Windows terminals built from Ghostty
Ghostty has no Windows app, and its maintainers point those who want one to Ghostty's VT library or to forking the project. Several people have done one or the other. This page lists the projects we know of as of 31 October 2026: what each is built on, what it does and how it ships. It is written by murrtty's author, so weigh it with that in mind. Each project here is someone's work, given away; if anything below is wrong or out of date, please say so and it will be fixed.
Which one suits what
- Ghostty's own app and config file on Windows, current with Ghostty's releases: murrtty.
- A polished WinUI interface, signed builds and updates, if you sponsor: Wintty.
- Installing from winget, Scoop or Chocolatey today, shell profiles, ARM64: noctty.
- A WinUI 3 window over Ghostty's config: GhosttyWin32.
- Direct3D rendering in a Win32 port that follows Ghostty closely: Gooztty.
- Supervising several AI coding agents side by side: Polter.
- WSL only, with a real Linux terminal behind it: ghostinthewsl.
- Lua scripting and workspaces, WezTerm style: hollow.
- A light single-window terminal for Windows and macOS: Mostty.
The projects
| Project | Built as | Window and renderer | Latest release | Behind Ghostty | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghostty, for reference | The original: a macOS app in Swift, a Linux app on GTK | AppKit, Metal; GTK 4 and libadwaita, OpenGL 4.3 | 1.4.0, 2026-10-27 | n/a | MIT |
| murrtty | Fork, Win32 app in Zig | GDI, Ghostty's GTK look; Direct3D 11 | 0.7.0 preview, 2026-11-05 | 38 | MIT |
| Wintty | Fork built as a library, C# WinUI 3 app | WinUI 3; Direct3D 12 | 1.0 rc.8, 2026-10-11, for sponsors | 244 | MIT, plus a paid Pro edition |
| noctty | Fork, Win32 app in Zig | GDI; OpenGL 4.3, Direct3D 11 fallback | 1.3.135, 2026-10-24 | 2,805 | MIT |
| GhosttyWin32 | Fork built as a library, C++ WinUI 3 app | WinUI 3; Direct3D 11 | 0.10.0, 2026-10-25 | 764 | MIT |
| Gooztty | Fork, Win32 app in Zig | Win32; Direct3D 11 | 1.3.2-windows.17, 2026-10-25 | 4 | MIT |
| Polter | Ghostty's core under a Rust app | Win32; OpenGL 4.3 | 0.11.2239, 2026-10-24 | 603 | MIT |
| ghostinthewsl | Fork, Win32 app in Zig | Win32; OpenGL 4.3 | 0.1.5, 2026-08-02 | 737 | MIT |
| hollow | Ghostty's VT library, its own app | Sokol; Direct3D 11 | 0.1.4, 2026-10-28 | 62 | none stated |
| Mostty | Ghostty's VT library, its own app | Win32; Direct3D 11 | 1.1, 2026-09-08 | 453 | GPL-3.0 |
Behind Ghostty: commits on Ghostty's main branch the project doesn't have yet (for projects built on Ghostty's VT library, from the commit they use). No longer updated: mattn's Win32 port (last change 2026-04-16; ghostinthewsl builds on it), mite (2026-05-17), a small Direct3D 11 example of Ghostty's VT library, and edbordin's experiments (2026-04-01).
What they do
The seven that aim to be a whole terminal app, read from their code and documentation (nothing here was run). Unknown means we couldn't tell, not that it's missing.
Ghostty itself comes first, for reference: its macOS and Linux apps at 1.4, read from Ghostty's own code. It has no Windows app, so rows about Windows don't apply to it; where its two apps differ, the cell says which has the feature.
yes partly no unknown doesn't apply
| Feature | Ghostty 1.4 macOS, Linux | murrtty | Wintty | noctty | GhosttyWin32 | Gooztty | Polter | ghostinthewsl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tabs, splits, windows | yes | yes | yes, vertical tabs | yes | yes, tear-out | yes | yes | yes |
| Quick terminal | macOS; Linux on Wayland | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Command palette, search | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Session restore | macOS only | yes | yes | yes | unknown | yes | saved projects | no |
| Settings window | no, edit the file | yes | yes | yes | no | unknown | yes | no |
| PowerShell and cmd integration | not on Windows; bash, zsh, fish, elvish, nushell | yes | yes | yes | no | directory only | directory, title | unknown |
| Shell profiles (WSL, Git Bash, VS) | no | no | yes | yes | unknown | unknown | unknown | WSL |
| Input methods (IME) | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Kitty graphics | yes | yes | yes | yes | unknown | yes | unknown | in WSL |
| Custom shaders | yes | yes | yes | OpenGL only | no | no | unknown | unknown |
| Notifications | yes | toasts | toasts | toasts | toasts | toasts | toasts | balloons |
| Taskbar progress | in the pane | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | in the pane |
| Transparency and blur | yes; Linux blur varies by desktop | yes | yes | no blur | yes | blur varies | no | fixed opacity |
| Screen readers (UI Automation) | macOS only | yes | yes | partly | unknown | partly | partly | no |
| Without OpenGL 4.3 | macOS (Metal) | Direct3D 11 | needs Direct3D 12 | Direct3D 11 | Direct3D 11 | Direct3D 11 | software | no |
| Newer ConPTY bundled | not on Windows | yes | yes | yes | unknown | yes | no | yes |
| Config file shared with Ghostty | the original | yes, no extra keys | reads it, adds keys | partly, adds keys | yes, one extra key | its own file | its own file | its own file |
| Downloads | free | free | for sponsors | free | free | free | free | free |
| Installer or package manager | macOS .dmg; Linux packages | installer, Scoop | installer | winget, Scoop, Chocolatey | MSIX | installer | zip | installer |
| Code signed | macOS, notarized | no | yes | self-signed | self-signed | author's certificate | no | no |
| Automatic updates | macOS only | yes, opt-in | yes | checks | no | no | notifies | no |
| ARM64 release | macOS (universal) | yes, tested without a GPU | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
murrtty's releases aren't code signed, so Windows warns before
running one the first time. From 0.5.0 each file is built by GitHub
from the public source, and GitHub records that:
gh attestation verify <file> -R murr2k/murrtty
checks a download against that record. From 0.6.0 its updates also
carry a signature of murrtty's own, which murrtty checks before an
update runs.
Sources: each project's repository, documentation and releases on 31 October 2026 (murrtty's own entries on 5 November, for its 0.7.0 release; Ghostty's from its 1.4.0 code on 3 November), and Ghostty's discussions #2563 and #12371, where most of these projects were announced. Missing a project, or found a mistake? Tell us.