Zsh Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Zsh for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is fish, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Zsh and 15 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Zsh are Nu Shell, Elk Shell, the xonsh shell and Murex.

More about Zsh
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Zsh alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. fish icon

    fish

     116 likes

    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
     
  2. Nu Shell icon

    Nu Shell

     18 likes

    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 (MIT)

    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.
     
  4. Elk Shell icon

    Elk Shell

     3 likes

    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...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Elk Shell screenshot 1
     
  5. the xonsh shell icon

    the xonsh shell

     9 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    the xonsh shell screenshot 1
     
  6. Murex icon

    Murex

     Like

    Murex is a shell, like bash / zsh / fish / etc however Murex supports an enhanced UX and support for additional type information in pipelines, which can be used for complex data formats like JSON or tables.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    JSON wrangling
     
  7. Elvish icon

    Elvish

     2 likes

    Elvish is a friendly and expressive shell for UN*X systems including Linux, macOS and BSDs.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Elvish screenshot 1
     
  9. Oil icon

    Oil

     1 like

    Oil is a new Unix shell.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
  10. Closh icon

    Closh

     1 like

    Closh combines the best of traditional unix shells with the power of Clojure. It aims to be a modern alternative to bash.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Closh screenshot 1
     
  11. Xiki icon

    Xiki

     5 likes

    Xiki makes the command line friendlier and more powerful. Xiki Shell (xsh) lets you use Xiki from command line, in a way that augments your current favorite shell (bash or zsh).

    27 Xiki alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Xiki screenshot 1
     
  12. rush icon

    rush

     2 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  13. Ergonomica icon

    Ergonomica

     2 likes

    Ergonomica is a cross-platform shell language, implemented in Python. Ergonomica aims to modernize the terminal, in an easily-extensible and usable language, independent of the OS on which it runs. It uses existing core utilities such as the os and shutil packages, as well as...

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Ergonomica screenshot 1
     
  14. nsh icon

    nsh

     Like

    A command-line shell like fish, complete with tab completion and syntax highlighting, but also POSIX compatibility. Made with Rust, featuring built-in zero configuration.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    nsh screenshot 1
     
12 of 15 Zsh alternatives