Cygwin Alternatives for Mac

Cygwin is not available for Mac but there are some alternatives that runs on macOS with similar functionality. The best Mac alternative is WindTerm, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Cygwin and five of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Cygwin are BusyBox, Cash, RustyBox and csshX.

Cygwin iconCygwin
  225
  • Shell
  • Free • Open Source
  • ...

Cygwin is a Unix-like environment and command-line interface for Microsoft Windows. Cygwin provides native integration of...

More about Cygwin
More about Cygwin
Cygwin alternatives page was last updated Apr 2, 2025
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Alternatives
  1. WindTerm icon

    WindTerm

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

    56 WindTerm alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • CN flagChina

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    WindTerm screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Support for SFTP
    2.  SSH
    3.  Portable
    4.  X server
    5.  Syntax Highlighting
    6.  Command palette
    7.  Cross-Platform
    8.  Outliner

    WindTerm VS Cygwin

     
    Comments about WindTerm as an Alternative to Cygwin
    Nuncio Bitis
    Negative •Apr 2, 2025
    0

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

    Cygwin Icon
    WindTerm icon

    • WindTerm is the most popular Mac alternative to Cygwin.

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

    BusyBox

     45 likes
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    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 embedded operating systems with very limited resources.

    9 BusyBox alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    BusyBox screenshot 1

    BusyBox Features

    1.  Command line interface

    BusyBox VS Cygwin

     

    • BusyBox is the most popular Android alternative to Cygwin.

    • BusyBox is Free and Open SourceCygwin is also Free and Open Source
  4. Cash icon

    Cash

     3 likes
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    Cash is a cross-platform implementation of Unix shell commands written in pure ES6.

    8 Cash alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Cash VS Cygwin

     
  5. RustyBox icon

    RustyBox

     1 like
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    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...

    8 RustyBox alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    RustyBox screenshot 1

    RustyBox Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Portable Linux

    RustyBox VS Cygwin

     
  6. csshX icon

    csshX

     2 likes
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    csshX is a tool to allow simultaneous control of multiple SSH sessions. It will attempt to create an SSH session to each remote host in separate Terminal.app windows. A master window will also be created. All keyboard input in the master will be sent to all the slave windows.

    32 csshX alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    12 ssh sessions under the control of one master window

    csshX Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  SSH

    csshX VS Cygwin

     
5 of 5 Cygwin alternatives