diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4b591633a04..f53879536ff 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
   * Renamed `MarshalAny` and `UnmarshalAny` to `MarshalInterface` and `UnmarshalInterface` respectively. These functions must take an interface as parameter (not a concrete type nor `Any` object). Underneath they use `Any` wrapping for correct protobuf serialization.
   * CLI: removed `--text` flag from `show-node-id` command; the text format for public keys is not used any more - instead we use ProtoJSON.
 * (types) [\#9079](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/9079) Add `AddAmount`/`SubAmount` methods to `sdk.Coin`.
+* [\#8628](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/8628) Commands no longer print outputs using `stderr` by default
 
 ### API Breaking Changes
 
diff --git a/client/flags/flags.go b/client/flags/flags.go
index 1a0e5ad861d..fa13642127f 100644
--- a/client/flags/flags.go
+++ b/client/flags/flags.go
@@ -89,9 +89,6 @@ func AddQueryFlagsToCmd(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	cmd.Flags().StringP(tmcli.OutputFlag, "o", "text", "Output format (text|json)")
 
 	cmd.MarkFlagRequired(FlagChainID)
-
-	cmd.SetErr(cmd.ErrOrStderr())
-	cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())
 }
 
 // AddTxFlagsToCmd adds common flags to a module tx command.
@@ -120,9 +117,6 @@ func AddTxFlagsToCmd(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	cmd.Flags().String(FlagGas, "", fmt.Sprintf("gas limit to set per-transaction; set to %q to calculate sufficient gas automatically (default %d)", GasFlagAuto, DefaultGasLimit))
 
 	cmd.MarkFlagRequired(FlagChainID)
-
-	cmd.SetErr(cmd.ErrOrStderr())
-	cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())
 }
 
 // AddPaginationFlagsToCmd adds common pagination flags to cmd
diff --git a/client/keys/add.go b/client/keys/add.go
index 4176da632dd..7c337bab40d 100644
--- a/client/keys/add.go
+++ b/client/keys/add.go
@@ -79,9 +79,6 @@ Example:
 	f.Uint32(flagIndex, 0, "Address index number for HD derivation")
 	f.String(flags.FlagKeyAlgorithm, string(hd.Secp256k1Type), "Key signing algorithm to generate keys for")
 
-	cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())
-	cmd.SetErr(cmd.ErrOrStderr())
-
 	return cmd
 }
 
diff --git a/client/keys/list.go b/client/keys/list.go
index d6c2511b648..9aae471db52 100644
--- a/client/keys/list.go
+++ b/client/keys/list.go
@@ -33,8 +33,6 @@ func runListCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())
-
 	if ok, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool(flagListNames); !ok {
 		printInfos(cmd.OutOrStdout(), infos, clientCtx.OutputFormat)
 		return nil
diff --git a/client/keys/migrate.go b/client/keys/migrate.go
index 4816381e8c6..321750d9e87 100644
--- a/client/keys/migrate.go
+++ b/client/keys/migrate.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func runMigrateCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	}
 
 	if len(oldKeys) == 0 {
-		cmd.Print("Migration Aborted: no keys to migrate")
+		cmd.PrintErrln("Migration Aborted: no keys to migrate")
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/server/export.go b/server/export.go
index 8fd618028ba..150add98e78 100644
--- a/server/export.go
+++ b/server/export.go
@@ -109,8 +109,7 @@ func ExportCmd(appExporter types.AppExporter, defaultNodeHome string) *cobra.Com
 			return nil
 		},
 	}
-	cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())
-	cmd.SetErr(cmd.ErrOrStderr())
+
 	cmd.Flags().String(flags.FlagHome, defaultNodeHome, "The application home directory")
 	cmd.Flags().Int64(FlagHeight, -1, "Export state from a particular height (-1 means latest height)")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool(FlagForZeroHeight, false, "Export state to start at height zero (perform preproccessing)")
diff --git a/simapp/simd/cmd/root.go b/simapp/simd/cmd/root.go
index ebb69b47c54..2e615eb87f0 100644
--- a/simapp/simd/cmd/root.go
+++ b/simapp/simd/cmd/root.go
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ func NewRootCmd() (*cobra.Command, params.EncodingConfig) {
 		Use:   "simd",
 		Short: "simulation app",
 		PersistentPreRunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
+			// set the default command outputs
+			cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())
+			cmd.SetErr(cmd.ErrOrStderr())
+
 			initClientCtx = client.ReadHomeFlag(initClientCtx, cmd)
 
 			initClientCtx, err := config.ReadFromClientConfig(initClientCtx)
diff --git a/version/command.go b/version/command.go
index bb632aea5b1..9291c0a8249 100644
--- a/version/command.go
+++ b/version/command.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ func NewVersionCommand() *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Print the application binary version information",
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 			verInfo := NewInfo()
-			cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())
 
 			if long, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool(flagLong); !long {
 				cmd.Println(verInfo.Version)
diff --git a/x/auth/client/cli/tx_sign.go b/x/auth/client/cli/tx_sign.go
index 1b887d1a059..3e8c0599faa 100644
--- a/x/auth/client/cli/tx_sign.go
+++ b/x/auth/client/cli/tx_sign.go
@@ -140,7 +140,6 @@ func makeSignBatchCmd() func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 func setOutputFile(cmd *cobra.Command) (func(), error) {
 	outputDoc, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString(flags.FlagOutputDocument)
 	if outputDoc == "" {
-		cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())
 		return func() {}, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/x/auth/client/cli/validate_sigs.go b/x/auth/client/cli/validate_sigs.go
index d8d6283a799..03acf833f13 100644
--- a/x/auth/client/cli/validate_sigs.go
+++ b/x/auth/client/cli/validate_sigs.go
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func printAndValidateSigs(
 		if !offline && success {
 			accNum, accSeq, err := clientCtx.AccountRetriever.GetAccountNumberSequence(clientCtx, sigAddr)
 			if err != nil {
-				cmd.Printf("failed to get account: %s\n", sigAddr)
+				cmd.PrintErrf("failed to get account: %s\n", sigAddr)
 				return false
 			}
 
diff --git a/x/authz/types/generic_authorization_test.go b/x/authz/types/generic_authorization_test.go
index e3330d1c659..2dda401c693 100644
--- a/x/authz/types/generic_authorization_test.go
+++ b/x/authz/types/generic_authorization_test.go
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@ package types_test
 import (
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/authz/types"
 	banktypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/bank/types"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 func TestGenericAuthorization(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/x/bank/types/send_authorization_test.go b/x/bank/types/send_authorization_test.go
index 055a0b1fb0a..45bb718cd84 100644
--- a/x/bank/types/send_authorization_test.go
+++ b/x/bank/types/send_authorization_test.go
@@ -3,11 +3,12 @@ package types_test
 import (
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	tmproto "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/proto/tendermint/types"
+
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/simapp"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/bank/types"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-	tmproto "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/proto/tendermint/types"
 )
 
 var (
diff --git a/x/feegrant/types/filtered_fee.go b/x/feegrant/types/filtered_fee.go
index 99cf5f1731a..ae34a687ff6 100644
--- a/x/feegrant/types/filtered_fee.go
+++ b/x/feegrant/types/filtered_fee.go
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@ package types
 import (
 	"time"
 
+	proto "github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
+
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec/types"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	sdkerrors "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types/errors"
-	proto "github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
 )
 
 // TODO: Revisit this once we have propoer gas fee framework.