head to head · open source
Kitty vs WaveTerm
Kitty has 35,510 GitHub stars, 1,581 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. WaveTerm has 22,641 stars, 1,183 forks, 574 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kitty leads on adoption by 57% (35,510 vs 22,641 stars). Kitty is written in Python under GPL-3.0; WaveTerm is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Kitty has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, WaveTerm 5%. Kitty was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (terminal, terminal-emulators), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Kitty | WaveTerm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 23K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Kitty if
- You weight community size — 36K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick WaveTerm if
- You want the WaveTerm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and WaveTerm fits your workflow better
About Kitty
= kitty the fast, feature rich, cross platform, GPU based terminal If you live in the terminal, kitty is made for you ! See kitty website]. image: status", link=" Asked Questions] To ask other questions about kitty usage, use either the on GitHub] or the community] Packaging status in various repositories: image: status", link="
read the full Kitty overview →
About WaveTerm
Wave Terminal English 한국어 繁體中文 Wave is an open source, AI integrated terminal for macOS, Linux, and Windows. It works with any AI model. Bring your own API keys for OpenAI, Claude, or Gemini, or run local models via Ollama and LM Studio. No accounts required. Wave also supports durable SSH sessions that survive network interruptions and restarts, with automatic reconnection. Edit remote files with a built in graphical editor and preview files inline without leaving the terminal. Key Features Wave AI Context aware terminal assistant that reads your terminal output, analyzes widgets, and performs file operations…
read the full WaveTerm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kitty or WaveTerm more popular?
Kitty has 35,510 GitHub stars and WaveTerm has 22,641. Kitty has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kitty and WaveTerm free?
Both are open source. Kitty is licensed under GPL-3.0 and WaveTerm under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kitty and WaveTerm?
Kitty is written in Python and WaveTerm in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Kitty or WaveTerm?
Choose Kitty if you want the larger community (35,510 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose WaveTerm if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.