal.app. It is fast and that is basically all i need from a terminal emulator", "excerpt": "I used iterm2 for ages, but then somehow defaulted to terminal.app. It is fast and that is basically all i need from a terminal emulator, everything else is taken care of by tmux.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulator", "switched_from": "iTerm2", "story": "State of Terminal Emulators in 2025: The Errant Champions"}]}