6 Best Mac Terminal in 2024

With Terminal, you can dig deep into your Mac and use the command-line interface command-line interface to enact changes to the operating system beyond the graphical user interface. While macOS provides its built-in terminal program,

it may not offer the level of customization and additional features that power users desire. Thankfully, there are tonnes of third-party terminal programs you can try. Get onboard as we hunt for the best Mac terminal emulator.  

6 Best Mac Terminal In 2024:

To narrow down the options for you, I will talk about the six best Mac terminals currently available in 2024. Let’s find out which one deserves your time and attention. 

1. iTerm2:

Let’s start with the best Mac terminal on the internet – iTerm2. Developed by George Nachmen as an improved version of the original item, this application offers a highly productive and user-friendly interface suitable for beginners and experienced users.

Features

• With iTerm2, users can split the terminal window into multiple panes, allowing them to run various command-line sessions simultaneously.
• iTerm2 allows you to save and restore terminal sessions, ensuring you can easily reopen tabs or panes with their previous state and command history intact.
• The terminal supports AppleScript, shell scripts, and other automation tools, empowering users to automate repetitive tasks and create sophisticated workflows.
• iTerm2 offers many new features, including hotkey options, a powerful search tool, autocomplete functionality, instant replay, customizable themes, mouse support, and more.

Pros

• Highly customizable and feature-rich terminal emulator for macOS
• Free of cost
• Supports AppleScript and shell scripts for task automation

Cons

• Some advanced features may require additional configuration or setup
• Limited compatibility as it is designed specifically for macOS 10.15 and later
• Steeper learning curve

2. Warp:

Warp is the Best free Mac terminal emulator for usability and functionality. While still in Beta, Warp offers impressive features and prioritizes user experience, making it a highly appealing option for those seeking a superior terminal emulation experience.

Notably, Warp stands apart from other Mac terminal emulators by incorporating Artificial Intelligence to generate commands, further enhancing its capabilities. 

Features

• Warp terminal is ideal for beginners due to its minimal setup requirements and wide compatibility.
• The platform offers advanced command editing capabilities, including selections, completion menus, auto-suggestions, and more.
• AI integration enables command creation using natural language, eliminating the need for external Google searches.
• User-friendly interface with intuitive navigation based on a command-by-command approach.
• Warp’s website hosts an integrated community, providing various channels on Discord, Twitter, and GitHub for users to seek assistance and share solutions.

Pros

• All the features work from the get-go. No need for heavy configurations or setup. 
• Smooth experience without any lagging or crashing whatsoever. 
• The implementation of AI enhances workflow efficiency and productivity

Cons

• The extensive use of blocks may occupy valuable workspace
• Customization options are limited
• The majority of the features require user login to unlock an enhanced user experience.

3. ZOC:

The next Mac terminal emulator is ZOC, a product developed by EmTec Innovative Software. It provides many features and functionalities to ensure secure access to remote hosts and servers using protocols like SSH, Telnet, Rlogin, and others.

ZOC has gained trust among IT professionals, network administrators, and developers due to its reliability and versatility in meeting their remote access and management needs.

Features

• ZOC supports a multi-tab system so Users can organize their remote sessions efficiently with tabbed interfaces, enabling simultaneous connections to multiple hosts within a single window.
• The software provides extensive customization options, allowing users to personalize the terminal interface, colours, fonts, keyboard mappings, and more according to their preferences.
• ZOC allows the creation of powerful scripts using various scripting languages, such as VBScript, JavaScript, and PerlScript.
• The program allows users to save session configurations as profiles for easy recall.

Pros

• Enables seamless automation of client tasks through its comprehensive macro scripting
• Works with MacOS 12 and higher and Windows.
• every UI component, except the title bar, can be hidden to maximize the usable space

Cons

• Lacks automatic detection of installed shells like PowerShell or CMD
• Requires a subscription to access its full functionality
• The user interface may feel cluttered and difficult to navigate through

4. Commander One:

Commander One is the ideal choice if you are looking for a multi-purpose Mac terminal alternative. It offers a unique dual-pane file manager that provides a unified and efficient workflow for managing files and utilizing the terminal on your Mac.

