urfave/cli

A Go library for creating command-line applications with declarative syntax and built-in subcommand support

Also known as
urfave-cli

What is urfave/cli?

An open-source package that simplifies building command-line tools in Go using a declarative configuration style, featuring automatic help text generation, subcommand support with aliasing, and comprehensive flag parsing for various data types.

Independently observed

urfave/cli pricing

We don't have urfave/cli's full plan breakdown yet (its pricing page resisted automated reading). Here's what we could confirm. Always check live pricing for exact numbers.

What urfave/cli does

The capabilities that matter for cli frameworks, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.

Capabilities
Language
Go
Design style
Declarative
Nested subcommands
✓
Auto generated help
✓
Plugin system
-
Interactive prompts
-
Type validation
-
Styled rich output
-
Project scaffolding
-
Test harness
-
Open source
✓
License
MIT
Independently observed

Platform & deployment

Independently observed
Platforms
  • CLI

Security & compliance

Known vulnerabilities: 0 (0 in the last 12 months) sourcea count reflects scale & disclosure, not quality

urfave/cli FAQ

Common questions about urfave/cli, answered from independent, dated evidence.

What is urfave/cli?

An open-source Go library that streamlines CLI development with support for commands, subcommands, help text generation, shell completion, and flexible flag parsing. Designed to be simple, fast, and developer-friendly. It is indexed under CLI Frameworks.

Source: https://cli.urfave.org

Is urfave/cli free to use?

urfave/cli is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.

Source: https://cli.urfave.org

What platforms does urfave/cli support?

urfave/cli supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.

Source: https://cli.urfave.org

Is urfave/cli open source?

Yes. urfave/cli is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.

Source: https://github.com/urfave/cli

urfave/cli alternatives

Other cli frameworks we track, ranked by the same independent score.

All urfave/cli alternatives, ranked →

Independent · unbought · dated

The vioscaleAI score: one lens on the evidence

Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for urfave/cli, not the verdict.

Balanced composite 61 / 100
low · 30%
Signal contributions to the composite score
SignalScoreWeightContributionEvidence
Development activity620.127.4✓
Dependent projects790.086.3✓
Release cadence890.076.0✓
Capabilities580.084.8✓
Security score700.053.7✓
Stars830.032.7✓
Integrations00.050.0-
Security posture50.090.0-
Package downloads00.170.0-
Developer Q&A activity00.080.0-

Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.

All data & sourcesshow ↓

Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.

Activity

AttributeValueEvidence
Commits last 30d89mediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 65%

Adoption

AttributeValueEvidence
Github stars24,291highsource · 2026-10-14 · 90%
Dependent repos57,081highsource · 2026-10-14 · 85%

Content

AttributeValueEvidence
Faq4 itemsmediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 69%

Features

AttributeValueEvidence
CapabilitiesLicense: MIT · Language: Go · Open source: Yes · Design style: declarative · Nested subcommands: Yes · Auto generated help: Yesmediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 60%

Language

AttributeValueEvidence
PrimaryGohighsource · 2026-10-14 · 90%

License

AttributeValueEvidence
SpdxMIThighsource · 2026-10-14 · 95%

Pricing

AttributeValueEvidence
Free tierYesmediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 60%
Modelopen_sourcemediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 60%
Price levelfreemediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 60%
TransparentYesmediumsource · 2026-08-18 · 60%

Release

AttributeValueEvidence
Cadence days19mediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 70%
History20 itemsmediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 70%

Security

AttributeValueEvidence
Disclosure policyYesmediumsource · 2026-08-18 · 60%
Scorecard7highsource · 2026-10-14 · 90%
VulnerabilitiesCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Furfave%2Fcli&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0highsource · 2026-10-14 · 90%
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