head to head · open source
Kitty vs WezTerm
Kitty has 35,510 GitHub stars, 1,581 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. WezTerm has 29,426 stars, 1,848 forks, 1,849 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Kitty leads on adoption by 21% (35,510 vs 29,426 stars). Kitty is written in Python under GPL-3.0; WezTerm is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. Kitty has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, WezTerm 6%. 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 | WezTerm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 29K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| 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 WezTerm if
- You want the WezTerm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and WezTerm 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 WezTerm
Wez's Terminal A GPU accelerated cross platform terminal emulator and multiplexer written by @wez and implemented in Rust User facing docs and guide at: Screenshot of wezterm on macOS, running vim Installation Getting help This is a spare time project, so please bear with me. There are a couple of channels for support: You can use the GitHub issue tracker to see if someone else has a similar issue, or to file a new one. Start or join a thread in our GitHub Discussions; if you have general questions or want to chat with other wezterm users, you're welcome here! There is a Matrix room via Element.io for…
read the full WezTerm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kitty or WezTerm more popular?
Kitty has 35,510 GitHub stars and WezTerm has 29,426. Kitty has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kitty and WezTerm free?
Both are open source. Kitty is licensed under GPL-3.0, and WezTerm has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Kitty and WezTerm?
Kitty is written in Python and WezTerm in Rust. 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 WezTerm?
Choose Kitty if you want the larger community (35,510 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose WezTerm if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.