cheat.sh vs howdoi

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.

cheat.sh

Open source · MIT

Command-line cheat sheets for Unix commands and programming languages, fetched with curl.

Full review Website

howdoi

Open source · MIT

Command-line tool that answers coding questions by searching programming Q&A sites.

Full review Website

The short answer

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

Choose howdoi if you need…

Developers who frequently search the web for small syntax questions
Students looking up common shell or language snippets from the terminal
People who want to stay in the terminal instead of switching to a browser
Users who want answers piped into scripts via its JSON output option

Side-by-side

	cheat.sh	howdoi
Type	CLI	CLI
Price	Free and open source	Free and open source
Licence	MIT	MIT
GitHub stars	41.8k	10.8k
Setup difficulty	Beginner	Beginner
How you get it	Install with a package manager	Install with a package manager
Main language	Python	Python
Last code update	45 days ago	36 days ago

What each one is

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.

howdoi

howdoi is a Python command-line tool where you type a plain-language question, such as how to format a date in bash, and it returns a code answer without opening a browser. The README says it draws answers from Stack Overflow-style sites by default, and it can search other StackExchange sites or use Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo. It is aimed at people who often look up basic programming tasks.

Best for

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

howdoi

Developers who frequently search the web for small syntax questions
Students looking up common shell or language snippets from the terminal
People who want to stay in the terminal instead of switching to a browser
Users who want answers piped into scripts via its JSON output option

Strengths

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

howdoi

Simple, one-line usage for common questions
Has an MIT license and a large community with many integrations listed
Offers several search engines and a stash feature for saving answers

Not ideal for

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

howdoi

Complex architecture or debugging questions, since it returns short snippets from existing answers rather than reasoning about your code
Offline use, because the README describes querying online sites
Users on Python 2.7, which the README says is no longer supported

Trade-offs

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

howdoi

Answers come from third-party sites, so quality and correctness vary and should be checked
Depends on internet access and on the availability of the sites it queries
The README is truncated and does not fully document how answers are ranked

Getting started

cheat.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 rlwrap

Step-by-step guide: how to use cheat.sh

howdoi

Install with pip

pip install howdoi

Or install with Homebrew

brew install howdoi

Step-by-step guide: how to use howdoi

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cheat.sh and howdoi?

cheat.sh: Command-line cheat sheets for Unix commands and programming languages, fetched with curl. howdoi: Command-line tool that answers coding questions by searching programming Q&A sites. cheat.sh suits developers who look up command flags and syntax often from the terminal, while howdoi suits developers who frequently search the web for small syntax questions.

Are cheat.sh and howdoi free?

cheat.sh: Free and open source. howdoi: Free and open source.

Is cheat.sh or howdoi more popular?

cheat.sh has more GitHub stars (41.8k) than howdoi (10.8k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.

What are other alternatives to cheat.sh and howdoi?

Other options people compare them with include cheat.

Keep comparing

cheat.sh vs Linux Command cheat vs cheat.sh

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.