head to head
iTerm2 vs WezTerm
WezTerm is the open source alternative to iTerm2 — terminal emulator for macos. Here is the honest comparison.
Yes — WezTerm is a viable free replacement for iTerm2. WezTerm is open source under its own open-source terms, written in Rust, with 28,957 GitHub stars, 1,747 forks and 1,849 open issues; it was last pushed 3 days ago. iTerm2 is priced Free, closed source, while self-hosting WezTerm carries no licence fee — the trade is your operational time instead of a subscription. 2 other open source iTerm2 alternatives are tracked here, led by Alacritty at 65,763 stars. WezTerm ranks #3 of 3 tracked open source iTerm2 alternatives by stars. The tracked set, by adoption: Alacritty (65,763 stars), Kitty (34,983 stars). Replacement criteria on this page: 4 reasons to move to WezTerm and 3 reasons to stay on iTerm2.
choose WezTerm if
- Your iTerm2 bill is growing with seats or usage
- You need your data in a format and server you control
- Your compliance posture requires auditing the code that touches sensitive data
- You have (or can rent) a server and basic Docker comfort
stick with iTerm2 if
- You need the polished onboarding and support SLAs of a commercial vendor
- Your team has zero capacity to operate software, even self-hosted-simple
- You depend on a iTerm2 integration ecosystem that the OSS alternatives have not replicated
Side by side
| WezTerm (open source) | iTerm2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (self-hosted) | Free, closed source |
| License | Custom / other | Proprietary |
| Source code | Public, auditable | Closed |
| Self-hosting | Yes — wezterm/wezterm | Cloud only |
| Data ownership | Your server, your format | Vendor's cloud |
| Community | ★ 29K · ⑂ 1.7K | — |
| Built with | Rust | — |
Why people look for a iTerm2 alternative
About WezTerm
WezTerm is a GPU accelerated, cross platform terminal emulator and multiplexer written by @wez in Rust, intended for developers and terminal users who want one terminal configuration and one multiplexing model across every operating system they work on.
read the full WezTerm overview →
Other open source alternatives to iTerm2
last updated nightly · ranking method: github stars, live-tracked
Frequently asked questions
Is WezTerm a good replacement for iTerm2?
WezTerm is an open source alternative to iTerm2 (Terminal emulator for macOS). It is written in Rust and licensed under its own terms, with 28,957 GitHub stars.
Is WezTerm free compared to iTerm2?
Yes. WezTerm is open source — there is no licence fee, and you can self-host it. iTerm2 is typically a paid subscription, so the trade-off is licence cost against the operational work of running it yourself.
How do I migrate from iTerm2 to WezTerm?
Migration effort depends on the data formats involved. Check WezTerm's documentation for import options, and compare the feature table above to confirm the capabilities you depend on are covered before switching.