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Cygwin vs Coreutils for Windows: catalog facts
Cygwin	Coreutils for Windows
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Windows, Command line	Windows, Command line
Large package collection of GNU and Unix tools POSIX API layer for porting Unix software to Windows	Native Windows builds of familiar UNIX commands Same commands and pipelines as on Linux, macOS and WSL
Cannot run native Linux binaries; software must be rebuilt Requires Windows 8.1 or later for current versions	Some command names clash with built-in shell commands Windows-specific caveats affect some behaviour
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL and LGPL (varies by package)	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.