the xonsh shell AlternativesShells and other similar apps like the xonsh shell

the xonsh shell is described as 'Xonsh is a Python-powered, cross-platform, Unix-gazing shell language and command prompt. The language is a superset of Python 3.4+ with additional shell primitives that you are used to from Bash and IPython. It works on all major systems including Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows' and is a Shell in the os & utilities category. There are more than 25 alternatives to the xonsh shell for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Mac, Windows, BSD and iPad apps. The best the xonsh shell alternative is fish, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like the xonsh shell are GNU Bourne Again SHell, Zsh, IPython and Nu Shell.

  • Shell
  • FreeOpen Source
  • ...

Xonsh is a Python-powered, cross-platform, Unix-gazing shell language and command prompt. The language is a superset of...

More about the xonsh shell
the xonsh shell alternatives page was last updated Mar 10, 2025
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Alternatives
  1. fish icon
     102 likes
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    Fish is a user-friendly command line shell for UNIX-like operating systems such as Linux

    31 fish alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Rust

    Top fish Features

    1.  Sane defaults
    2.  Autocompletion
    3.  Color coding
    4.  Colored Text
    5.  Syntax Highlighting
    6.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    7.  No registration required
    8.  Works Offline
    9.  Command line interface
    10.  Ad-free
    11.  Interpreter

    fish VS the xonsh shell

     
    • fish is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to the xonsh shell.

    • fish is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to the xonsh shell.

    • fish is Free and Open Sourcethe xonsh shell is also Free and Open Source
  2. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system. Bash is an sh-compatible shell that incorporates useful features from the Korn shell (ksh) and C shell (csh). It is intended to conform to the IEEE POSIX P1003.2/ISO 9945.

    29 GNU Bourne Again SHell alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  User friendly

    Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Geeky
    3.  Interpreter

    GNU Bourne Again SHell VS the xonsh shell

     
  3. Zsh icon
     123 likes
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    Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) which of the standard shells most resembles the Korn shell (ksh); its compatibility with the 1988 Korn shell has been gradually increasing. It includes enhancements of many types, notably in the command-line editor, options for...

    27 Zsh alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Support for scripting
    3.  Command line interface

    Zsh VS the xonsh shell

     
  4. IPython icon
     84 likes
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    IPython offers a robust architecture for interactive computing, including dynamic shells, a kernel for Jupyter, interactive visualization, GUI toolkit support, and seamless project embeddings. Targeting high efficiency in parallel computing, it supports Python interactions tailored for Jupyter environments.

    46 IPython alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Python

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  No registration required
    5.  No Tracking
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  Python-based
    8.  Code Completion
    9.  Syntax check
    10.  Supports Python
    11.  Imports Jupyter Notebooks
    12.  Parallel Computing

    IPython VS the xonsh shell

     
  5. Nu Shell icon
     15 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

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Support for scripting
    3.  Portable
    4.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    5.  Autocompletion
    6.  Syntax Highlighting
    7.  Rust

    Nu Shell VS the xonsh shell

     
  6. Elk Shell icon
     2 likes
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    Elk is an experimental shell language that aims to seamlessly combine the syntax of a shell language like bash with the syntax of a general-purpose language like Python. Bash is great for executing programs and handling files, but can be quite limiting and tedious to use when it...

    27 Elk Shell alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Elk Shell Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Autocompletion
    3.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts
    4.  Variables

    Elk Shell VS the xonsh shell

     
  7. win-bash icon
     14 likes
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    win-bash is a Windows port of the famous GNU bash (see GNU Bash homepage).

    The goal of the win-bash project is to finish the port to Windows and provide a full functional bash.exe binary for windows nt and derived systems. win-bash can be used as a input shell as well as an inte.

    40 win-bash alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Discontinued

    The project is no longer developed since 2016. Last version, 1.1, released in March 2011, can be still downloaded from SourceForge.

    win-bash Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Interpreter

    win-bash VS the xonsh shell

     
  8. rush icon
     2 likes
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    rush is a replacement for the unix shell (bash, zsh, etc) which uses pure Ruby syntax. Grep through files, find and kill processes, copy files - everything you do in the shell, now in Ruby.

    28 rush alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD

    rush Features

    1.  Command line interface

    rush VS the xonsh shell

     
  9. DASH Shell icon
     9 likes
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    DASH is a POSIX-compliant implementation of /bin/sh that aims to be as small as possible. It does this without sacrificing speed where possible. In fact, it is significantly faster than bash (the GNU Bourne-Again SHell) for most tasks. DASH stands for Debian Almquist Shell.

    27 DASH Shell alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    DASH Shell Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Interpreter

    DASH Shell VS the xonsh shell

     
  10. KornShell icon
     9 likes
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    The KornShell language was designed and developed by David G. Korn at AT&T Bell Laboratories. It is an interactive command language that provides access to the UNIX system and to many other systems, on the many different computers and workstations on which it is implemented.

    27 KornShell alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Cygwin

    KornShell Features

    1.  Command line interface

    KornShell VS the xonsh shell

     
  11. rc - a shell icon
     4 likes
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    This is a reimplementation for Unix, by Byron Rakitzis, of the Plan 9 shell. rc offers much the same capabilities as a traditional Bourne shell, but with a much cleaner syntax.

    27 rc - a shell alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux

    rc - a shell Features

    1.  Command line interface

    rc - a shell VS the xonsh shell

     
  12. sash icon
     2 likes
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    a stand-alone shell with many built-in commands. The built in commands of sash have all libraries linked statically, so unlike most shells, the standard UNIX commands do not rely on external libraries. In case of emergencies, you can boot directly into sash and use it as a...

    28 sash alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux

    sash Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Interpreter

    sash VS the xonsh shell

     
12 of 25 the xonsh shell alternatives