Fish review
Fish pairs history-based suggestions with rich completion and a browser-based configuration interface.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Fish is a free, open-source command-line shell for people who value interactive guidance while working in a terminal. It runs on macOS, Linux, BSD, and Windows environments including WSL, Cygwin, and MSYS2. Syntax highlighting, history-based autosuggestions, and tab completion are central to its interactive focus, while its own scripting language supports custom functions. Solo users and teams across company sizes can consider it; its fit depends on whether its shell behavior and scripting language suit their workflows.
The interactive features go beyond basic completion. Fish can suggest commands based on history, completions, and file paths, and its tab completion presents a navigable selection menu. General and command-specific scripted completions add flexibility, while built-in help and command man pages offer guidance from within the shell. A browser-based configuration interface covers functions, variables, history, prompts, and colors, alongside startup-file configuration. This combination is most relevant to users who want suggestions and configuration options without making interactive use an afterthought.
Fish is distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 2, and is self-hosted. Its support channels are documentation and community, so buyers seeking a stated commercial support channel should look elsewhere. The shell uses fish for scripting and does not include a package manager or AI features. Choose Fish if interactive suggestions, completion menus, and its configuration interface match your priorities; consider another shell if you need a different scripting language, an included package manager, or AI capabilities.
Fish pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Highlights command syntax and suggests commands from history, completions, and file paths.
- Offers navigable tab completion plus general and command-specific scripted completions.
- Includes fish scripting, built-in help, and browser-based configuration.
- Where it doesn't
- Uses its own fish scripting language rather than a listed alternative shell language.
- Support channels are documentation and community.
- Does not include AI features or a package manager.
Fish fact sheet, pricing and score →
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