Tmux

Terminal Compatibility Matrix

Compare 9 terminal emulators across 12 features — TrueColor, ligatures, Sixel, Kitty graphics, OSC52 clipboard, hyperlinks, and more.

✓Full Support

~Partial/Config

✗Not Supported

⚙Plugin Required

01 COMPATIBILITY MATRIX

Feature	Alacritty	iTerm2	Kitty	WezTerm	Windows Terminal	Ghostty	Hyper	Tabby	Wave Terminal
Graphics & Colors
TrueColor (24-bit)	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Sixel Graphics	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
Kitty Graphics Protocol	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗	✓	✗	✗	✗
iTerm2 Inline Images	✗	✓	✗	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
Text & Fonts
Font Ligatures	✗	~	✓	✓	✓	✓	~	✓	✓
Full Unicode	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Bold/Italic/Underline	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Integration & Clipboard
OSC 52 Clipboard	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	~	✗	~	✓
Clickable Hyperlinks	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	~	✓	✓
Desktop Notifications	✗	✓	✓	✓	~	✓	⚙	✓	✓
Performance
GPU Acceleration	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	~	~	~
Low Memory Usage	✓	~	~	~	~	✓	✗	✗	✗

02 FEATURE REFERENCE

TrueColor (24-bit)

Graphics & Colors

Support for 16 million colors (24-bit RGB) instead of the traditional 256 color palette.

Why it matters: Essential for modern CLI tools, syntax highlighting, and color themes.

Test command:

printf "\x1b[38;2;255;100;0mTrueColor Test\x1b[0m\n"

Sixel Graphics

Graphics & Colors

Bitmap graphics protocol from the 1980s DEC terminals, still widely supported.

Why it matters: Enables inline image display in tools like ranger, lf, and yazi file managers.

Test command:

img2sixel image.png

Kitty Graphics Protocol

Graphics & Colors

Modern graphics protocol with truecolor, transparency, and animation support.

Why it matters: Superior image quality and features compared to Sixel. Preferred by modern tools.

Test command:

kitty +kitten icat image.png

iTerm2 Inline Images

Graphics & Colors

Proprietary inline image protocol developed by iTerm2.

Why it matters: Native macOS image display, integrated with iTerm2 features.

Test command:

imgcat image.png # requires iTerm2 shell integration

Font Ligatures

Text & Fonts

Programming ligatures that combine characters like => into single glyphs.

Why it matters: Improves code readability with fonts like Fira Code, JetBrains Mono.

Test command:

echo "=> -> != === <=> >>= |>"

Full Unicode

Text & Fonts

Complete Unicode support including emoji, CJK characters, and combining marks.

Why it matters: Required for internationalization and modern CLI tool output.

Test command:

echo "Hello 世界 🚀 café"

Bold/Italic/Underline

Text & Fonts

Support for font style variations in terminal output.

Why it matters: Enables rich text formatting in man pages, help text, and documentation.

Test command:

printf "\e[1mBold\e[0m \e[3mItalic\e[0m \e[4mUnderline\e[0m\n"

OSC 52 Clipboard

Integration & Clipboard

Terminal escape sequence for reading/writing system clipboard.

Why it matters: Critical for clipboard access over SSH without X11 forwarding.

Test command:

printf "\e]52;c;$(echo -n "test" | base64)\a"

Clickable Hyperlinks

Integration & Clipboard

OSC 8 escape sequence for clickable URLs in terminal output.

Why it matters: Enables clickable links in compiler errors, test output, and documentation.

Test command:

printf "\e]8;;https://example.com\aClick here\e]8;;\a\n"

Desktop Notifications

Integration & Clipboard

OSC 9/777 escape sequences for sending system notifications.

Why it matters: Alert users when long-running commands finish.

Test command:

printf "\e]9;Task complete\a"

GPU Acceleration

Performance

Hardware-accelerated rendering using OpenGL, Metal, or DirectX.

Why it matters: Dramatically improves scrolling speed and reduces CPU usage.

Low Memory Usage

Performance

Minimal memory footprint for base terminal operation.

Why it matters: Important for systems with limited resources or many terminal instances.

03 BEST TERMINAL FOR...

Image Previews

Best terminals for inline image display in file managers like ranger, lf, or yazi.

