Cygwin Alternatives

Alternatives list

1. 

   

   Windows Subsystem for Linux

    36 likes

   The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a new Windows 10 feature that enables you to run native Linux command-line tools directly on Windows.

   35 Windows Subsystem for Linux alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (MIT)

   Application type

   • Compatibility Layer

   Origin

   • United States

   Platforms

   • Windows

   • United States

   

   More about Windows Subsystem for Linux  

   

   Good alternative?Is this a good alternative to Cygwin?

    
2. 

   

   MSYS2

    50 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.

   28 MSYS2 alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application type

   • Terminal Emulator

   Origin

   • International

   Platforms

   • Windows

   • Global

   

   More about MSYS2  

   

   Good alternative?Is MSYS2 a good alternative to Cygwin?

    

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   3comments

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   MSYS2 vs Cygwin Comments

   Positive comment by Guest · Apr 2, 2017

   Forked from Cygwin with a nice package manager

   Positive comment by Guest · Sep 20, 2019

   It's fundamentally the same thing

   Positive comment by Guest · Oct 29, 2019

   Because it's based on MSYS (which is based on modern CygWin and MinGW-w64), also it has a nice package manager.

   3 of 3 comments

   

   

   • MSYS2 is Free and Open SourceCygwin is also Free and Open Source
   • MSYS2 is LightweightCygwin is not according to our users
4. 

   

   BusyBox

    51 likes

   Single compact binary offering essential Unix utilities for embedded, rescue, and custom Linux builds, supporting Android, FreeBSD, and devices with limited memory and storage. Includes networking, shell, and file handling tools for streamlined deployment.

   9 BusyBox alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Origin

   • United States

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Linux
   • Android
   • BSD
   • FreeBSD
   • Android Tablet

   • United States

   

   More about BusyBox  

   

   Good alternative?Is BusyBox a good alternative to Cygwin?

    
5. 

   

   MinGW

    129 likes

   MinGW ("Minimalistic GNU for Windows") is a port of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) and GNU Binutils. It provides a complete Open Source programming toolset which is suitable for the development of native MS-Windows (x86) applications, which do not depend on any...

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (BSD-2-Clause)

   Application type

   • Compiler

   Origin

   • United States

   Platforms

   • Windows
   • Linux
   • BSD

   • United States

   

   More about MinGW  

   

   Good alternative?Is MinGW a good alternative to Cygwin?

    

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   1comment

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   MinGW vs Cygwin Comments

   Positive comment by Guest · May 31, 2019

   more integrated with Windows

   1 of 1 comments

   

   

   • MinGW is Free and Open SourceCygwin is also Free and Open Source
6. 

   

   WindTerm

    22 likes

   A professional SSH/Telnet/Serial/Shell/Sftp client for DevOps.

   111 WindTerm alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (Apache-2.0)

   Application typeApplication types

   • Terminal Emulator
   • SSH Client

   Origin

   • China

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux

   • China

   

   

   

   More about WindTerm  

   

   Good alternative?Is WindTerm a good alternative to Cygwin?

    

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   1comment

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   WindTerm vs Cygwin Comments

   Negative comment by Nuncio Bitis · Apr 2, 2025

   WindTerm is a terminal. Cygwin is a Linux environment for Windows.

   1 of 1 comments

   

   

   • WindTerm is Free and Open SourceCygwin is also Free and Open Source
   • WindTerm is LightweightCygwin is not according to our users
8. 

   

   Babun

    20 likes

   Would you like to use a linux-like console on a Windows host without a lot of fuzz? Try out babun!

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application type

   • Terminal Emulator

   Alerts

   • Discontinued

   Platforms

   • Windows
   • Git
   • Cygwin
   • zsh

   

   

   

   +1

   

   More about Babun  

   

   Good alternative?Is Babun a good alternative to Cygwin?

    

   |

   1comment

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   Discontinued

   The project seems to be no longer developed. Last version, 1.2.0, released in July 2015, can be still downloaded from GitHub

   Babun vs Cygwin Comments

   Positive comment by yphastos · Jun 28, 2017

   Much easier setup than Cygwin, with most of what you'll need.

   1 of 1 comments

   

   

   • Babun is Free and Open SourceCygwin is also Free and Open Source
9. 

   

   MinC

    1 like

   MinC has a tiny kernel emulation (285Kb) which runs on Windows. The rest of the software was taken verbatim from OpenBSD, version 6.1. This means that by installing MinC, you run OpenBSD on your Windows machine at native speed.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (BSD-3-Clause)

   Application type

   • Compatibility Layer

   Origin

   • Netherlands
   • EU

   Platforms

   • Windows

   • Netherlands
   • EU

   

   

   

   More about MinC  

   

   Good alternative?Is MinC a good alternative to Cygwin?

    
10. M

    M

    MSYS

     2 likes

    MSYS is a collection of GNU utilities such as bash, make, gawk and grep to allow building of applications and programs which depend on traditionally UNIX tools to be present.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows

    M

    

    Good alternative?Is MSYS a good alternative to Cygwin?

     
11. 

    

    Termux Monet

     1 like

    A terminal emulator application for Android 8+ OS extendible by variety of packages, with Monet support and experimental features.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application type

    • Terminal Emulator

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Android

    

    More about Termux Monet  

    

    Good alternative?Is Termux Monet a good alternative to Cygwin?

     
12. 

    

    Cooperative Linux

     11 likes

    Cooperative Linux (short-named coLinux) is the first working free and open source method for optimally running Linux on Microsoft Windows natively.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Origin

    • Israel

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows

    • Israel

    

    

    

    More about Cooperative Linux  

    

    Good alternative?Is Cooperative Linux a good alternative to Cygwin?

     
13. M

    M

    MinGW-w64

     23 likes

    The project's goal is to deliver runtime, headers, and libs for developing 64 bit (x64), as well as 32 bit (x86), windows applications using gcc-4.4 or newer versions.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application typeApplication types

    • Compiler
    • Terminal Emulator

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD

    M

    

    Good alternative?Is MinGW-w64 a good alternative to Cygwin?

     
14. 

    

    TCC/LE

     16 likes

    TCC/LE is a complete CMD replacement, and is compatible with your existing Windows command prompt and CMD batch files, while adding thousands of new features.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Origin

    • United States

    Platforms

    • Windows

    • United States

    

    More about TCC/LE  

    

    Good alternative?Is TCC/LE a good alternative to Cygwin?