Kitty is a fast, feature-rich, GPU-based terminal emulator that offers a comprehensive terminal experience without compromising on performance. Created by Kovid Goyal, Kitty uses OpenGL for rendering and offloads graphics processing to the GPU while utilizing SIMD vector CPU instructions, resulting in best-in-class performance with lower system load and smooth scrolling. It solves the problem of having to choose between a feature-rich terminal and a fast one by delivering both.
Kitty supports all modern terminal features including true-color rendering, Unicode, OpenType ligatures, inline image display via its own graphics protocol (widely adopted by other tools), mouse protocol support, focus tracking, and bracketed paste. It provides built-in tiling with multiple terminal windows side by side in different layouts without requiring tmux, uses threaded rendering to minimize input latency, and offers extensive customization through its configuration file. Kitty also includes a powerful extension system called kittens for adding custom functionality.
Kitty is designed for developers and terminal power users on Linux, macOS, and BSD who want a GPU-accelerated terminal with comprehensive built-in features. Its graphics protocol has become a de facto standard adopted by other terminal emulators like Ghostty and WezTerm, as well as terminal applications like Neovim and ranger. Kitty is particularly popular among users who want image rendering, ligature support, and tiling capabilities without relying on additional tools.
