Ghostty Is Now Non-Profit – Mitchell HashimotoMitchell HashimotoAboutWritingMiscMitchell HashimotoGhostty Is Now Non-ProfitDecember 3, 2025Ghostty is now fiscally sponsored by Hack Club, a
registered 501(c)(3) non-profit.
Fiscal sponsorship is a legal and financial
arrangement in which a recognized non-profit extends its tax-exempt status to
a project that aligns with its mission. This allows Ghostty to operate as a
charitable initiative while Hack Club manages compliance, donations,
accounting, and governance oversight.
Being non-profit clearly demonstrates our commitment to keeping Ghostty
free and open source for everyone. It paves the way for a model for sustainable
development beyond my personal involvement. And it also provides important
legal protections and assurances to the people and communities that adopt and
use Ghostty.

Why a Non-Profit?
Since the beginning of the project in 2023 and the private beta days of
Ghostty, I've repeatedly expressed my intention that Ghostty legally
become a non-profit. This intention stems from several core beliefs I have.
First, I want to lay bricks for a sustainable future for Ghostty that
doesn't depend on my personal involvement technically or financially.
Financially, I am still the largest donor to the project, and I intend to
remain so, but a non-profit structure allows others to contribute financially
without fear of misappropriation or misuse of funds (as protected by legal
requirements and oversight from the fiscal sponsor).
Second, I want to squelch any possible concerns about a
"rug pull".
A non-profit structure provides enforceable assurances: the mission cannot be
quietly changed, funds cannot be diverted to private benefit, and the project
cannot be sold off or repurposed for commercial gain. The structure legally
binds Ghostty to the public-benefit purpose it was created to serve.
Finally, despite being decades-old technology, terminals and terminal-related
technologies remain foundational to modern computing and software
infrastructure. They're often out of the limelight, but they're ever present
on developer machines, embedded in IDEs, visible as read-only consoles for
continuous integration and cloud services, and still one of the primary ways
remote access is done on servers around the world.
I believe infrastructure of this kind should be stewarded by a mission-driven,
non-commercial entity that prioritizes public benefit over private profit.
That structure increases trust, encourages adoption, and creates the
conditions for Ghostty to grow into a widely used and impactful piece of
open-source infrastructure.

What This Means For Ghostty
From a technical perspective, nothing changes for Ghostty. Our technical
goals for the project remain the same, the license (MIT) remains the same, and
we continue our work towards better Ghostty GUI releases and
libghostty.
Financially, Ghostty can now accept tax-deductible donations in the United
States. This opens up new avenues for funding the project and sustaining
development over the long term. Most immediately, I'm excited to begin
compensating contributors,
but I also intend to support upstream dependencies, fund community events,
and pay for boring operational costs.
All our financial transactions will be transparent down to individual
transactions for both inflows and outflows. You can view our public
ledger at Ghostty's page on Hack Club Bank.
At the time of writing, this is empty, but you'll soon see some initial
funding from me and the beginning of paying for some of our operational
costs.
All applicable names, marks, and intellectual property associated with Ghostty have
been transferred to Hack Club and are now owned under the non-profit
umbrella. Copyright continues to be held by individual contributors under
the continued and existing license structure.
From a leadership perspective, I remain the project lead and final authority
on all decisions, but as stated earlier, the creation of a non-profit structure
lays the groundwork for an eventual future beyond this model.
Important note: no funds will be sent to me (Mitchell Hashimoto) or used in any way that
personally benefits me. Since I'm both the largest donor and lead of this project, this is a
legally guaranteed protection. But also for altruistic reasons, all funds will be directed towards
the needs of the project and its community.

Supporting Hack Club
As our fiscal sponsor, Hack Club provides essential services to Ghostty,
including accounting, legal compliance, and governance oversight. To support
this, 7% of all donations to Ghostty go to Hack Club to cover these costs
in addition to supporting their broader mission of empowering young people
around the world interested in technology and coding.
In the words of Zach Latta, Hack Club's founder and executive director
this is a "good-for-good" trade. Instead of donor fees going to a for-profit
management company or covering pure overhead of a single project, the fees
go to another non-profit doing important work in the tech community and
the overhead is amortized across many projects.
In addition to the 7% fees, my family is personally donating $150,000
directly to the Hack Club project1 (not to Ghostty within it). Hack Club
does amazing work and I would've supported them regardless of their
fiscal sponsorship of Ghostty, but I wanted to pair these two things
together to amplify the impact of both.