With the convenience of hotkeys, you can effortlessly launch the terminal within the app’s interface and execute commands without switching between applications.

Features

• Commander One offers a highly configurable dual-panel interface for the most convenient workflow with support for various features.
• It supports FTP, SFTP, FTPS, and WebDAV protocols for remote file access and transfer.
• You can mount cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Amazon S3 as local drives.
• The program includes advanced features like built-in archiving, file search, folder synchronization, remote server access, and more.
• It supports efficient file transfer queues and background file operations for improved productivity.

Pros

• Has the option for unlimited tabs to improve multitasking
• Support for cloud storage 
• Compatible with FTP, SFTP, and FTPS

Cons

• The terminal is not included in the free plan
• Only basic command-line features
• Expensive

5. Hyper:

If you like to have plenty of customization and settings to play with, Hyper is the best Mac terminal replacement for you.

It’s an open-source terminal emulator built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which means developers can use their own CSS to modify it further. Hyper also provides a lot of settings that can be configured directly using the command line. 

Features

• Users can install plugins to add functionalities such as syntax highlighting, tab management, and integration with other tools and services.
• Hyper leverages GPU acceleration to ensure a smooth and fast rendering of the terminal interface, resulting in a responsive and visually appealing user experience.
• A seamless copy-paste integration with the host system makes transferring text and commands between the terminal and other applications easy.
• Enhanced search facility to find the text within the terminal output. 
• The cross-platform availability makes it a great tool for developers looking to run their projects on different platforms. 
• Other crucial features include theme customization, split panes, keyboard shortcuts, and more. 

Pros

• Supports multi-tabs for enhanced productivity
• Supports CSS customization
• Functionality can be improved through plugins

Cons

• May impact the system’s performance 
• Steep learning curve
• Limited documentation and community support

6. Kitty:

To conclude my list, I recommend Kitty – a powerful and highly customizable GPU-accelerated Mac terminal emulator. The program has numerous features, including OpenGL rendering, which makes it the best terminal for Mac 2024. So, If you are seeking a lightning-fast alternative to the default Mac terminal, I highly recommend trying Kitty.

Features

• As mentioned in the intro, Kitty leverages GPU acceleration to take advantage system’s dedicated graphics capabilities and provide smooth rendering and fast performance.
• The program can be extended through scripts and plugins written in various scripting languages.
• Like other emulators, it supports multiple windows and panes, enabling users to simultaneously work with multiple terminal sessions and arrange them in a tiled or stacked layout.
• With Kitty, you can view inline images and graphics directly within the terminal, making it convenient to view images, diagrams, and charts without leaving the terminal.
• The software supports terminal emulation modes, including Xterm, Linux, and macOS Terminal.app.
• The unlimited support for Unicode characters and internationalization makes Kitty suitable for multilingual environments and applications.

Pros

• Option to save and restore terminal sessions
• Supports ligatures in code
• Threaded rendering allows for minimal latency

Cons

• Alow reaction time when dealing with larger files
• The lack of a graphical user interface may prove challenging for newbies
• Any changes made to the configuration file require restarting the application to take effect

Frequently Asked Questions:

Closure:

I hope this guide will help you choose the best Mac terminal that meets your needs. A diverse selection of Mac terminal emulators is available, each with strengths and weaknesses. Since many of them are free, there is no harm in experimenting with different options before making a choice.

These emulators extend functionality beyond the default macOS Terminal, enabling users to surpass the limitations of the graphical user interface.

Seeking recommendations? Here are a few:

• For beginners seeking a free option, iTerm2 is the recommended Mac terminal. It offers user-friendly features and many options to facilitate learning in the command-line environment.
• If you are an experienced developer seeking extensive customization options, Hyper is an excellent choice. Ensure that your system has sufficient resources to handle its resource-intensive nature.
• Looking for a dual-purpose Mac terminal with essential command-line features? Commander One is worth considering. It also serves as file manager software that you can use to manage files and folders on your Mac