Recommended:

WezTermKittyGhostty

WezTerm supports all protocols. Kitty/Ghostty use the superior Kitty protocol.

Remote SSH Work

Clipboard integration over SSH without X11 forwarding.

Recommended:

AlacrittyKittyWezTermiTerm2

OSC 52 enables clipboard sync in remote sessions. Essential for SSH workflows.

Code Editing

Best experience for terminal-based code editing with ligatures and syntax highlighting.

Recommended:

KittyWezTermiTerm2Ghostty

Alacritty intentionally omits ligatures. All others have excellent font rendering.

Low Resource Usage

Minimal memory footprint for constrained systems or many terminal instances.

Recommended:

AlacrittyGhosttyKitty

Alacritty leads at ~30MB. Avoid Electron-based terminals (Hyper, Tabby, Wave).

Cross-Platform

Consistent experience across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Recommended:

WezTermAlacrittyTabbyHyper

WezTerm offers the most features across all platforms. Alacritty for minimalism.

04 TERMINAL PROFILES

Alacritty

Linux · macOS · Windows · BSD

Minimalist, blazing fast GPU-accelerated terminal emulator focused on performance and simplicity.

Strengths

+Fastest terminal emulator
+Minimal resource usage (~30MB)
+Cross-platform

Gaps

-No ligatures (by design)
-No graphics protocols

Website GitHub

iTerm2

macOS

Feature-rich terminal emulator with excellent macOS integration and extensive customization options.

Strengths

+Deep macOS integration
+Proprietary inline images
+Extensive GUI settings

Gaps

-macOS only
-No Sixel support

Website GitHub

Kitty

Linux · macOS

Fast, feature-rich GPU-based terminal with its own superior graphics protocol.

Strengths

+Kitty graphics protocol (best for images)
+GPU-accelerated
+Extensible via kittens

Gaps

-No Windows support
-No Sixel (uses own protocol)

Website GitHub

WezTerm

Linux · macOS · Windows · FreeBSD

GPU-accelerated terminal with built-in multiplexer and powerful Lua scripting configuration.

Strengths

+Supports ALL image protocols
+Lua scripting config
+Built-in multiplexer

Gaps

-Higher memory usage
-Steep config learning curve

Website GitHub

Windows Terminal

Windows

Modern, fast Windows terminal with GPU acceleration and native Windows integration.

Strengths

+Native Windows experience
+GPU-accelerated
+Sixel support (v1.22+)

Gaps

-Windows only
-No Kitty graphics

Website GitHub

Ghostty

macOS · Linux

Fast, feature-rich GPU-accelerated terminal written in Zig with native platform integration.

Strengths

+Exceptional performance
+Native tabs/splits
+Kitty graphics protocol

Gaps

-No Windows support
-No Sixel

Website GitHub

Hyper

macOS · Windows · Linux

Extensible terminal built on web technologies with a rich plugin ecosystem.

Strengths

+Huge plugin ecosystem
+Easy theming
+Web tech accessibility

Gaps

-Slower performance (Electron)
-No graphics protocols

Website GitHub

Tabby

Windows · macOS · Linux

Modern, highly configurable terminal with built-in SSH/Serial clients.

Strengths

+Integrated SSH client
+Plugin system
+Modern UI

Gaps

-Electron-based (slower)
-No graphics protocols

Website GitHub

Wave Terminal

macOS · Linux · Windows

Modern, IDE-like terminal with integrated AI and rich content rendering.

Strengths

+Built-in AI assistant
+Inline markdown/images
+Workspace organization

Gaps

-No graphics protocols
-Electron-based

Website GitHub

05 METHODOLOGY & SOURCES

Data Sources

•Official terminal documentation and feature pages
•GitHub repositories, issues, and changelogs
•Community verification (arewesixelyet.com, terminal-trove.com)
•Manual testing with latest stable releases

Updates

Terminal features evolve quickly. This matrix was last updated December 2025.

Found an error? Open an issue or submit a correction.

06 RELATED COMPARISONS

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AI Powered, Non-Intrusive Terminal Assistant

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curl -fsSL https://get.tmuxai.dev | bash

View on GitHub