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Free alternatives to PowerShell

Free licences, open-source projects and free plans with paid upgrades — each with its licence badge.

Same categories and verticals plus the editors' list, in an independent order. Partners and ads never change it.

Freemium = a free plan with paid upgrades; check the limits of the free plan.

  1. Windows Terminal

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    A modern tabbed terminal for Windows

    Open source 90 Windows
  2. DBeaver Community

    DBeaver Corp

    87

    Universal database tool

    Open source 89 WindowsLinuxmacOS
  3. Notepad++

    Notepad++ Team

    87

    Lightweight text and code editor for Windows

    Open source 88 Windows
  4. Git

    Git for Windows Project

    87

    The leading version-control system

    Open source 86 WindowsLinuxmacOS
  5. Docker Desktop

    Docker Inc.

    87

    Run containers on your machine

    Free + paid plans 80 WindowsLinuxmacOS
  6. Visual Studio Code

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    The code editor most developers use

    Free 80 WindowsLinuxmacOS
  7. .NET SDK

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    Developer platform

    Free 77 macOS
  8. Azure CLI

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    Microsoft Azure CLI 2.0

    Open source 77 macOS
  9. Microsoft Azure Kubelogin

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    A Kubernetes credential (exec) plugin implementing Azure authentication.

    Open source 77 Windows
  10. Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    Explorer for Azure Storage

    Open source 77 macOS
  11. Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    The OLE DB Driver for SQL Server is a stand-alone data access application programming interface (API), used for OLE Database.

    Free 77 Windows
  12. Microsoft SqlPackage

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    SqlPackage is a command-line utility that automates the database development tasks by exposing some of the public Data-Tier Application Framework (DacFx) APIs.

    Free 77 Windows
  13. Microsoft Web Deploy

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    Web Deploy (msdeploy) simplifies deployment of Web applications and Web sites to IIS servers

    Free 77 Windows
  14. Microsoft Web Platform Installer

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    A little tool for deploying your favorite open-source web applications and all the necessary platform components required to get you up and running quickly and seamlessly.

    Free 77 Windows
  15. NuGet

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    The package manager for .NET

    Open source 77 Windows
  16. PerfView

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    PerfView is a CPU and memory performance-analysis tool.

    Open source 77 Windows
  17. sqlcl

    Oracle Corporation

    87

    Oracle SQLcl is the modern command-line interface for the Oracle Database

    Free 77 macOS
  18. Visual Studio BuildTools 2019

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    These Build Tools allow you to build Visual Studio projects from a command-line interface.

    Free 77 Windows
  19. Visual Studio BuildTools 2017

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    An integrated, end-to-end solution for developers looking for high productivity and seamless coordination across teams of any size.

    Free 70 Windows
  20. Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) has the tools you need to customize Windows images for large-scale deployment, and to test the quality and performance of your system, its added components, and the applications running on it.

    Free 60 Windows
  21. Azure Data Studio

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    A data management and development tool with connectivity to popular cloud and on-premises databases.

    Open source 40 Windows
  22. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2 Developer Pack

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 Series Developer Pack Setup

    Free 40 Windows
  23. DirectX End-User Runtime Installer

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    Installs a number of runtime libraries from the legacy DirectX SDK for some games that use D3DX9, D3DX10, D3DX11, XAudio 2.7, XInput 1.3, XACT, and/or Managed DirectX 1.1.

    Free 32 Windows
  24. Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Express

    Microsoft Corporation

    87

    SQL Server 2022 Express is a free edition of SQL Server, ideal for development and production for desktop, web, and small server applications.

    Free 32 Windows
  25. APM – Agent Package Manager

    Microsoft Corporation

    84

    The package manager for AI-Native Development.

    Open source 77 Windows
  26. April 2026 GDK Update 5

    Microsoft Corporation

    84

    The Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) contains the common tools, libraries, and documentation needed to build games for Xbox Game Pass for PC on Windows 10/11, Xbox consoles (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One), and cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimat

    Free 77 Windows
  27. Az

    Microsoft Corporation

    84

    PowerShell cmdlets for developers and administrators to develop, deploy, administer, and manage Microsoft Azure resources.

    Open source 77 Windows
  28. AzCopy v10

    Microsoft Corporation

    84

    AzCopy v10 is a command-line utility that you can use to copy data to and from containers and file shares in Azure Storage accounts.

    Open source 77 Windows
  29. Bicep CLI

    Microsoft Corporation

    84

    A declarative language for describing and deploying Azure resources

    Open source 77 Windows
  30. Docker Buildx

    Docker Inc.

    84

    Docker CLI plugin for extended build capabilities with BuildKit

    Open source 77 Windows
Compare with the top alternatives Open-source alternatives to PowerShell