diff --git a/kiwi_scp/commands/cmd_shell.py b/kiwi_scp/commands/cmd_shell.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5bd4ffa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kiwi_scp/commands/cmd_shell.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import logging
+from collections import deque
+from typing import List, Optional
+
+import click
+
+from .cmd import KiwiCommandType, KiwiCommand
+from .decorators import kiwi_command
+from ..executable import COMPOSE_EXE
+from ..instance import Instance
+from ..project import Project
+from ..services import Services
+
+_logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@click.option(
+    "-s", "--shell",
+    help="shell to spawn",
+    type=str,
+)
+@click.option(
+    "-u", "--user",
+    help="container user to run shell",
+    type=str,
+)
+@kiwi_command(
+    short_help="Spawn shell",
+)
+class ShellCommand(KiwiCommand):
+    """Spawn shell inside a project's service"""
+
+    type = KiwiCommandType.SERVICES
+    enabled_only = True
+
+    @classmethod
+    def run_for_filtered_services(cls, instance: Instance, project: Project, services: Services,
+                                  new_service_names: List[str], shell: Optional[str] = None,
+                                  user: Optional[str] = None) -> None:
+        # builtin shells: as a last resort, fallback to '/bin/sh' and 'sh'
+        shells = deque(["/bin/sh", "sh"])
+
+        # add shells from KiwiConfig
+        config_shells = map(str, instance.config.shells)
+        shells.extendleft(config_shells)
+
+        # add shell from argument
+        if shell is not None:
+            shells.appendleft(shell)
+
+        user_args = ["-u", user] if user is not None else []
+
+        for service in services.content:
+            existing_shells = service.existing_executables(list(shells))
+
+            try:
+                use_shell = next(existing_shells)
+                _logger.debug(f"Using shell {use_shell!r}")
+
+            except StopIteration:
+                if shell is not None:
+                    use_shell = shell
+                    _logger.warning(
+                        "Could not find any working shell in this container. "
+                        f"Launching provided {use_shell!r} nevertheless. This might fail!"
+                    )
+
+                else:
+                    _logger.warning(
+                        f"Could not find any working shell among {shells!r} in this container. "
+                        "Please suggest a shell using the '-s SHELL' command line option!"
+                    )
+                    return
+
+            # spawn shell
+            COMPOSE_EXE.run(['exec', *user_args, service.name, use_shell], **project.process_kwargs)
diff --git a/kiwi_scp/service.py b/kiwi_scp/service.py
index f7e81a5..c85652f 100644
--- a/kiwi_scp/service.py
+++ b/kiwi_scp/service.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
+import logging
 import re
 import subprocess
+from itertools import zip_longest
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Generator
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Generator, Sequence
 
 import attr
 from ruamel.yaml import CommentedMap
@@ -11,6 +13,8 @@ from .executable import COMPOSE_EXE
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from .project import Project
 
+_logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 @attr.s
 class Service:
@@ -44,3 +48,15 @@ class Service:
 
         except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
             return False
+
+    def existing_executables(self, exe_names: Sequence[str]) -> Generator[str, None, None]:
+        for cur, nxt in zip_longest(exe_names, exe_names[1:]):
+            if self.has_executable(cur):
+                # found working shell
+                _logger.debug(f"Found executable '{cur}'")
+                yield cur
+
+            elif nxt is not None:
+                # try next in list
+                _logger.info(f"Executable '{cur}' not found in container, trying '{nxt}'")
+