100 Essential Terminal and Command-Line Tools for Linux
Introduction
The command line is where Linux power users thrive. Here are 100 essential terminal tools to supercharge your productivity.
📑 Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Modern CLI Alternatives
- 1. eza (exa)
- 2. bat
- 3. ripgrep (rg)
- 4. fd
- 5. fzf
- 6. zoxide
- 7. sd
- 8. delta
- 9. procs
- 10. bottom
- Shell and Terminal Emulators
- 11. Zsh
- 12. Oh My Zsh
- 13. Fish
- 14. Starship
- 15. Alacritty
- 16. Kitty
- 17. WezTerm
- 18. Warp
- 19. Hyper
- 20. Tilix
- Terminal Multiplexers
- 21. tmux
- 22. screen
- 23. Zellij
- 24. byobu
- File Management
- 25. ranger
- 26. nnn
- 27. lf
- 28. Midnight Commander
- 29. broot
- 30. vifm
- 31. yazi
- Text Processing
- 32. jq
- 33. yq
- 34. xsv
- 35. miller
- 36. htmlq
- 37. pup
- 38. choose
- Git Tools
- 39. lazygit
- 40. tig
- 41. git-delta
- 42. gh
- 43. glab
- 44. forgit
- 45. gitui
- HTTP and API Tools
- 46. curl
- 47. wget
- 48. httpie
- 49. xh
- 50. curlie
- 51. grpcurl
- 52. httpstat
- Development Tools
- 53. asdf
- 54. nvm
- 55. pyenv
- 56. rbenv
- 57. rustup
- 58. direnv
- 59. just
- 60. watchexec
- Container Tools
- 61. lazydocker
- 62. dive
- 63. ctop
- 64. k9s
- 65. kubectx/kubens
- Productivity
- 66. taskwarrior
- 67. todo.txt-cli
- 68. nb
- 69. pass
- 70. age
- 71. tldr
- 72. cheat
- 73. navi
- System Information
- 74. neofetch
- 75. fastfetch
- 76. inxi
- 77. hwinfo
- 78. lshw
- Networking
- 79. dog
- 80. mtr
- 81. prettyping
- 82. gping
- 83. termshark
- 84. trippy
- Backup and Sync
- 85. rsync
- 86. rclone
- 87. restic
- 88. borgbackup
- 89. syncthing
- Media Tools
- 90. ffmpeg
- 91. yt-dlp
- 92. imagemagick
- 93. cmus
- 94. mpv
- Miscellaneous
- 95. figlet
- 96. lolcat
- 97. cowsay
- 98. asciinema
- 99. thefuck
- 100. atuin
- Conclusion
Modern CLI Alternatives
1. eza (exa)
Modern replacement for ls with colors and Git support.
2. bat
Cat clone with syntax highlighting and Git integration.
3. ripgrep (rg)
Ultra-fast recursive search tool.
4. fd
Fast and user-friendly alternative to find.
5. fzf
General-purpose fuzzy finder.
6. zoxide
Smarter cd command that learns your habits.
7. sd
Intuitive find and replace CLI.
8. delta
Syntax-highlighting pager for git and diff output.
9. procs
Modern replacement for ps written in Rust.
10. bottom
Graphical process/system monitor.
Shell and Terminal Emulators
11. Zsh
Powerful shell with advanced features.
12. Oh My Zsh
Framework for managing Zsh configuration.
13. Fish
Smart and user-friendly command line shell.
14. Starship
Minimal, fast, customizable shell prompt.
15. Alacritty
GPU-accelerated terminal emulator.
16. Kitty
Fast, feature-rich GPU-based terminal emulator.
17. WezTerm
GPU-accelerated terminal emulator and multiplexer.
18. Warp
Modern terminal with AI built-in.
19. Hyper
Electron-based terminal built on web technologies.
20. Tilix
Tiling terminal emulator for GNOME.
Terminal Multiplexers
21. tmux
Terminal multiplexer for session management.
22. screen
GNU screen for terminal session management.
23. Zellij
Modern terminal workspace with plugin system.
24. byobu
Text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer.
