alternatives to

Zsh

Mirror of the Z shell source code repository.

Side by side

4 open source alternatives to Zsh
Tool	Fit	Stars	Licence	Terms	Self-hosted	Language	Latest	Last push
fish	Full replacement	34k	Other	Open source	No	Rust	4.9.3	2026-10-05
Nushell	Partial	41k	MIT	Open source	No	Rust	0.116.1	2026-10-06
xonsh	Partial	9.7k	Other	Open source	No	Python	0.24.2	2026-10-06
Elvish	Partial	6.4k	BSD-2-Clause	Open source	No	Go	v0.21.0	2026-03-31

Every alternative

4 alternatives

fish Full replacement

The user-friendly command line shell.

Autosuggestions, highlighting and completions out of the box, with a non-POSIX syntax.

Language: Rust
Licence: Other
Stars: 34k
Latest: 4.9.3
Last push: 2026-10-05

Nushell Partial

A new type of shell

Pipelines of structured data rather than text, with its own language.

Language: Rust
Licence: MIT
Stars: 41k
Latest: 0.116.1
Last push: 2026-10-06

🐚 Python-powered shell. Full-featured, cross-platform and AI-friendly.

Python and shell commands mixed on the same line, with a Python-based syntax.

Language: Python
Licence: Other
Stars: 9.7k
Latest: 0.24.2
Last push: 2026-10-06

Powerful scripting language & versatile interactive shell

Structured pipelines and a built-in directory navigator, with its own non-POSIX language.

Language: Go
Licence: BSD-2-Clause
Stars: 6.4k
Latest: v0.21.0
Last push: 2026-03-31

Head to head

About Zsh

Language: C
Licence: Other
Stars: 4.3k
Last push: 2026-09-28