What are the best Total Commander alternatives for Linux and OSX?

Question

26

Options
Considered

1K

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May 17, 2022

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 17 OptionsWhy?

Best Total Commander alternatives for Linux and OSX	Price	Platforms	Price
95 Double Commander	-	Windows, Linux, Mac	-
85 Midnight Commander	-	-	-
80 muCommander	-	-	free
76 ranger	-	-	-
-- krusader	0	-	-

See Full List

16 Other Options Considered

Midnight Commander

Top Pro

Can be run in the terminal

Being a terminal application means that it's suited for people who spend most of their time on the terminal because they don't have to switch windows in order to open their file manager. It also means that they can use it both locally and remotely. See More

Top Con

Can't replace Total Commander because it's a console application

Sometimes it's just more convenient to have toolbar and modal windows - the same as with ranger. See More

PersonablePuhaorangi's Experience

The only one that can be used on headless servers. See More

Top Pro

Works perfectly in remote terminal

Top Con

No directory bookmarks

PhilosophicalDerzelas's Experience

Fast, lightweight, robust. See More

Top Pro

Stable

Top Con

No tabs

There is no way to use multiple tabs like Total Commander, Krusader or even Ranger. See More

Top Pro

Often available in default repository

Hence easy to install by usually package manager. See More

Top Con

Missing "multi-rename" tool

Top Pro

Very intelligent and fast

Some file managers are bulky but not so intelligent. For example, when copying files, MC will display the current speed of transfer whereas other file managers might only give you a hint. It can also do symlinks very simply and intuitively. And it is very fast. See More

Top Con

File viewer: searching can be quite cumbersome

Especially searching next or previous. See More

Top Pro

Similar layout to Total Commander

Top Con

Lacks drag and drop feature

With midnight commander you cannot drag and drop files to move them around. Instead, you have to do the necessary actions in order to move files around (cut and paste or copy and delete). See More

Top Pro

Intuitive interface

Midnight commander uses the full screen of the terminal in a very efficient way. It displays two panels for files horizontally. On the bottom it has the most useful commands with their corresponding key attached. All of this makes for a very intuitive interface both for beginners and experienced users. See More

Top Con

Quirky 2-key shortcuts

E.g. to copy name or full path of the selected file to the command line. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

Top Con

Many key combinations are hard-coded and not configurable

For example: you can't rename by F2, can't toggle hidden files by ctrl+H or ctrl+. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

Midnight commander is easy and intuitive to use. The most common commands are displayed in the bottom (move, copy, paste, delete, edit, view, make directory). Files can be selected with the arrow keys which move the cursor through them. The Enter key goes down in a directory. To move the focus between two panels the tab key is used. See More

Top Con

Can only be run in the terminal

MC lacks a standalone GUI option. See More

Top Pro

Lynx-like motion

Cursor+left to go to parent directory, cursor+right to go into child directory. See More

Top Con

Quirky and hard to remember shortcuts

E.g. when trying to take the current directory's path to the command line. See More

Top Pro

Well-presented

Top Con

Does not use screen space as effective as a GUI application

because as a console application it is bound to fixed-width fonts. See More

Top Pro

Emacs-ish keybindings

Top Con

No easy way to change colors matching certain files

There probably is a possibility, but it is not easy. See More

Top Con

Missing optional "vim-like" key binding

See All

ranger

Top Pro

Vim-like keybindings

The keybindings are very familiar to vim keybindings so anyone with at least a basic knowledge of vim should find themselves right at home with ranger. See More

Top Con

Difficult learning curve for people who are not used to Vim

Since it uses many of vim's keybindings, it may be hard for someone who does not use vim or does not know how to use vim to learn how to work with this file manager. See More

ResoluteGobannus's Experience

Simply the best See More

Top Pro

Works in terminal

For people who work in the terminal all the time this is very helpful because they are not forced to leave their working environment. See More

Top Con

A great idea but not GUI friendly

May be difficult to get past the fact that it asked for commands dd and cc and the likes to cut and or paste. Arch-Linux normally prides itself on not over-complicating things. This is too bad. It is a great idea with the 3 Smart Columns, but why would anyone prefer to need to learn 30 commands in order to cut and paste or copy a file or folder, or to see/change permissions? See More

Top Pro

Customizable

Top Con

Can't replace Total Commander because it's console application

Sometimes it's just more convenient to have toolbar and modal windows. See More

Top Pro

Customizable keybindings

If you are not familiar with vim-like keybindings, you can use standard keys from other file managers like F5 (copy), F4 (edit), F8 (delete), arrows for moving between folders/files, etc. If you don't like those either, you can customize bindings any way you like. See More

Top Con

Works in terminal

Not as pretty as many GUI file managers. See More

Top Pro

Extensible, scriptable

Ranger allows the use of various scripts for calling on individual or multiple files, for file previews, or for other operations. This allows for in-terminal full colour previews of images and videos. You can even call external scripts or chain shell commands from the primary interface. See More

Top Pro

Easily used with SSH

Top Pro

File preview

Unlike other terminal file managers, Ranger can preview many files, including text files, pdf, archives, images etc. See More

Top Pro

Minimalist and efficient

There is no need for icons of files if headings are used. Previews of text documents and a simple design creates and efficient workflow. See More

