Ruff vs shfmt
Ruff
docs.astral.shshfmt
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Ruff | shfmt |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Code Formatting Tools | 7.9 (#12) | 7.6 (#23) |
| Configuration | Ruff supports configuration through pyproject.toml, ruff.toml, or .ruff.toml. | shfmt reads formatting options from EditorConfig files when parser or printer flags are not provided. |
| Docker | The maker publishes Ruff as a Docker image tagged by release and with a latest tag. | Docker release tags include versioned releases, a v3 stable tag, and a latest development tag; images contain shfmt and have Alpine variants. |
| Editor integrations | The setup guide documents integrations including VS Code, Sublime Text, PyCharm, and Zed. | Listed integrations include JetBrains shell plugins, micro, NeoVim, VS Code, Emacs, and Trunk. |
| Purpose | Ruff is a Python linter and code formatter written in Rust. | shfmt formats shell programs and is included in a shell parser, formatter, and interpreter project. |
| Security | Ruff’s rules include a Bandit-derived group for detecting common security issues, including possible vulnerabilities in Python code. | The latest release page says its release tag was signed with the committer’s verified signature. |
| Support | The editor setup documentation says setup instructions are provided on a best-effort basis and directs users to open an issue for assistance. | The project asks users to file detailed bug reports and feature requests as issues; sponsorship tiers mention prioritized issues and direct support in a company chat app. |
Plans
In their own words
Ruff
Ruff is a Python linter and code formatter written in Rust, available free under a permissive open-source license. It includes more than 900 built-in lint rules, including native versions of popular Flake8 plugin rules, and can automatically correct violations such as unused imports. Its formatter aims to serve as a replacement for Black, though the documentation allows for differences in some cases. The built-in Ruff Language Server supplies diagnostics, fixes, and formatting; the documentation recommends pairing it with another Python language server for navigation and autocompletion. Setup guidance covers VS Code, Sublime Text, PyCharm, and Zed, while CI support includes GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, and pre-commit hooks. Ruff can be installed through uv, pip, pipx, standalone installers, Homebrew, Conda, and other package managers. It supports configuration in pyproject.toml, ruff.toml, or .ruff.toml. A Bandit-derived rule group checks for common Python security issues. Ruff runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and is also published as a Docker image. The maker describes it as 10–100x faster than tools such as Flake8 and Black.