
In this Azure article, we will discuss the difference between Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI. Along with this, we will also discuss a few other topics as below.
- Azure Cloud Shell
Table of Contents
Azure PowerShell vs Azure CLI
Both Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI are command-line tools that help you for creating and manage your Azure resources. You can use both of them on multiple platforms such as Windows, Linux, macOS, etc.
Let’s list out the key differences between Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI.
Azure PowerShell | Azure CLI |
A PowerShell module or a set of PowerShell cmdlets that can be used across different platforms like Windows, Linux, macOS, etc. | A command-line interface and a set of commands that can be used across multiple platforms like Windows, Linux, macOS, etc. |
PowerShell or Windows PowerShell is a must to run Azure PowerShell. | You can run Azure CLI in bash, PowerShell and cmd, etc. |
Not supported. | Cmd shell environment is supported here. |
Not supported. | Bash Shell environment is supported here. |
You can use Azure Poweshell to build an Azure Function. | NA |
You can use the Connect-AzAccount cmdlet to sign in. | You need to use the az login cmdlet to sign in or connect. |
To get the lists of Virtual Machines, you can use Get-AzVM cmdlet. | To get the lists of Virtual Machines, you need to use az vm list cmdlet. |
Same way, to get help, you can use Get-Help cmdlet in Azure PowerShell. | Here, you need to use az –help cmdlet for the same purpose. |
Azure Cloud Shell
Azure Cloud Shell is a browser-based Shell environment to create and manage your Azure resources.
Azure Cloud Shell provides you with two options either Bash or PowerShell to use based on your requirement.
There are two ways to access Azure Cloud Shell.
- Access directly via https://shell.azure.com link.
- Accessing Azure Cloud Shell from Azure Portal.
Log in to Azure Portal –> Click on the Cloud Shell option from the top right next to the Search box.

Then choose either PowerShell or Bash based on your requirement.
This is all about azure PowerShell vs CLI vs cloud shell.
You may also like following the below articles
- How To Open Azure PowerShell
- How to backup Azure blob storage using PowerShell
- How to create an Azure web app using PowerShell
- Create Azure Function using Visual Studio Code and PowerShell
- Azure Active Directory Module for Windows Powershell
Wrapping Up
In this article, we have discussed the key differences between Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI, Azure CLI vs Azure PowerShell, and along with that we have also discussed Azure Cloud Shell, Hope it helped you.