File Management
25. ranger
Console file manager with vi key bindings.
26. nnn
Blazing fast terminal file manager.
27. lf
Terminal file manager inspired by ranger.
28. Midnight Commander
Feature-rich visual file manager.
29. broot
New way to see and navigate directory trees.
30. vifm
Vi-like file manager with ncurses interface.
31. yazi
Blazing fast terminal file manager in Rust.
Text Processing
32. jq
Command-line JSON processor.
33. yq
YAML/XML processor like jq.
34. xsv
Fast CSV command-line toolkit.
35. miller
Like awk, sed, cut for JSON, CSV, TSV.
36. htmlq
Like jq but for HTML.
37. pup
Command-line HTML parsing tool.
38. choose
Human-friendly alternative to cut and awk.
Git Tools
39. lazygit
Terminal UI for Git commands.
40. tig
Text-mode interface for Git.
41. git-delta
Syntax-highlighting for git diffs.
42. gh
GitHub CLI.
43. glab
GitLab CLI.
44. forgit
Git with fzf integration.
45. gitui
Blazing fast terminal UI for Git.
HTTP and API Tools
46. curl
Command-line tool for transferring data.
47. wget
Non-interactive network downloader.
48. httpie
Modern, user-friendly HTTP client.
49. xh
Fast HTTPie alternative written in Rust.
50. curlie
Power of curl with ease of HTTPie.
51. grpcurl
Curl for gRPC servers.
52. httpstat
Curl statistics visualization.
Development Tools
53. asdf
Universal version manager for runtimes.
54. nvm
Node Version Manager.
55. pyenv
Python version management.
56. rbenv
Ruby version manager.
57. rustup
Rust toolchain installer.
58. direnv
Environment switcher for shell.
59. just
Handy command runner (like make).
60. watchexec
Execute commands when files change.
Container Tools
61. lazydocker
Terminal UI for Docker.
62. dive
Exploring Docker image layers.
63. ctop
Top-like interface for containers.
64. k9s
Kubernetes cluster manager.
65. kubectx/kubens
Fast Kubernetes context/namespace switching.
Productivity
66. taskwarrior
Command-line task management.
67. todo.txt-cli
Simple todo list manager.
68. nb
Note-taking and knowledge base CLI.
69. pass
Password manager using GPG.
70. age
Simple, modern file encryption.
71. tldr
Simplified man pages.
72. cheat
Interactive cheatsheets.
73. navi
Interactive cheatsheet tool.
System Information
74. neofetch
System information tool with ASCII logo.
75. fastfetch
Fast neofetch alternative.
76. inxi
Full-featured system information script.
77. hwinfo
Hardware information tool.
78. lshw
Detailed hardware configuration.
Networking
79. dog
Command-line DNS client.
80. mtr
Network diagnostic tool combining ping and traceroute.
81. prettyping
Pretty ping output.
82. gping
Ping with a graph.
83. termshark
Terminal UI for tshark.
84. trippy
Network diagnostic tool combining traceroute and ping.
Backup and Sync
85. rsync
Fast and versatile file copying.
86. rclone
Rsync for cloud storage.
87. restic
Fast, secure backup program.
88. borgbackup
Deduplicating archiver.
89. syncthing
Continuous file synchronization.
Media Tools
90. ffmpeg
Complete multimedia framework.
91. yt-dlp
Download videos from YouTube and sites.
92. imagemagick
Image manipulation tools.
93. cmus
Console music player.
94. mpv
Free, open-source media player.
Miscellaneous
95. figlet
ASCII text banners.
96. lolcat
Rainbow coloring for text.
97. cowsay
Generate ASCII cow with message.
98. asciinema
Record and share terminal sessions.
99. thefuck
Correct previous console command.
100. atuin
Magical shell history with sync.
Conclusion
These 100 terminal tools will transform your command-line experience. Start with a few that match your workflow and gradually explore more.
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About Ramesh Sundararamaiah
Red Hat Certified Architect
Expert in Linux system administration, DevOps automation, and cloud infrastructure. Specializing in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Ubuntu, Docker, Ansible, and enterprise IT solutions.