Both were derived from a base grep command. “Egrep” represents “extended grep,” but the fgrep represents “fixed-string grep.” An egrep command can be used for searching multiple patterns in a file or some other kinds of data, while fgrep is basically used to search strings. The term “egrep” can also be expressed as “grep-e” but “fgrep” is also expressed as “grep-f.” The egrep command can permit the usage of extended regular expressions, but fgrep can only search for words or terms that match that which the user has specified in the command.
The fgrep understands neither regular nor extended-expression. Unlike Egrep and some other search commands, Fgrep is very fast because it is only concerned with the search word provided. Egrep command uses operators to yield a more specific search result. A Plus sign and the question mark sign could actually mean single, regular expressions or search terms.