head to head · open source
Zellij vs Kitty
Zellij has 35,918 GitHub stars, 1,518 forks, 1,915 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kitty has 35,510 stars, 1,581 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zellij leads on adoption by 1% (35,918 vs 35,510 stars). Zellij is written in Rust under MIT; Kitty is written in Python under GPL-3.0. Zellij has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Kitty 4%. Zellij was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (terminal), 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
| Zellij | Kitty | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 36K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zellij if
- You weight community size — 36K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Kitty if
- You want the Kitty feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Kitty fits your workflow better
About Zellij
Zellij [ Installation ] [ Screencasts & Tutorials ] [ Configuration ] [ Layouts ] [ FAQ ] What is this? Zellij is a workspace aimed at developers, ops oriented people and anyone who loves the terminal. Similar programs are sometimes called "Terminal Multiplexers". Zellij is designed around the philosophy that one must not sacrifice simplicity for power, taking pride in its great experience out of the box as well as the advanced features it places at its users' fingertips. Zellij is geared toward beginner and power users alike allowing deep customizability, personal automation through layouts, true multiplayer…
read the full Zellij overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zellij or Kitty more popular?
Zellij has 35,918 GitHub stars and Kitty has 35,510. Zellij has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zellij and Kitty free?
Both are open source. Zellij is licensed under MIT and Kitty under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zellij and Kitty?
Zellij is written in Rust and Kitty in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Zellij or Kitty?
Choose Zellij if you want the larger community (35,918 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Kitty if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.