iTerm2
The long-standing, fully open-source terminal replacement for macOS.
Self-hosted Open source GPL-2.0 terminal
Pricing
Free (open source).
iTerm2 has been the default macOS Terminal.app replacement for over a decade — deeply customizable, no telemetry, no cloud dependency, just a very good terminal.
Key features
- Split panes and tmux integration
- Extensive profile and hotkey customization
- Search, autocomplete, and shell integration
- Zero cloud dependency — fully local
Self-hosted vs. cloud
100% local. No accounts, no cloud sync, no AI features phoning home — for some, that’s the whole appeal versus newer entrants.
Quick start
# macOS
brew install --cask iterm2
Alternatives
Warp if you want AI-assisted command search and are fine with a cloud-connected terminal.