Terminal Tool Guides
Guides to command-line tools: step-by-step how-tos, modern replacements for Unix commands, alternatives, best-of lists and comparisons.
Best tools for…
28Best AI Coding Agents for the Terminal
Compare terminal AI coding agents: opencode, Claude Code, codex, Gemini CLI, aider, Goose and Open Interpreter by workflow and model support.
Best CLI File Transfer Tools
Compare croc, qrcp, rclone: workflows, strengths and tradeoffs.
Best CLI Secret Scanners
Compare gitleaks, TruffleHog, trivy: workflows, strengths and tradeoffs.
Best CLI Tools for Encrypting Files and Configuration
Compare age, sops, git-crypt: workflows, strengths and tradeoffs.
Best CLI Tools for Working on GitHub Actions
Compare act, zizmor, gh: workflows, strengths and tradeoffs.
Best Command-Line Benchmarking Tools
Compare hyperfine, wrk, hey and dnspyre for timing shell commands, HTTP endpoints and DNS servers from the command line.
Best CSV Tools for the Command Line
Compare Miller, VisiData, xsv, qo and csvlens for querying, transforming and browsing CSV files from the terminal.
Best Database CLI Clients
Compare usql, pgcli, mycli, harlequin and lazysql for querying Postgres, MySQL and SQLite from the terminal, with notes on dblab.
Best Disk Usage Analyzers
Compare dust, dua, and diskonaut plus pdu, cull and erdtree for finding what fills your disk from the terminal.
Best Docker TUIs
Compare lazydocker, ducker, dtop, dive and ctop: Docker TUIs for containers, Compose, logs, stats and image layer analysis.
Best Drop-Down (Quake-Style) Terminals
Guake, Yakuake, Tabby and Windows Terminal compared as hotkey-toggled drop-down terminals on Linux, KDE, macOS and Windows.
Best Git TUIs
Compare lazygit, gitui, tig and gitu: terminal Git interfaces for staging hunks and lines, committing, and managing branches.
Best GPU Terminal Emulators
A practical look at GPU-accelerated terminal emulators for fast rendering, smooth scrolling, and modern terminal graphics.
Best HTTP Clients for the Terminal
Compare HTTPie, xh, curlie and Posting: CLI and TUI HTTP clients for testing REST APIs from the terminal.
Best HTTP Load Testing CLI Tools
Compare wrk, vegeta, k6 and hey for HTTP load testing: requests per second, latency percentiles, constant-rate attacks and scripting.
Best JSON CLI Tools
Compare jq, yq, gojq, fx, dasel, gron and qo for querying, filtering and transforming JSON (and YAML) from the command line.
Best Log Viewers for the Terminal
Compare lnav, logss and stern for reading, tailing, searching and filtering logs in a terminal, from local files to Kubernetes pods.
Best Shell Prompts
Compare starship, Spaceship Prompt, Pure: workflows, strengths and tradeoffs.
Best Terminal Emulators
A practical shortlist of terminal emulators for developers who care about speed, features, polish, and platform fit.
Best Terminal Emulators for Linux
Best terminal emulators for Linux compared: Ghostty, kitty, foot, Alacritty, WezTerm, Konsole and Ptyxis, by rendering, splits and config.
Best Terminal Emulators for macOS
Ranked terminal emulators for macOS: Ghostty, iTerm2, kitty, WezTerm, Alacritty, Warp and more, compared on features, config and trade-offs.
Best Terminal File Managers
Compare terminal file managers: yazi, nnn, ranger, lf, broot and more. Differences in previews, plugins, footprint and keybindings.
Best Terminal Multiplexers
Compare tmux, Zellij, WezTerm and cy: sessions, panes, tabs, detach and reattach, plus configuration and platform differences.
Best Terminal System Monitors
Compare btop, htop, bottom, glances and zenith: terminal system monitors for CPU, memory, disk, network and processes.
Best Terminal Text Editors
Compare Neovim, Helix, Amp and Flow Control: terminal text editors with modal or Vim-style keybindings, LSP, and tree-sitter support.
Best Terminals with Inline Image Support
Terminals that show images inline: kitty, WezTerm and Rio compared by protocol support (kitty graphics, Sixel, iTerm2) and platform.
Best Tools for Testing and Linting Shell Scripts
Compare ShellCheck, Bats-core, pre-commit: workflows, strengths and tradeoffs.
Best Windows Terminals
A focused shortlist of terminal emulators for Windows developers, including native Windows options and cross-platform alternatives.