iTerm2

iTerm2 has been the default terminal replacement for Mac developers for over a decade, and it's earned that position through reliability and a relentless accumulation of features. Split panes are probably what draws people in first. You can divide your terminal into multiple sections, each running its own session. Working on a project often means running your dev server, watching logs, and running commands—split panes let you see everything at once. Saved arrangements remember your layouts, so you can restore your workspace with a keypress. The search is surprisingly powerful. Press Cmd+F and search through your entire scrollback buffer, with regex support if you need it. Combined with instant replay—yes, you can literally replay your terminal history like a video—debugging issues becomes much easier. Profile support lets you customize everything per-context. You might have different color schemes, fonts, or even shell configurations for different projects or environments. Trigger rules can automatically switch profiles based on hostname or running process. Shell integration adds context-aware features. Your terminal knows which command is running, where you are in the filesystem, and what the output was. This enables things like clicking on filenames to open them and right-clicking for contextual actions. iTerm2 is free and open source, which matters if you're evaluating alternatives. It's mature, stable, and handles edge cases gracefully. The main downside is that it can feel dated compared to newer terminals, and some features require digging through preferences to discover.