A GPU-accelerated, local-first terminal for macOS designed for power users and developers. Features Metal-based 60 FPS rendering and built-in AI/collaboration tools.

YEN Community Platform

2021

An embeddable, customizable social network for B2B businesses and creators.

Market Position

YEN positions itself as a high-performance, privacy-focused alternative to Electron-based terminals like Hyper and established tools like iTerm2.

Leadership

Founders

John Saddington

Founder and CEO. Entrepreneur and blogger (john.do). Previous founder of 8BIT, Standard Theme, and PressGram. Background in enterprise software and community platforms.

Peter Saddington

Co-founder. Twin brother of John Saddington. Founder of VinWiki. Known for cryptocurrency and tech investments (bought a Lamborghini with Bitcoin in 2011).

Executive Team

John Saddington

CEO and Co-founder

Experienced entrepreneur and software engineer. Previously at 8BIT and Standard Theme.

Peter Saddington

Co-founder

Entrepreneur and early Bitcoin adopter. Founder of VinWiki.

Board of Directors

John Saddington

Board Member

Peter Saddington

Board Member

Founding Story

YEN was started as a project to build community-owned social networks and internal tools to replace expensive incumbents like Slack.

Business Model

Revenue

Undisclosed

Revenue Model

Free for local usage. Originally intended as a B2B SaaS platform for communities.

Pricing Tiers

YEN Terminal

Free

Full features, local-first, no account required.

Private

Target Markets

Industries & Segments

Software Developers
Power Users
B2B Communities

Use Cases

High-performance software development
Internal team communication
AI-assisted CLI workflows

Notable Customers

Indie Hackers
Early B2B Community Adopters

Quick Facts

Headquarters

San Francisco, CA

Founded

2014

Entity Type

PBC

Employees

Total Funding

Undisclosed

Investors

Undisclosed strategic investors

Office Locations

San Francisco

Remote

Funding History

SeedUndisclosed

March 2021

Undisclosed

History & Milestones

March 2026

Shipped native AI-assisted skills (ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) into the terminal workflow.

Dec 2025

Released GPU-accelerated version of YEN Terminal using Metal on macOS.

March 2021

Closed first funding round from a group of strategic investors.

2021-2022

Built YEN.chat as an internal Slack replacement, which eventually became the YEN Terminal.

2014-2016

YEN founded by John and Peter Saddington.

Key Capabilities

GPU-Accelerated Rendering (Metal)

60 FPS UI performance

Sub-millisecond I/O latency

Local-first architecture

No cloud dependency or registration required

Universal Speech-to-Text

Integrations & Partnerships

Platform Integrations

macOS
Open-Meteo
Sparkle (Updates)

Key Partnerships

Apple (macOS native optimization)

AI model providers (ChatGPT, Perplexity)

Connect

Website

yen.chat

X / Twitter

yenFTW

YouTube

@yenFTW

AI Topics

YEN focuses on these topics:

Command Line Assistants(1)

Agent Harness(1)

Speech Recognition(1)

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YEN

To democratize the world's access to economic mobility through community and high-performance tools.

Visit Website

At a Glance

20Tool Views

San Francisco, CAHeadquarters

2014Est.

10Employees

Focus Areas

Command Line Assistants

Agent Harness

Speech Recognition

Connect

AI Tools by YEN

(1)

YEN

GPU Terminal IDE for macOS

CLI Assistants Agent Harness Speech Recognition

Discussions

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Latest News

03/07/2026

Shipping a 30-Language Desktop App via a Single Command: Agentic Skills in YEN

blog.yen.chat

02/15/2026

Talk To Your Terminal without AI: Universal Speech-to-Text in YEN

blog.yen.chat

01/10/2026

Native macOS Terminal with sub-millisecond I/O Released

blog.yen.chat

12/05/2025

GPU-Accelerated Terminal on Metal Launch

blog.yen.chat

Products & Services

YEN Terminal

2021-2022 (Original), 2025 (GPU-Accelerated)

A GPU-accelerated, local-first terminal for macOS designed for power users and developers. Features Metal-based 60 FPS rendering and built-in AI/collaboration tools.

YEN Community Platform

2021

An embeddable, customizable social network for B2B businesses and creators.

Market Position

YEN positions itself as a high-performance, privacy-focused alternative to Electron-based terminals like Hyper and established tools like iTerm2.

Leadership

Founders

John Saddington

Founder and CEO. Entrepreneur and blogger (john.do). Previous founder of 8BIT, Standard Theme, and PressGram. Background in enterprise software and community platforms.

Peter Saddington

Co-founder. Twin brother of John Saddington. Founder of VinWiki. Known for cryptocurrency and tech investments (bought a Lamborghini with Bitcoin in 2011).

Executive Team

John Saddington

CEO and Co-founder

Experienced entrepreneur and software engineer. Previously at 8BIT and Standard Theme.

Peter Saddington

Co-founder

Entrepreneur and early Bitcoin adopter. Founder of VinWiki.

Board of Directors

John Saddington

Board Member

Peter Saddington

Board Member

Founding Story

YEN was started as a project to build community-owned social networks and internal tools to replace expensive incumbents like Slack.

Business Model

Revenue

Undisclosed

Revenue Model

Free for local usage. Originally intended as a B2B SaaS platform for communities.

Pricing Tiers

YEN Terminal

Free

Full features, local-first, no account required.

Private

Target Markets

Industries & Segments

Software Developers
Power Users
B2B Communities

Use Cases

High-performance software development
Internal team communication
AI-assisted CLI workflows

Notable Customers

Indie Hackers
Early B2B Community Adopters

Quick Facts

Headquarters

San Francisco, CA

Founded

2014

Entity Type

PBC

Employees

Total Funding

Undisclosed

Investors

Undisclosed strategic investors

Office Locations

San Francisco

Remote

Funding History

SeedUndisclosed

March 2021

Undisclosed

History & Milestones

March 2026

Shipped native AI-assisted skills (ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) into the terminal workflow.

Dec 2025

Released GPU-accelerated version of YEN Terminal using Metal on macOS.

March 2021

Closed first funding round from a group of strategic investors.

2021-2022

Built YEN.chat as an internal Slack replacement, which eventually became the YEN Terminal.

2014-2016

YEN founded by John and Peter Saddington.

Key Capabilities

GPU-Accelerated Rendering (Metal)

60 FPS UI performance

Sub-millisecond I/O latency

Local-first architecture

No cloud dependency or registration required

Universal Speech-to-Text

Integrations & Partnerships

Platform Integrations

macOS
Open-Meteo
Sparkle (Updates)

Key Partnerships

Apple (macOS native optimization)

AI model providers (ChatGPT, Perplexity)

Connect

Website

yen.chat

X / Twitter

yenFTW

YouTube

@yenFTW

AI Topics

YEN focuses on these topics:

Command Line Assistants(1)

Agent Harness(1)

Speech Recognition(1)

Back to all developers