Transform your macOS terminal into a personalized, visually engaging shell with custom skins.
Free plan available, paid tiers aboveFreemiumDeveloper Tools
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Tracked since2026
The Bottom Line
- Price
- Free plan available, paid tiers above. Compare plans
Key facts
- Personalize your macOS terminal with custom visual skins.
- Features a real, full-featured terminal powered by SwiftTerm.
- Includes a Skin Builder to create custom skins from any image.
Pros
- Highly customizable visual experience for the terminal
- Maintains full terminal functionality and performance
- Easy-to-use Skin Builder for personalized creations
- Seamless switching between skinned and standard views
- Native macOS application for optimal performance
Cons
- Only available for macOS (Sonoma 14+)
- Limited free trial period and skin slots before purchase
What is Terminal Candy?
Terminal Candy is a native macOS application that allows users to customize the appearance of their terminal with unique skins. It provides a full-featured, real shell experience powered by SwiftTerm, offering VT emulation, scrollback, xterm mouse support, true color, and multi-session capabilities. The core value proposition is to make the terminal experience more visually appealing and personalized without compromising on functionality.
The application includes a built-in Skin Builder, enabling users to create their own skins from any image by magic-wanding backgrounds, drawing terminal windows, and selecting color palettes. It also offers a community gallery for browsing and installing pre-made skins. Users can easily switch between a skinned terminal and a standard, clean view with a hotkey, maintaining the same session and scrollback. Terminal Candy is designed for macOS users who want to add a unique aesthetic flair to their command-line interface.
Key Features
- Customizable terminal skins
- Built-in Skin Builder for creating new skins
- Community skin gallery
- Real PTY with full VT emulation (SwiftTerm)
- Scrollback functionality
- xterm mouse support
- True color support
- Multi-session support
Pricing Plans
Free TrialPricing checked Oct 2, 2026
| Plan | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | Free |
|
| License | $10 one-time |
|
Is Terminal Candy worth the price?
Great value
This pricing is incredibly generous, offering a one-time payment of $10 for a lifetime license.
The free trial with full functionality and the free tier with 5 skin slots provide excellent value. This model is best for individual macOS users who want to personalize their terminal without recurring costs.
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
No overage fees or seat minimums.
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Terminal Candy FAQ
What technology powers the terminal functionality within Terminal Candy?
Terminal Candy uses SwiftTerm under the hood, providing a real PTY with full VT emulation, scrollback, xterm mouse support, true color, and multi-session capabilities, ensuring it's a fully functional terminal.
Can I use Terminal Candy on older macOS versions or on Windows/Linux?
No, Terminal Candy is an opinionated, fully native Mac app designed for macOS 14 (Sonoma) and up. It runs on both Apple Silicon (M-series) and Intel Macs, but there are no Windows or Linux builds, nor support for older macOS versions.
How does the Skin Builder work to create a custom terminal skin?
The built-in Skin Builder allows you to take any image, magic-wand away the background, draw the area where the terminal screen should appear, and pick a color palette. The changes load live without needing a restart or compiler.
What happens to my terminal session if I toggle the skin off and on?
When you tap ⌘M to toggle the skin off, the chassis drops away for a clean, standard terminal view. Tapping it again brings the skin back. Crucially, the same session and scrollback history are maintained throughout this process.
What are the limitations of the free trial, and what does a license unlock?
The free trial lasts for 14 days and allows for up to 5 skin slots. Purchasing a one-time $10 license keeps Terminal Candy running indefinitely and unlocks unlimited skins and community membership.
Source: terminalcandy.com