10 Useful CLI Apps You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

If you're like me, you probably enjoy working in the terminal. Whether it’s writing code, running commands, or even opening Vim only to forget how to close it, the terminal is an essential tool in our workflows. One of the greatest joys for any terminal enthusiast is discovering a new CLI command that can improve the way you work. However, many popular commands like fzf, zoxide, and tmux have been talked about extensively.

In this article, I’m excited to share 10 lesser-known but incredibly useful CLI applications that I regularly use. These range from practical productivity tools to a few fun utilities that add flair to your terminal experience. Let’s dive in!

1. CBonsai – A Zenful ASCII Bonsai Tree

While not the most practical, CBonsai is by far the most zenful CLI app on this list. It generates a random ASCII bonsai tree right inside your terminal.

By default, it shows a fully formed bonsai tree, but using the -l or --live flag, you can watch your bonsai grow in real-time from nothing to its final shape. The -a or --infinite flag loops this growth endlessly, turning it into a terminal-based screensaver (which you can also trigger with the -s flag).

You can customize:

The base of the tree (-B flag)
The size of the tree (-L or --life flag)
Colors for leaves and branches
Leaf characters, branch multipliers, random seed, and more

Other terminal-based screensavers worth checking out include cmatrix (the iconic Matrix effect), pipes (draws lines across your screen), and my personal favorite, ascii-aquarium, which animates fish swimming in your terminal.

2. Asciinema – Terminal Session Recorder and Player

Asciinema is one of my favorite tools for creating video content and demoing terminal sessions. Unlike typical screen recording software, Asciinema records the terminal output as text in a file, preserving exact timing and allowing playback inside the terminal or embedded in web pages.

How to use:

Start recording:
bash
```
asciinema rec 
```
Run your commands as usual.
Finish recording with Ctrl+D or exit.
Play back the recording:
bash
```
asciinema play 
```

You can also embed these recordings on websites with their JavaScript player, or convert them to GIFs for platforms that don’t support embedding (like GitHub READMEs).

Additional features:

Live streaming terminal sessions
Self-hosting your own Asciinema server
Multiple themes (Monokai, Nord, Dracula, etc.)

Asciinema is a must-have for anyone who frequently shares terminal workflows.

3. Croc – Easy and Secure File Transfer

Croc makes sharing files and directories between devices simple and secure, without the need for SSH setup, IP addresses, or firewall configurations.

How it works:

To send a file:
bash
```
croc send 
```
Croc generates a code phrase.
The recipient downloads the file using:
bash
```
croc 
```

Key features include:

End-to-end encryption
Resume interrupted transfers
Use your own relay server if desired

For me, Croc is perfect for quickly transferring files between devices or sharing with others — no email attachments or cloud storage needed.

4. TTYD – Access Terminal via Web Browser

TTYD lets you access a terminal session through your browser, which is super handy for remote workflows.

Basic usage:

bash

ttyd

For example, to start a Zsh shell:

bash

ttyd zsh

By default, TTYD is read-only. Use the -w flag to enable write access:

bash

ttyd -w zsh

I use TTYD paired with Tailscale on a VPS, allowing me to run an always-online agent accessible from anywhere, even from my phone while on the road. This setup has transformed how I work remotely with agentic AI tools.

5. Jrnl – Terminal-Based Journal App

Jrnl (pronounced "journal") is a lightweight, open-source journaling tool for the terminal inspired by bullet journaling.

Features:

Easy creation of new journals (with optional encryption)
Add entries quickly:
bash
```
jrnl "Your journal entry"
```
List recent entries:
bash
```
jrnl -n 10
```
Search entries by keywords or timestamps
Use tags, mark favorites, and modify timestamps
Manage multiple journals for different purposes (e.g., work vs. personal)

Jrnl lets you keep track of your thoughts without leaving the terminal, making journaling fast and distraction-free.

6. wttr.in – Weather Forecast in Your Terminal

Although not a standalone CLI app, wttr.in is a handy curl-based command to get weather updates.

bash

curl wttr.in

It shows the forecast for your current location based on your IP. You can also specify any location:

bash

curl wttr.in/Chicago

This is a great example of leveraging API endpoints to retrieve and display useful info directly in your terminal.

7. Newsboat – Terminal RSS Reader

If you like consuming news without leaving the terminal, Newsboat is a text-based RSS reader with a friendly TUI.

Setup:

Add your RSS feed URLs to the Newsboat config file.
Run:
bash
```
newsboat
```

You can browse, download, and read articles right in the terminal. It also supports opening links with terminal browsers like links or w3m.

I subscribe to feeds like Dreams of Code RSS and Hostinger Tutorials RSS for quick updates.

8. Lolcat – Colorful Output for Your Terminal

Lolcat is a fun utility that adds a rainbow gradient to the output of any command, similar to cat.

Usage:

bash

cat file.txt | lolcat

You can customize the gradient colors, frequency, and even enable animation mode (-a) to render the output line by line.

I like pairing Lolcat with Figlet to create colorful ASCII welcome messages, especially for my TTYD sessions.

9. Faker – Generate Fake Data for Testing

Faker is both a CLI tool and a Python package that generates realistic fake data like names, emails, addresses, passwords, URLs, and even binary data.

Use case:

Automated testing
User simulation
Data masking

While I prefer the Python package for integration in scripts, the CLI tool is handy for quick data generation directly from the terminal.

10. Grex – Generate Regular Expressions from Examples

Grex is a powerful CLI tool that generates regular expressions based on a list of example strings.

How it works:

Provide example strings:
bash
```
grex file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
```
Grex outputs a regex that matches exactly those inputs.

You can make the regex more generic with flags like:

-d to generalize digits
-r for handling repeating characters

This tool helps you quickly create regex patterns to match complex string sets and is a fantastic starting point for writing regex.

Final Thoughts

There you have it — 10 CLI applications that I bet many of you haven’t heard of before. Whether you’re looking for productivity boosts, fun terminal tweaks, or powerful utilities, I hope you found at least one new tool to try.

My personal favorite from this list is TTYD, especially for remote terminal access combined with agentic AI workflows. If you’re interested, I plan to do a deeper dive into that setup in the future.

Special Thanks to Hostinger

This article is sponsored by Hostinger. If you want your own long-term VPS to run applications like TTYD and more, now is a great time.

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Using my coupon code DREAMSOFCODE will get you an additional 10% off! Check it out here: hostinger.com/dreamsofcode

Useful Links

Did you discover a new favorite CLI tool from this list? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time, happy terminal exploring!