What is the best alternative to iTerm2 on Mac?

Raycast is our top pick. It shares Developer tools with iTerm2 and has 140 upvotes from the community. Sublime Text and Ghostty are close behind.

What is the best free alternative to iTerm2 on Mac?

Ghostty is the best-ranked free alternative to iTerm2. 4 of the alternatives listed here are completely free.

Is there an open-source alternative to iTerm2?

Yes. 4 alternatives are open source, including Ghostty, Zed and Cyberduck.

How many alternatives to iTerm2 are there for Mac?

Mac App Index lists 16 apps that share a category with iTerm2: 4 completely free, 7 free to start and 4 open source.

Best iTerm2 alternatives for Mac

iTerm2 is a free app in Developer tools. We found 16 Mac apps that cover the same ground. Of those, 4 are completely free, 7 are free to start and 4 are open source. Raycast leads on overlap and community votes, followed by Sublime Text and Ghostty.

The app you want to replace

iTerm2

Terminal replacement for macOS

Free · Open source · Developer tools

View iTerm2

16 alternatives to iTerm2

How we picked: every app here shares at least one category with iTerm2. Apps that also share features rank higher, and community upvotes break ties. Price and licence never buy a better spot. How we rank apps

1
Hot
Raycast
A faster launcher with superpowers
140Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Keyboard-driven
2
Sublime Text
Fast text editor for code and prose
54$99Developer tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Keyboard-driven
- One-time purchase
3
Ghostty
Fast, native terminal emulator
26FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Keyboard-driven
4
BBEdit
Professional text and code editor
25Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Keyboard-driven
5
Postico 2
PostgreSQL client for Mac
85$69.99Developer tools
- Also in Developer tools
- One-time purchase
6
Transmit 5
File transfer for servers and cloud storage
84SubscriptionDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
7
Zed
Code editor built for speed and collaboration
83Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
8
Proxyman
Inspect and debug HTTP traffic
82Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
9
Xcode
Apple's IDE for every Apple platform
43FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
10
Tailscale
Private network across your devices
38Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
11
Cyberduck
Open-source browser for servers and cloud storage
28$23.99Developer tools
- Also in Developer tools
- One-time purchase
12
TablePlus
Native client for many databases
20Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
13
OrbStack
Fast Docker containers and Linux machines
16Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
14
CotEditor
Plain-text editor built for macOS
14FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
15
Visual Studio Code
Free code editor from Microsoft
14FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
16
Fork
Fast and friendly Git client
6$59.99Developer tools
- Also in Developer tools
- One-time purchase

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to iTerm2 on Mac?: Raycast is our top pick. It shares Developer tools with iTerm2 and has 140 upvotes from the community. Sublime Text and Ghostty are close behind.
What is the best free alternative to iTerm2 on Mac?: Ghostty is the best-ranked free alternative to iTerm2. 4 of the alternatives listed here are completely free.
Is there an open-source alternative to iTerm2?: Yes. 4 alternatives are open source, including Ghostty, Zed and Cyberduck.
How many alternatives to iTerm2 are there for Mac?: Mac App Index lists 16 apps that share a category with iTerm2: 4 completely free, 7 free to start and 4 open source.