Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to zt

⚡zt — the fastest terminal emulator.

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.

1. 1
   Ghostty▲161

   A fast, feature-rich, and platform-native terminal emulator

   2024 · ghostty.org · its alternatives →

2. 2AA
   Alacritty, a GPU-accelerated terminal emulator written in Rust▲1,170

   Initial source-only release of Alacritty

   2017 · blog.jwilm.io · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Shitty – fast terminal. Memory-unsafe and faster than yours▲173

   A serious terminal emulator with a stupid name. Contribute to pg83/shitty development by creating an account on GitHub.

   Aug 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   My x86 emulator written in JavaScript▲765

   Run KolibriOS, Linux or Windows 98 in your browser

   2013 · copy.sh · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Hyper 1.0.0▲413

   Terminal built and extensible with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

   2016 · hyper.is · its alternatives →

6. 6
   HyperTerm▲433

   Terminal emulator based on JS, HTML and CSS

   2016 · hyper.is · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Warp, a Rust-based terminal▲946

   Hi HN community, I’m Zach, founder and CEO of Warp, and am excited to show you Warp, a fast Rust-based terminal that’s easy to use and built for teams. As of today, Warp is in public beta and any Mac user can download it. It works with bash, zsh, and fish. The terminal’s teletype-like interface has made it hard for the CLI to thrive. After 20 years of programming, I still find it hard to copy a command’s output; I always forget how to use `tar`; and I always have to relearn how to move my cursor. To fix fundamental accessibility issues, I believe we need to start innovating on the terminal,…

   2022 · warp.dev · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Kitty – A modern, hackable, featureful, OpenGL based terminal emulator▲192

   If you live in the terminal, kitty is made for you! Cross-platform, fast, feature-rich, GPU based. - kovidgoyal/kitty

   2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Hyper 3▲643

   A cross-platform terminal powered by web technologies

   2019 · hyper.is · its alternatives →

10. 10
    A Golang CP/M emulator▲107

    Z80-based CP/M emulator, in golang. Happily runs Zork, Microsoft BASIC, Turbo Pascal, Wordstar, etc. - skx/cpmulator

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Libmui is a macOS Classic widget lib for Linux▲300

    Not sure if I would post this for the last day of #marchintosh OR wait for tomorrow the 1st of April. Both apply equally. Anyway, here's a pet project of mine, I made it as a glued on for another pet project of mine, but it developed a life of it's own now and can soar skyward toward success, fame, and glory.

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    BaseRT▲222

    6.4x faster than llama.cpp, 3.9x faster than MLX

    Jul 2026 · basecompute.co · its alternatives →

13. 13
    A cross-platform terminal emulator written in Java▲65

    It's based on the jediterm library developed for IDEs, but it can also be put to work as a standalone terminal emulator with tabs. The library has been around for more than 10 years, but I don't think anyone made a terminal emulator app from it?

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Fasty — GPU-accelerated terminal▲3

    Terminal emulator written in Rust on wgpu and winit.

    Jun 2026 · fastyterm.vercel.app · its alternatives →

15. 15
    cool-retro-term▲93

    Terminal emulator which mimics the old cathode display

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Tabby▲103

    A terminal for a more modern age

    2019 · tabby.sh · its alternatives →

17. 17
    A terminal emulator in pure PHP▲196

    A terminal renderer written in pure PHP. Contribute to soloterm/screen development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    PHP Terminal Gameboy Emulator▲79

    Want to play Dr Mario or Pokémon on your server terminal?

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Tiny VM sandbox in C with apps in Rust, C and Zig▲196

    Minimalist, dependency-free virtual machine sandbox for microcontrollers and other resource-constrained devices. Single C file, no dynamic memory allocations, asynchronous design, pure C99 - ringtailsoftware/uvm32

    Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    t-rec▲80

    Blazingly fast terminal recorder generates animated gifs

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    DomTerm – a web-based rich terminal emulator and console▲78

    Top (DomTerm - a terminal emulator and console using DOM and JavaScript)

    2018 · domterm.org · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Alacritty▲1

    Alacritty is the fastest terminal emulator in existence.

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    OmniPTY – Opinionated terminal emulator for macOS and Linux▲15

    Opinionated terminal emulator for macOS and Linux: splits, workspaces, file tree and prompt built in. GPU-rendered, written in Rust - omnipty-terminal/omnipty

    3d ago · github.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Kern – container and resource runtime in a 1.5 MB binary, no daemon▲70

    A fast, rootless sandbox and virtual resource runtime for any workload, including untrusted and AI-generated code. Daemonless: a real, kernel-enforced container in ~3.5 ms from an OCI image, out of one static binary - getkern/kern

    Aug 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →