fzf
Focus: fuzzy finder and shell. Shares command line and open source with bat. Rated 4.8 (bat: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
Desktop App
bat
A cat clone for the terminal with syntax highlighting and Git changes.
Rating
4.7 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Intermediate
Works on
macOS, Windows, Linux
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is bat?
bat is a free, open-source command-line tool that shows the contents of a file like the classic cat command, only far easier to read. It adds syntax highlighting for hundreds of languages, line numbers and Git change markers, and pages long files automatically, so checking a config or script takes a glance instead of a squint.
Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.
Pros: what bat does well
- Readable syntax highlighting out of the box
- Shows Git changes next to each line
- Free and open source
Cons: where it falls short
- Command line only
- Output can surprise scripts that expect plain cat
Who bat is for
Anyone who reads code and config files in the terminal every day.
Who can skip it
People who never use the command line.
bat alternatives
Not sold on bat? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
zoxide
Focus: terminal, navigation and shell. Shares command line and open source with bat. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit
ripgrep
Focus: search tool. Shares command line and developer tool with bat. Rated 4.8 (bat: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
fd
Focus: file search. Shares command line and developer tool with bat. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
scrcpy
Focus: android, screen mirroring and phone control. Shares open source and github with bat. Adds Android. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit
lazygit
Focus: git client and terminal ui. Shares developer tool and open source with bat. Rated 4.8 (bat: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
Free alternatives to bat
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
Atuin
Focus: shell history, terminal and sync. Shares command line and open source with bat. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit
BentoPDF
Focus: pdf tools, merge pdf and privacy. Shares open source and github with bat. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Same 4.7 rating.
Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.7Visit
OCRmyPDF
Focus: ocr and scanned pdf. Shares command line and open source with bat. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
rclone
Focus: cloud sync, backup and file transfer. Shares command line and open source with bat. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit
Starship
Focus: shell prompt and terminal. Shares developer tool and open source with bat. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
Yazi
Focus: file manager and terminal ui. Shares developer tool and open source with bat. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
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