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Kaku vs iTerm2, Warp, Ghostty, WezTerm, and cmux

Kaku aims to be the Mac terminal that works the moment you install it. Here is how it stacks up against the usual picks, and when you should stay where you are.

Start with the job

People switch terminals for a handful of reasons. They want something usable without an afternoon of config, they have a long-lived iTerm2 setup, they want a faster GPU terminal, or they want AI built into the product. Kaku is for the first group. Fonts, themes, tabs, panes, and shell tools are already set up, and AI can plug into your own service.

What Kaku is good at

  • Works on first launch. JetBrains Mono, macOS font rendering, dark and light themes, copy on select, and Mac-style tab and pane shortcuts are all set.
  • Tabs and panes that survive a relaunch. Cmd + T opens a tab, Cmd + D splits, and Cmd + Shift + O opens Tab Navigator to find a pane. Quit and reopen, and your windows, panes, and directories are still there. Right-click to copy, paste, search, open chat, or split the pane under the cursor.
  • Shell tools built in. Completions, syntax highlighting, and z for jumping between directories work in every Kaku session. Cmd + Shift + G opens Lazygit, Cmd + Shift + Y opens Yazi, and Cmd + Shift + R mounts files from the current SSH host.
  • Optional AI on your own service. Failed commands come back with a suggested fix, # plus a sentence becomes a command, and Cmd + L and kaku chat share one conversation. Suggestions land at the prompt for you to review and never run on their own. There is no Kaku account and no Kaku-hosted model.
  • Easy to troubleshoot. kaku doctor checks the app, PATH, and shell integration, and kaku config and kaku ai are settings screens right in the terminal.
  • Leaves your data alone. MIT licensed with no usage analytics, and every network request the app can make is listed on the privacy page.
kaku doctor output with every check passing
kaku doctor checks the app, PATH, and shell integration in one go

At a glance

Kaku iTerm2 Warp Ghostty cmux WezTerm Terminal.app
License MIT GPL AGPL client, closed backend MIT GPL app, BSL server MIT Apple
Platform macOS only macOS macOS, Linux, Windows macOS and Linux macOS, iOS app in beta macOS, Linux, Windows macOS
Account None None Optional None Only for paid plans None None
Defaults Opinionated day-one setup You assemble them Product defaults Fast, fewer presets Ghostty engine, your Ghostty config You assemble them Stock Apple
AI Optional, custom API Optional plugin, your key Built in, runs on Warp's servers None built in Any CLI agent, cloud agents on paid plans None built in None built in
Shell tools In the Kaku session You add them Built in You add them You add them You add them None
Install DMG or official brew cask Download Product installer Download DMG or brew tap Download Built in
Stable (Oct 2026) 0.27.0 3.7.3 Weekly builds 1.3.1 0.65.2 20240203, then nightly Ships with macOS
Checkup kaku doctor None Product UI None Config file check None None

Kaku vs iTerm2

iTerm2 is the long-running macOS replacement for Terminal.app. People stay because they already have profiles, shortcuts, and muscle memory. Kaku suits people who want that setup without building it by hand, with fonts and themes from day one, Mac-native tab and pane shortcuts, session restore, a right-click menu, clickable paths, and Lazygit or Yazi on a shortcut. When PATH or shell integration is off, kaku doctor tells you.

iTerm2 keeps moving too. Version 3.5 added AI chat through a separate plugin that uses your own API key, and 3.7 in September 2026 brought tab groups and Claude Code integration.

Kaku window with three tabs and one tab split into three panes
Three tabs and a split window, back as they were after a relaunch

If your iTerm2 setup is working well, or you rely on something Kaku does not have, stay on iTerm2. Kaku is not trying to be a full iTerm2 clone.

Kaku vs Warp

Warp now calls itself an agentic development environment, and the agent is the product. The client has been open source under AGPL since 2026, but the agents run on Warp's servers, so a Claude or Codex subscription you already pay for does not carry over, and paid plans start at $20 a month. Kaku is MIT licensed, has no account, and does not provide or relay an AI service. Run kaku ai, point it at your own provider, and you get fixes for failed commands, # to write a command from a sentence, and Cmd + L for chat. Nothing runs on its own, since Cmd + Shift + E only drops a suggestion at the prompt. Skip AI entirely and the rest of the terminal works the same.

Pick Warp if you want a hosted AI product in your terminal. Pick Kaku if you want an open-source Mac terminal where AI is optional and runs on your own setup.

Kaku vs Ghostty

Ghostty is a fast, MIT-licensed GPU terminal with native macOS tabs and splits, a Quick Terminal that drops down from the menu bar, and window restore. It is a great choice if you already have your own shell tools, fonts, and workflow. Kaku also renders on the GPU, and the difference is what comes already hooked up: JetBrains Mono, dark and light themes, completions and z, Lazygit, Yazi, remote files, and the optional assistant.

Lazygit commit log running inside Kaku
Cmd + Shift + G opens Lazygit in the current repository

Stay on Ghostty if you want something leaner and like your current setup. Try Kaku if what you are missing is the out-of-the-box suite, not another config file.

Kaku vs cmux

cmux, from Manaflow, is a free macOS terminal built on libghostty, Ghostty's rendering engine, for running many coding agents at once. A sidebar of vertical tabs shows each workspace's git branch, directory, ports and latest notification, panes light up when an agent needs attention, a scriptable browser pane can sit next to the terminal, and a CLI and Unix socket drive every action. The app is GPL licensed, and paid plans from $40 a month, billed yearly, add cloud VMs for agents and the iOS app. Kaku is MIT licensed with no paid tier, keeps WezTerm's Lua config, and spends its effort on a working day-one setup: JetBrains Mono, themes, completions and z, Lazygit, Yazi, kaku doctor, and an optional assistant on your own provider. For Claude Code and Codex it covers notifications, splits and restore, and kaku remote opens the same terminals in a browser on another computer.

Pick cmux if you run many agents in parallel and want a sidebar to keep track of them, a browser pane, or a terminal your agents can script. Pick Kaku if you want one terminal that is ready for daily work, agents included, without a workspace layer on top.

Kaku vs WezTerm

Kaku is derived from WezTerm. It keeps WezTerm's Lua config and rendering engine, then adds the Mac layer WezTerm leaves to you, with defaults, shell integration, Tab Navigator, window snapshots, the kaku CLI, and the optional assistant. Most existing WezTerm configs carry over, though a few upstream options behave differently, so check the configuration guide. Upstream's last stable release came out in February 2024, and new work ships as nightly builds.

kaku config settings screen with theme, font, and window options
kaku config changes common settings without opening the Lua file

Stay on WezTerm if you need Windows or Linux, or want upstream as it is. Kaku is Mac only.

Kaku vs Terminal.app

Terminal.app ships with every Mac and is fine for the occasional command. Kaku is for people who live in the terminal, with split panes, session restore, clickable paths, a right-click menu, a shell suite, and an optional assistant that uses the provider you configure.

When not to use Kaku

  • Windows or Linux. Unsupported, and no date is promised.
  • A hosted terminal without a Mac. Kaku runs on your Mac; kaku remote lets a browser connect to it.
  • An API, SDK, or MCP server. There is none. Automation goes through the local kaku CLI.
  • A full iTerm2 or WezTerm replica. Some features are left out on purpose.

Install Kaku

Official Homebrew cask:

brew install --cask kaku
kaku doctor

Or download the DMG from GitHub Releases. The install guide covers post-install checks and moving off the old personal tap.