cheat vs cheat.sh
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A command-line tool that shows quick, editable cheatsheets for commands you use rarely.
Open source · MIT
Command-line cheat sheets for Unix commands and programming languages, fetched with curl.
The short answer
Choose cheat if you need…
- Sysadmins who use many commands only occasionally
- Developers who want quick reminders without leaving the terminal
- People who want to keep their own personal command notes in plain text
- Users who want to share and version cheatsheets in a Git repository
Choose cheat.sh if you need…
- Developers who look up command flags and syntax often from the terminal
- Students who want quick examples while learning a language
- People who prefer not to leave the terminal or editor to search the web
- Anyone who wants to run the service offline or self-host it, as the README describes Docker and offline options
Side-by-side
| cheat | cheat.sh | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | CLI | CLI |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 13.5k | 41.8k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | See the README | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Go | Python |
| Last code update | 6 months ago | 45 days ago |
What each one is
cheat
cheat is a command-line tool that displays short cheatsheets for shell commands, such as the common options for tar. You type the command name and it shows you examples you can copy. You can also create and edit your own sheets, organize them into folders and tags, and search across them. It is aimed at people who use Unix-like systems and forget command syntax between uses.
cheat.sh
cheat.sh is a web service that returns short cheat sheets for Unix/Linux commands and programming languages. You query it from a terminal with curl, a browser, or a small client called cht.sh, and it returns examples for the command or task you ask about. The README says it draws on community-maintained cheat sheet repositories and, for many programming questions, answers from StackOverflow.
Best for
cheat
- Sysadmins who use many commands only occasionally
- Developers who want quick reminders without leaving the terminal
- People who want to keep their own personal command notes in plain text
- Users who want to share and version cheatsheets in a Git repository
cheat.sh
- Developers who look up command flags and syntax often from the terminal
- Students who want quick examples while learning a language
- People who prefer not to leave the terminal or editor to search the web
- Anyone who wants to run the service offline or self-host it, as the README describes Docker and offline options
Strengths
cheat
- Simple command-line interface for quick lookups
- Plain-text cheatsheets are easy to edit, back up, and version control
- Supports multiple cheatpaths and directory-scoped .cheat folders
cheat.sh
- Works with plain curl, so there is nothing to install to try it
- Covers many languages and a large set of Unix/Linux commands, according to the README
- Output can be trimmed with options like ?Q to remove comments
Not ideal for
cheat
- People who want a graphical or web-based interface, since the README describes only a command-line tool
- Users on systems where they cannot install a Go binary or run a shell, because installation details are in a separate INSTALLING.md that was not included
- Beginners looking for full tutorials, since cheat shows reference snippets rather than explanations
cheat.sh
- Readers who need authoritative, fully verified answers, since the README notes generated answers are not guaranteed to be exact
- Users who need deep tutorials or long-form documentation
- People who cannot use a terminal or install a small client, though the browser interface is also described
Trade-offs
cheat
- The executable ships with no cheatsheets, so you must install community sheets separately
- Installation and configuration details are in INSTALLING.md, which was not part of the provided README
- Designed for *nix users, so its usefulness on other systems is not described
cheat.sh
- Answers for programming questions are generated on the fly and may not match exactly, as the README acknowledges
- Shell mode of the cht.sh client requires rlwrap to be installed separately
- The README is truncated, so some details about editor integrations and self-hosting were not reviewed
Getting started
cheat
Installation instructions
see INSTALLING.md in the repositorycheat.sh
Install the cht.sh client to your user bin directory
PATH_DIR="$HOME/bin" # or another directory on your $PATH
mkdir -p "$PATH_DIR"
curl https://cht.sh/:cht.sh > "$PATH_DIR/cht.sh"
chmod +x "$PATH_DIR/cht.sh"Install rlwrap for shell mode (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt install rlwrapFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between cheat and cheat.sh?
cheat: A command-line tool that shows quick, editable cheatsheets for commands you use rarely. cheat.sh: Command-line cheat sheets for Unix commands and programming languages, fetched with curl. cheat suits sysadmins who use many commands only occasionally, while cheat.sh suits developers who look up command flags and syntax often from the terminal.
Are cheat and cheat.sh free?
cheat: Free and open source. cheat.sh: Free and open source.
Is cheat or cheat.sh more popular?
cheat.sh has more GitHub stars (41.8k) than cheat (13.5k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.