Donate
Please consider donating to support Ghostty's continued development.
I recognize that Ghostty is already in an abnormally fortunate position
to have myself as a backer, but I do envision a future where Ghostty is
more equally supported by a broader community. And with our new structure,
you can be assured about the usage of your funds
towards public-benefit goals.
This post isn't meant to directly be a fundraising pitch
so it is purposely lacking critical details about our funding goals, budget,
project goals, project metrics, etc. I'll work on those in the future.
In the mean time, if you're interested in talking more about supporting
Ghostty, please email me at m@mitchellh.com.
Support GhosttyYour contribution helps sustain development and keeps Ghostty free and open source for everyone. Donations are tax-deductible in the United States.Donate NowEIN: 81-2908499DAF or FoundationUse the EIN above and specify “Ghostty” as the recipientStock, Crypto, or Other AssetsContact Paul at Hack ClubOther QuestionsReach out to Paul at Hack Club7% of donations go to Hack Club to cover administrative costs and support their mission.

Thank You
I'm thankful for Hack Club and their team for working with us to make this
happen. I'm also thankful for the Ghostty community who has supported this
project and has trusted me and continues to trust me to steward it responsibly.
For more information about Ghostty's non-profit structure, see the
dedicated page on Ghostty's website.
Footnotes

We haven't finalized the transfer of the funds yet, but it is
initiated and will be completed in the coming weeks. ↩

December 3, 2025© 2025 Mitchell Hashimoto.mailtwittermastodongithublinkedin

Mitchell Hashimoto has initiated a significant shift in the operational structure of Ghostty, transitioning the project into a fiscally sponsored non-profit entity through a partnership with Hack Club. This move, effective as of December 3, 2025, represents a deliberate strategy to ensure the long-term sustainability and public benefit of Ghostty, addressing concerns surrounding its future development and utilization. The core motivation behind this change stems from Hashimoto’s desire to establish a robust, independently-managed framework, moving beyond his direct, personal involvement and fostering increased community support.

The establishment of Hack Club as the fiscal sponsor provides several key advantages. Primarily, it enables Ghostty to accept tax-deductible donations within the United States, opening new avenues for funding operational costs, community events, and ongoing development efforts. This also offers legal protections, safeguarding the project’s mission from potential alteration or misappropriation of funds, aligning with the tenets of non-profit governance. Hashimotos’ continued role as project lead retains authority, but the structure facilitates a more diversified approach to funding and management.

Crucially, the arrangement incorporates a 7% fee paid by Ghostty donations to Hack Club, which covers the fiscal sponsor’s services – accounting, legal compliance, and governance oversight. This model—often described as a "good-for-good" trade—distributes overhead costs across multiple projects, supporting both a centrally-managed non-profit and a broader ecosystem of technological initiatives. Furthermore, Hashimotos’ family is personally donating $150,000 to Hack Club, bolstering the fiscal sponsor’s capacity and demonstrating a holistic commitment to the project’s success.

From a technical standpoint, the transition does not alter the core functionality of Ghostty, maintaining the project’s MIT license and ongoing development goals. The aim is primarily to build a sustainable financial base. It’s intended to foster community participation and growth, ensuring the long-term viability of the infrastructure. Hashimoto emphasizes a commitment to transparency, outlining that all financial transactions will be publicly accessible through a ledger maintained on Hack Club’s Bank. This commitment to openness aims to instill trust within the Ghostty community.

The formalization of Ghostty’s structure through a non-profit creates a framework for securing its place as a foundational component of modern computing infrastructure, particularly in areas like terminal technology and remote access platforms, as Hashimoto posits. It emphasizes a mission-driven, non-commercial approach. By aligning Ghostty's funding and management with a recognized non-profit, Hashimoto anticipates a stronger, more engaged community and a more secure future for the open-source project.