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Posted on • Originally published at qjc.app

20 CLI Tools That Made Me Mass-Uninstall Homebrew Defaults (2025-2026)

TL;DR

I replaced 20 Unix commands with modern alternatives. Build time for my workflow: 5 minutes to install, permanent productivity boost. 13 out of 20 tools are Rust-based, and AI CLI tools are the fastest-growing category in 2025-2026.

The Problem: We're Using 40-Year-Old Tools

grep, cat, find, ls, cd — you use them every day.

They were designed in the 1970s-80s.

In 2026, every single one has a modern replacement with more GitHub stars than most frameworks. Here's what I switched to and why I can't go back.

Modern Unix Replacements

fzf — The Hub of CLI Tools (78.5K stars)

Everything is a fuzzy search. Files, history, git branches, processes.

brew install fzf

# Open any file with fuzzy search
vim $(fzf)

# Fuzzy checkout git branch
git branch | fzf | xargs git checkout
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Once you bind Ctrl+R to fzf, you'll never use vanilla history search again.

ripgrep — 5-10x Faster Than grep (59K stars)

VS Code's built-in search engine uses ripgrep. That should tell you everything.

brew install ripgrep

# Search current directory
rg "function"

# Search only TypeScript files
rg "import" --type ts
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It respects .gitignore by default. No more searching through node_modules.

bat — cat With Syntax Highlighting (57.6K stars) 

brew install bat

# Automatic syntax highlighting + line numbers
bat config.yaml

# Replace cat globally
alias cat="bat"
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200+ languages supported. Git diff markers included.

fd — find That Makes Sense (42K stars) 

brew install fd

# Old way
find . -name "*.ts" -type f

# New way (50% faster)
fd "\.ts$"
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Which one looks like a human wrote it?

Quick Comparison Table

Tool Stars Replaces Key Feature
eza 20.4K ls Colors, icons, Git status, tree view
delta ~25K git diff Syntax-highlighted diffs, side-by-side
zoxide 25.8K cd Frequency-based directory jumping
hyperfine ~23K time Statistical CLI benchmarking 
# Install all at once
brew install eza zoxide git-delta hyperfine
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AI CLI Tools — The 2025-2026 Breakout Category

Developer AI tool adoption: 18% (2024) → 73% (2026).

Claude Code — 46% Developer Preference

Terminal-native AI coding agent. No IDE needed.

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude
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Ranked #1 in developer surveys (46%), ahead of Cursor (19%) and Copilot (9%). Senior developers prefer it the most.

Gemini CLI — Free, 96K Stars in 2 Months

Apache 2.0 open source. 60 requests/min, 1,000/day — completely free with a Google account.

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
gemini
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Others Worth Watching

Tool Highlight Price
Aider (39K+ stars) Most mature open-source AI coding CLI API costs only
GitHub Copilot CLI GitHub ecosystem integration $10/mo
OpenCode Single Go binary, TUI, vim keybindings Free (MIT)
Warp AI-native terminal, TIME "Best Inventions 2025" $20/mo

TUI Tools — GUI Inside Your Terminal

lazygit (55K stars)

Git without memorizing commands. Staging, commits, rebasing, conflict resolution — all visual, all keyboard.

yazi (33K+ stars)

Async I/O file manager. Image and video preview in terminal. Written in Rust.

Atuin (27.5K stars)

Shell history in SQLite. Filter by directory, session, host. E2E encrypted sync across devices.

brew install lazygit yazi atuin
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Install Everything: 3 Lines, 5 Minutes 

# Modern Unix replacements
brew install fzf ripgrep bat fd eza zoxide git-delta hyperfine starship

# TUI/productivity tools
brew install lazygit yazi atuin mise nushell

# AI CLI tools
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code @google/gemini-cli
pipx install aider-chat
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Add these aliases to your .zshrc:

alias cat="bat"
alias ls="eza"
alias find="fd"
alias grep="rg"
alias cd="z"
eval "$(starship init zsh)"
eval "$(zoxide init zsh)"
eval "$(atuin init zsh)"
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GitHub Stars Ranking (March 2026)

Rank Tool Stars Language
1 Gemini CLI ~96K TypeScript
2 fzf 78.5K Go
3 ripgrep 59K Rust
4 bat 57.6K Rust
5 lazygit ~55K Go
6 starship 53.7K Rust
7 fd 42K Rust
8 Aider 39K+ Python
9 yazi 33K+ Rust
10 Atuin 27.5K Rust

13 out of 20 tools are Rust. 3 are Go. System programming languages dominate CLI tooling.

What's your terminal must-have? I'm especially curious about tools I missed.

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