Compare software

fish vs ksh 93u+m: catalog facts
fish	ksh 93u+m
Best for: An interactive shell that is pleasant immediately, with nothing to configure	Best for: Maintaining KornShell scripts or using ksh as a daily shell
Free Free and open source under the GPL.	Free Free and open source.
macOS, Linux, Command line	macOS, Linux, Command line
Autosuggestions from history appear as you type with no plugins Syntax highlighting shows an invalid command before you run it All 4 strengths for fish Autosuggestions from history appear as you type with no plugins Syntax highlighting shows an invalid command before you run it Tab completions generated from man pages, so they cover real options Works well with no configuration file at all	Keeps the original KornShell 93 alive with ongoing fixes Compatible with existing ksh93 scripts All 3 strengths for ksh 93u+m Keeps the original KornShell 93 alive with ongoing fixes Compatible with existing ksh93 scripts Published releases plus a development branch
Not POSIX-compatible, so bash snippets and scripts often need changing No official Windows build All 4 limitations for fish Not POSIX-compatible, so bash snippets and scripts often need changing No official Windows build A smaller plugin ecosystem than zsh Minimum supported macOS version is 10.12	Mainly distributed as source code Smaller community than Bash or Zsh
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for fish github.com/fish-shell/fish-shell Catalog checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for ksh 93u+m github.com/ksh93/ksh Catalog checked October 1, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.