Zsh is a powerful Unix shell that can be used as an interactive login shell and as a command interpreter for shell scripting.
Zsh has many strengths such as interactive tab completion, regex integration, automated file searching, advanced shorthand for defining command scope, and a very rich theme engine.
This article focuses on Zsh plugin managers. This type of software is targeted at individuals who prefer not using defaults. They wish to start with a blank configuration and configure everything manually.
Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion here.
Let’s explore the plugin managers in detail. For each application we have compiled its own portal page, a full description including features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Zsh Plugin Managers | |
|---|---|
| Zinit | Flexible and fast Zsh plugin manager |
| zplug | Plugin manager |
| Zi | Swiss Army Knife for Zsh |
| Antidote | Zsh implementation of the legacy Antibody plugin manager |
| sheldon | Fast, configurable shell plugin manager |
| ZSH Quickstart Kit | Lightweight and fast plugin manager for Zsh |
| zgenom | Simple ZSH quickstart for using ZSH, zgenom, oh-my-zsh, and more |
| Zap | Minimal zsh plugin manager |
| Zpm | Combines the imperative and declarative approach |
| Antigen | Small set of functions that help you easily manage your shell (zsh) plugins |
| Rat Zsh | TOML-configured plugin manager with parallel synchronisation |
| zgen | Lightweight plugin manager for Zsh |
| ZPico | Small Zsh package manager written entirely in Zsh |
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
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