BusyBox Alternatives

BusyBox is described as 'Single binary that provides several stripped-down Unix tools in a single executable. It runs in a variety of POSIX environments such as Linux, Android, FreeBSD and others. It was specifically created for embedded operating systems with very limited resources' and is an app in the os & utilities category. There are eight alternatives to BusyBox for Windows, Linux, Android and Mac. The best BusyBox alternative is Cygwin, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like BusyBox are MSYS2, GNU Core Utilities, gow and Toybox (Linux command line utilities).

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BusyBox alternatives are mainly Linux Distros but may also be Terminal Emulators or Shells.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of BusyBox.
BusyBox iconBusyBox
  45
  • FreeOpen Source
  • ...

BusyBox is a single binary that provides several stripped-down Unix tools in a single executable. It runs in a variety of POSIX environments such as Linux, Android, FreeBSD and others. It was specifically created for...

More about BusyBox
BusyBox alternatives page was last updated Nov 14, 2024
  1. Cygwin icon
     224 likes

    Cygwin is a Unix-like environment and command-line interface for Microsoft Windows. Cygwin provides native integration of Windows-based applications, data, and other system resources with applications, software tools, and data of the Unix-like environment.

    29 Cygwin alternatives
    Cygwin terminals running on Windows 7

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Cygwin Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Linux on Windows
    3.  SSH
    4.  POSIX-compatible
    5.  ANSI color support
    Cygwin iconBusyBox Icon

    Cygwin VS BusyBox

    Is Cygwin a good alternative to BusyBox?
     
    Comments about Cygwin as an Alternative to BusyBox
     
    Guest

    Busybox isnt a sort of full distro as Cygwin is.

    Negative commentJan 22, 2016
    4
    RemovedUser

    Cygwin provides all the good ol' Linux tools directly to Windows. It's better than the Ubuntu addition to Windows 10 in that it can work directly with the Windows filesystem.

    Positive commentJun 8, 2018
    -2
    BusyBox Icon
    Cygwin icon
    • Cygwin is the most popular Windows alternative to BusyBox.

    • Cygwin is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to BusyBox.

    • Cygwin is Free and Open SourceBusyBox is also Free and Open Source
  2. MSYS2 icon
     47 likes

    MSYS2 is an independent rewrite of MSYS, based on modern Cygwin (POSIX compatibility layer) and MinGW-w64 with the aim of better interoperability with native Windows software.

    42 MSYS2 alternatives
    MSYS2 screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows

    MSYS2 Features

    1.  Command line/bash
    2.  Linux on Windows
    3.  Command line interface
    4.  POSIX-compatible
    5.  Support for scripting
    MSYS2 iconBusyBox Icon

    MSYS2 VS BusyBox

    Is MSYS2 a good alternative to BusyBox?
     
  3. GNU Core Utilities icon
     16 likes

    The GNU Core Utilities or coreutils is a package of GNU software containing many of the basic tools, such as cat, ls, and rm, needed for Unix-like operating systems. It is a combination of a number of earlier packages, including textutils, shellutils, and fileutils, along with...

    7 GNU Core Utilities alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Linux

    GNU Core Utilities Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Plain text file
    GNU Core Utilities iconBusyBox Icon

    GNU Core Utilities VS BusyBox

    Is GNU Core Utilities a good alternative to BusyBox?
     
    • GNU Core Utilities is the most popular Linux alternative to BusyBox.

    • GNU Core Utilities is Free and Open SourceBusyBox is also Free and Open Source
  4.  28 likes

    Gow (Gnu On Windows) is the lightweight alternative to Cygwin. It uses a convenient Windows installer that installs about 130 extremely useful

    24 gow alternatives
    gow screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Discontinued

    No activity for over a year.

    BusyBox Icon

    gow VS BusyBox

    Is gow a good alternative to BusyBox?
     
  5.  6 likes

    Toybox combines common Linux command line utilities together into a single BSD-licensed executable that's simple, small, fast, reasonably standards-compliant, and powerful enough to turn Android into a development environment.

    4 Toybox (Linux command line utilities) alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Android

    Toybox (Linux command line utilities) Features

    1.  Command line interface
    BusyBox Icon

    Toybox (Linux command line utilities) VS BusyBox

    Is this a good alternative to BusyBox?
     
    Comments about Toybox (Linux command line utilities) as an Alternative to BusyBox
     
    Guest

    because it is the same thing but it works very fine on android N 7.1 while busybox dont work on android N 7.1

    Positive commentDec 30, 2016
    0
    BusyBox Icon
    • Toybox (Linux command line utilities) is the most popular Android alternative to BusyBox.

    • Toybox (Linux command line utilities) is Free and Open SourceBusyBox is also Free and Open Source
  6.  1 like

    ptime will run any specified command and parameters, and measure the execution time (run time) in seconds, accurate to 5 millisecond or better. It is an automatic process timer, or program timer used for benchmark purposes.

    4 ptime alternatives

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    BusyBox Icon

    ptime VS BusyBox

    Is ptime a good alternative to BusyBox?
     
  7. RustyBox icon
     1 like

    RustyBox is a free-range, non-GMO fork of BusyBox written entirely in Rust. It includes all your favorite commands like ls, mount, and top, but without a single line of C code! Like BusyBox, rustybox weighs in at just under 1 megabyte and includes all the basic utilities you...

    7 RustyBox alternatives
    RustyBox screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux

    RustyBox Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Portable Linux
    RustyBox iconBusyBox Icon

    RustyBox VS BusyBox

    Is RustyBox a good alternative to BusyBox?
     
    • RustyBox is the most popular Mac alternative to BusyBox.

    • RustyBox is Free and Open SourceBusyBox is also Free and Open Source
  8. Buildroot icon
     Like this app

    Buildroot, making embedded Linux easy. Note that this is not the official repository, but only a mirror. The official Git repository is at http://git.buildroot.net/buildroot/. Do not open issues or file pull requests here.

    3 Buildroot alternatives
    Buildroot screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux

    Buildroot Features

    1.  Command line interface
    Buildroot iconBusyBox Icon

    Buildroot VS BusyBox

    Is Buildroot a good alternative to BusyBox?
     
8 of 8 BusyBox alternatives