PowerShell Alternatives for Windows

There are many alternatives to PowerShell for Windows if you are looking for a replacement. The best Windows alternative is PuTTY, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to PowerShell and many of them are available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Windows alternatives to PowerShell are Tabby, Cmder, fish and ConEmu.

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Alternatives list

  1. PuTTY icon

    PuTTY

     1449 likes
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    Free and open-source terminal emulator for connecting to remote systems via SSH, Telnet, and SCP. Portable with no installation required, providing lightweight functionality. Ideal for secure connections with features like command line support and customizable settings. Works offline effortlessly.

    114 PuTTY alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • PortableApps.com
    • ReactOS
    • Flathub
    PuTTY screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about PuTTY as an Alternative to PowerShell
    anselmus
    Negative
    2

    PuTTY is not a shell in that sense. PuTTY is an alternative to programs like ssh which can run in powershell.

    PowerShell Icon
    PuTTY icon

    • PuTTY is the most popular Windows & Linux alternative to PowerShell.

    • PuTTY is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to PowerShell.

    • PuTTY is Free and Open SourcePowerShell is also Free and Open Source
  2. Tabby icon

    Tabby

     117 likes
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    Tabby is an infinitely customizable cross-platform terminal app for local shells, serial, SSH and Telnet connections.

    106 Tabby alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Tabby screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about Tabby as an Alternative to PowerShell
    anselmus
    Negative
    2

    Tabby is a terminal emulator and not a shell.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Great looking, fast, convenient.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    PowerShell Icon
    Tabby icon

    • Tabby is the most popular Mac alternative to PowerShell.

    • Tabby is Free and Open SourcePowerShell is also Free and Open Source
    • Tabby is CustomizablePowerShell is not according to our users
  4. Cmder icon

    Cmder

     241 likes
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    Cmder is an open-source replacement for the Windows command-line. It relies on ConEmu , extending it with the power of clink and some great looking defaults including a Monokai color scheme and custom prompt...

    40 Cmder alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • clink
    • ConEmu
    • Windows Command Prompt
    • PowerShell
    Cmder screenshot 1
     
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    15
  5. fish icon

    fish

     113 likes
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    Fish is a user-friendly command line shell for UNIX-like operating systems such as Linux

    31 fish alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Rust
    fish screenshot 1
     
  6. ConEmu icon

    ConEmu

     386 likes
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    Windows console emulator with tabs, which presents multiple consoles and simple GUI applications as one customizable GUI window with various features.

    62 ConEmu alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    ConEmu screenshot 1
     
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    1
    12
    Comments about ConEmu as an Alternative to PowerShell
    SamB
    Negative
    9

    ConEmu is not a shell, and PowerShell is not a console emulator. I suppose you could argue that PowerShell ISE sort-of is, but that's not the /point/ of PowerShell ISE, so...

    PowerShell Icon
    ConEmu icon

    • Most users think ConEmu is a great PowerShell alternative.

    • ConEmu is Free and Open SourcePowerShell is also Free and Open Source
    • ConEmu is CustomizablePowerShell is not according to our users
  7. Cygwin icon

    Cygwin

     228 likes
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    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.

    28 Cygwin alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Cygwin terminals running on Windows 7
     
  9. KiTTY icon

    KiTTY

     189 likes
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    KiTTY is an opensource terminal emulator, forked from PuTTY , that adds many extra features to the original software.

    99 KiTTY alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    send to tray
     
  10. Nu Shell icon

    Nu Shell

     18 likes
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    This project has reached a minimum-viable product level of quality. While contributors dogfood it as their daily driver, it may be unstable for some commands. Future releases will work fill out missing features and improve stability.

    28 Nu Shell alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Nu pipelines use structured data so you can safely select, filter, and sort the same way every time.
     
  11. WindTerm icon

    WindTerm

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

    63 WindTerm alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    WindTerm screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about WindTerm as an Alternative to PowerShell
    Ovolya
    Negative
    0

    Teams do not work powershell.

    PowerShell Icon
    WindTerm icon
    • WindTerm is Free and Open SourcePowerShell is also Free and Open Source
  12. Hyper icon

    Hyper

     81 likes
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    Hyper™ is a beautiful and extensible, cross-platform terminal built on open web standards. It provides an elegant command-line experience that is consistent across all supported platforms which includes macOS, Windows and various Linux distributions like Fedora and Debian.

    96 Hyper alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Electron / Atom Shell
    Splitting terminals
     
  13. MinGW icon

    MinGW

     128 likes
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    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...

    22 MinGW alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Installation Manager
     
  14. WezTerm icon

    WezTerm

     20 likes
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    A GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal emulator and multiplexer written by @wez and implemented in Rust

    101 WezTerm alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    WezTerm screenshot 1
     
12 of 41 PowerShell alternatives