Otty and iTerm2 are both macOS terminal applications, but they come from different eras of terminal work. iTerm2 is a mature power-user terminal with a large feature surface. Otty is a newer native terminal designed around code-agent workflows, GPU rendering, VT behavior, and recoverable sessions.
Quick comparison
| Category | Otty | iTerm2 |
|---|---|---|
| Primary fit | Code-agent-heavy terminal work with Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, tmux, prompt queueing, and recoverable sessions. | Mature macOS terminal workflows with profiles, automation, panes, search, triggers, and broad customization. |
| Platform | macOS public build today. | macOS. |
| Rendering | Native Metal renderer on macOS. | Native macOS terminal application with many long-standing UI and terminal features. |
| Agent integration | First-class agent state, notifications, history, resume, fork, composer, and prompt queue. | General terminal features; agent-specific workflows depend on external scripts or manual setup. |
| tmux story | Reattach tmux sessions through session recovery and Restore Multiplayer. | Includes a documented tmux integration mode through iTerm2 and tmux cooperation. |
| Best reason to choose | You want the terminal to understand agent sessions as active work. | You want a battle-tested macOS terminal with a very broad existing feature set. |
When Otty is the better fit
Choose Otty if your terminal now behaves like an agent dashboard. Otty's tab badges, notifications, Agent History, Resume, Fork, Prompt Queue, and Composer are built for long-running Codex, Claude Code, and OpenCode sessions.
Otty is also built around modern recovery behavior. It can reopen windows, tabs, panes, working directories, scrollback, and tmux-backed sessions after restart.
When iTerm2 is the better fit
Choose iTerm2 if you rely on its mature macOS-specific feature set, existing profiles, scripting, integrations, hotkeys, triggers, or tmux control-mode workflow. It is a long-standing terminal with many years of power-user behavior and documentation behind it.
For teams already standardized on iTerm2, switching terminals should be justified by a workflow gain, not by a generic feature list.
Practical decision
If your pain is "I need a great macOS terminal", compare both hands-on. If your pain is "I have several agents running and I keep missing completions, approvals, context, or recovered sessions", Otty is the more targeted tool.