iTerm2
Feature-rich open-source terminal emulator for macOS with splits, profiles and tmux integration.
Liked as a reliable, polished macOS terminal123 for running several AI coding agents side by side4567 and for its native tmux integration.8910The most common caveat is that it feels slower and more dated than Ghostty,111213 and some dislike its many features, its AI additions, or its lack of a plain config file.141516
Why people recommend it
AI agent workflows · 3
Commenters use its tabs, panes and scripting hooks to run and coordinate several coding-agent sessions.
“Run 4+ parallel Claude Code sessions in iTerm tabs”
“I use iterm2, so I’ve also added iterm2 specific python that allows the orchestrator to “kick” a worker”
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“I use iTerm, so to me it's not the TUI itself, it's iTerm.”
tmux integration · 3
Its tmux integration shows tmux windows as native windows or tabs, and some find it hard to match elsewhere.
“ITerm2 has a really great tmux integration where you get native windows or tabs for tmux windows”
“with the wonderful iTerm2 integration”
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“I'm trying to replicate how good tmux is inside iTerm, but it's tough.”
Reliable and polished · 3
Long-time users call it fast enough, reliable and well polished after years of feature work.
“iterm2 is fast, reliable, and second nature. i don't have to edit settings every day.”
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“Easily the best fit terminal for my purposes.”
Sidebar tabs · 1
Its sidebar tabs help organize many project and subtask tabs.
“I love iTerms sidebar tabs”
macOS conventions · 1
It supports command-number window switching, which one commenter needs and Ghostty lacks.
“Without command-number, I'm still stuck using iTerm2 as my daily driver.”
Caveats and dissent
Slower than Ghostty · 3
Several switchers find Ghostty faster or more modern, and one says iTerm2 feels outdated.
“I stuck with iTerm2 for a really long time”
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“iTerm will always have a special place in my heart; I used it for years and years.”
Too many features · 1
One commenter found it excellent but more feature-heavy than they wanted.
“Excellent terminal but too many features for what I was looking for.”
AI features · 1
One user quit iTerm2 because of its AI features.
No config file · 1
Moving settings between machines requires exporting and importing profiles instead of using a dotfile.
“With iTerm you had to export the profile and keybindings, and then import them on a new system which was clumsy”
macOS only · 1
It only runs on macOS.
“ITerm2 has a really great tmux integration where you get native windows or tabs for tmux windows”
Often compared with
12 moved from iTerm2 to Ghostty
3 moved from iTerm2 to WezTerm
2 moved from iTerm2 to Terminal.app
1 moved from iTerm2 to cmux
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Ghostty 1.4 7 mentions
- Herdr: One terminal to rule them all 2 mentions
- Ghostty is now non-profit 2 mentions
- Herdr has released native app 1 mention
- JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025 1 mention
- Updates to Full Disk Access in macOS 1 mention
Also written as iTerm. Data: iterm2.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 29
“I can use the tui in ghosttty or wezterm or iterm”
“I quit using iTerm 2 because of the AI features. Ew.”
“I used iTerm for years and kinda liked it, but not completely.”
“iTerm2 speed (for me) is plenty”
“Excellent terminal but too many features for what I was looking for.”
“With iTerm you had to export the profile and keybindings, and then import them on a new system which was clumsy”
“I used iterm2 for years as well”
“iterm2 is fast, reliable, and second nature. i don't have to edit settings every day.”
“A couple months ago I switched back to iTerm2, full screen”
“iTerm gets no permissions, I move specific things to Terminal to do it.”
“live mostly in iTerm2 and browsers”
“iTerm will always have a special place in my heart; I used it for years and years.”
“most of my work is at Mac iTerm2 CLI”
“Easily the best fit terminal for my purposes.”
“I stuck with iTerm2 for a really long time”
“with the wonderful iTerm2 integration”
“ITerm2 has a really great tmux integration where you get native windows or tabs for tmux windows”
“I use iterm2, so I’ve also added iterm2 specific python that allows the orchestrator to “kick” a worker”
“iTerm2,”
“I use iTerm, so to me it's not the TUI itself, it's iTerm.”
“I'm trying to replicate how good tmux is inside iTerm, but it's tough.”
“I use iterm2 instead of ghostty.”
“I switched to iTerm for true color”
“I went back to just use iTerm, split panes, and manually coordinate things.”
“I love iTerms sidebar tabs”
“Run 4+ parallel Claude Code sessions in iTerm tabs”
“I’d love to see iTerm switch to using libghostty in the near future.”
“Without command-number, I'm still stuck using iTerm2 as my daily driver.”
“I used iterm2 for ages”