Next Term vs iTerm2

iTerm2 is a free, open-source (GPL v2) terminal for macOS with a long list of features: split panes and tab groups, tmux integration, triggers, badges, profiles, a hotkey window, Instant Replay, a Python API and a Metal renderer. Version 3.7 added a Claude Code integration that shows each Claude session as working, waiting or idle, and an optional AI plugin, used with your own API key, adds a chat that can watch and operate your sessions. Next Term is a younger, narrower app: a macOS terminal and code editor built around running several AI coding agents side by side. It shows the status of 20 agents on their tabs with no hooks to install (read from the screen for Claude Code, Codex, Command Code and Gemini CLI), and adds an editor, side-by-side diffs, a git-aware project sidebar, and an MCP server through which one agent runs the others. Choose iTerm2 as an all-round terminal; choose Next Term for agent work. Many people keep both.

At a glance

Feature	Next Term	iTerm2
Platforms	macOS 13 or later	macOS; the current release needs macOS 13 or later
Price and licence	Free, MIT	Free, GPL v2
Tabs and split panes	✓	✓ With tab groups
Status of each agent	✓ For the 20 agents it recognises, with no setup: read from the screen for Claude Code, Codex, Command Code and Gemini CLI, and from output timing for the rest	Partly: Claude Code, through hooks it adds to Claude’s settings; other programs can report status with an escape sequence
Notifications	✓ Quote the agent’s question; Dock badge	✓ On idle, bell, session end, triggers, or any session’s status change
One agent runs the others	✓ An MCP server any agent can use: start, prompt, wait for and read agents	Partly: an AI chat that can read your sessions and, after asking, type into them; needs your own API key
AI of its own	— Runs the agents you install	Partly: an optional AI plugin, with your own API key
Code editor	✓ 112 grammars, Go to File (`⌘P`)	—
Side-by-side diffs, per-hunk staging	✓ `⌥⌘G`	Partly: a diff viewer in the Claude Code workgroup
Project sidebar with git status	✓	—
tmux integration	Partly: remote tabs keep their sessions in tmux or herdr on the server and reattach by themselves; no `tmux -CC` mode	✓ `tmux -CC` as native windows and tabs
Automation	`nxtrm` and the MCP server	✓ Triggers, a Python API, the `it2` tool
Hotkey window, profiles, Instant Replay	—	✓

Choose iTerm2 if…

You want an all-round terminal with a deep set of options: profiles, triggers, badges, a hotkey window, Instant Replay, inline images and global search.
You live in tmux or on remote machines. iTerm2’s tmux integration shows a remote tmux session as ordinary windows and tabs, and the session keeps running when the connection drops.
You script your terminal with the Python API or triggers.
Claude Code is your only agent, and its status in iTerm2’s Session Status tool is all the overview you need.

Choose Next Term if…

You run several different agents. Next Term recognises 20 agents and shows working, done or waiting on their tab, with nothing added to their settings: Claude Code, Codex, Command Code and Gemini CLI from their own screen, the others from output timing.
You want to read and fix what the agents change, in the same window: an editor with 112 grammars, side-by-side diffs with per-hunk stage, unstage and revert, Find and Replace in Files, and a sidebar with +12 −3 line counts.
You want your agents to see your editor. Claude Code, Gemini CLI and Qwen Code connect to Next Term as their IDE, so your selection goes with the next prompt and proposed edits open as diffs to accept or reject.
You want your own agent to orchestrate the others. Next Term’s MCP server is used by the agents you already have, under their own subscriptions, with no extra API key.

Use both

Keep iTerm2 for tmux integration, scripting and everything else; open agent projects in Next Term. nxtrm . in an iTerm2 tab opens that folder as a Next Term project; Next Term links the command into a folder on your PATH at launch, or offers to install it with your password (how).
Bring your profile over. Next Term › Import Settings and Shortcuts… reads iTerm2’s default profile (its font, font size, colours and Option keys) and shows each change before it applies it.
Agents started in iTerm2 can still use Next Term. A claude started in iTerm2 inside a project open in Next Term can connect to Next Term with /ide, and any agent with Next Term’s MCP server registered can start other agents in Next Term tabs.

Questions

iTerm2 3.7 shows Claude Code’s status. Why add Next Term?

If Claude Code is the only agent you run, iTerm2 may be enough. Next Term shows status for 20 agents (four of them read from their screens), with no hooks in their settings and no Python API to enable, and adds the editor, diffs, project sidebar, IDE link and MCP server around them.

Does Next Term support tmux integration, triggers or profiles?

Not tmux’s control mode. Next Term runs tmux like any terminal, and a remote tab can keep its session in Next Term’s own tmux server on the host and reattach when the connection comes back. It has no tmux -CC mode, triggers, profiles or scripting API beyond nxtrm and its MCP server.

Is iTerm2 free?

Yes. iTerm2 is free software under GPL v2, supported by donations. Next Term is free under the MIT licence.

Sources

Checked October 2026 against iTerm2’s own site and documentation. Products change quickly; if something here is out of date, please open an issue.

iTerm2 (licence, cost) and downloads (iTerm2 3.7.3, macOS 13 or later)
Features and news (3.7, Metal renderer)
Claude Code integration and Session Status
AI Chat and the AI plugin
Profiles › Terminal (notifications) and triggers
tmux integration and Python API

Next Term is free and open source under the MIT licence. Made by Mishuk Adhikari. This site uses no cookies, no trackers and no third-party requests.