Top Pro

Multi platform (Linux/Mac/Windows)

ranger is available for all the major OSs. See More

Top Pro

Image preview support

Ranger can use w3m to preview images in terminal through framebuffer. See More

Top Pro

Treeview and listview (equal viewports) possible

Supports any number of viewports on folders side by side. See More

Top Pro

PDF preview

This may fall under "File preview", but it is a very powerful feature for PDF files in particular. See More

Top Pro

Fast and responsive

This software is super fast and responsive in navigation. See More

Top Pro

Bookmark system

Makes it easy to jump to any specific folder locations you work with. See More

Top Pro

Vim-like bindings

Ranger has Vim-like keybindings which help a lot in increasing efficiency and speed up the workflow. See More

See All

krusader

Top Pro

Versatile

Has everything you might wish for and more. See More

Ronald's Experience

I use it always when on linux. One of the great features (but very insecure however), is the option to lunch as root: this makes it very easy, (but also very dangerous) to edit config files. See More

Top Pro

Root mode

Dangerous but sometimes useful. See More

Top Pro

Archive support

Browse archives as folders. See More

Top Pro

Advanced renamer

Via package krename. See More

Top Pro

Multiple tabs

Tabs with other listings, and options to move the tab to the other side. See More

Top Pro

Directory compare

Compare 2 directories on content or file/date and sync them. See More

See All

Termux

Add Video or Image

Sunflower Twin-Panel File Manager

Top Pro

Open-source

Sunflower is free and open source, the source code is freely available on GitHub. See More

Top Con

Doesnt start on Fedora 26

's Experience

I like it. It's quick, easy, and as importantly, works for my needs. That being said, it's currently version 0.3. And there doesn't seem to be much about it on its website. Said to be lots of improvements between version 0.2 and 0.3. Perhaps a little more specific (a what's new page maybe?). Perhaps some elaboration on the features mentioned at the bottom of the page. See More

Top Pro

Python code

Easy to enhance and fix because of Python's relative simplicity. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

Very fast and light without losing functionality. See More

See All

Vifm

Top Pro

vi like keybindings

vi like keybindings, modes, options, commands, configuration. See More

Top Con

Can only be used in terminal

Vifm lacks a standalone GUI option. See More

Top Pro

Works in terminal

For people who work in the terminal all the time this is very helpful because they are not forced to leave their working environment. See More

Top Con

Need to know vim

vi knowledge required See More

Top Pro

Two paned

Top Pro

Plenty of helpful vim-like commands and features

Top Pro

Allows you to stay in the terminal

Since it runs in a terminal, it may live within ssh sessions, tmux/screen sessions, etc. See More

Top Pro

Default key mappings will be comfortable to vim users

Vifm uses vim-esque key mappings. Makes for extremely efficient and---perhaps more importantly---intuitive interactions. The key mappings can be changed. See More

See All

ForkLift 3

Top Pro

Native UI

Top Con

MacOS only - No Linux version

ForkLift 3 is only available for MacOS. No *nix versions are available. See More

Specs

Price:$29.95

Top Pro

Best UX/UI'd file manager on the market

It's just a perfectly crafted app, try and enjoy See More

Top Pro

Built-in batch rename multiple files

You can add a Multi Rename preset to Favorites, so if you select the files you want to rename and click on the saved preset in the sidebar, the Multi Rename sheet will show up with the previously configured setup and you only have to click Rename to finish. See More

Top Pro

Connect to and mount lots of storage options

FTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Rackspace CloudFiles, SMB, AFP, NFS, VNC, etc. See More

Top Pro

Rewritten in Swift

Forklift 3 is a significant update from FL2, having been rewritten entirely in Swift. See More

Top Pro

Optional dark UI

In addition to the default Mac gray UI, Forklift 3 offers an alternate "Dark Mode" featuring light text elements against dark backgrounds. See More

Top Pro

Easily toggle hidden files

See All

Emacs+dired-mode

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score 440 · Accepted Answer

Double Commander

Top Pro

Multi-platform (Linux, Windows, MacOS X)

You can use same tool in all desktop OS environments. See More

Top Con

Much slower on Linux and Mac than on Windows

Shahram Bekhrad's Experience

I think it’s been 10 years now that I‘ve replaced the windows explorer with an amazingly better file manager. Although that is not free but totally worth it if I can get rid of a headache called “explorer.exe”. This double commander is exactly that good (it won’t be shocking if both soft-wares have the same architecture base) with the price of $0, so it presents all the pros and one MORE. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac

Top Pro

Configurable

Lots of options allow you to configure DC the way it suits you best: Tools, Fonts, Colors, Hotkeys, Mouse, Fileviews, Plugins, Layout, Toolbars, Tabs, Icons etc. See More

Top Con

Apparently only one developer

chan's Experience

When I switched at home from Windows to Linux I could use Total Commander under Wine, but it wasn't so convenient, e.g. hitting Enter on an XLS file didn't start LibreOffice (I guess I would have to install the Windows version of LibreOffice under Wine, which IMO doesn't make sense). Now with DoubleCommander it works fine, so I probably will switch in my office (still using Windows with no possibility changing to Linux in sight) to DoubleCommander as well. See More

Top Pro

Source code is available (true free software)

If the developer loses interest there is at least the possibility that someone else will pick up the torch. See More

Top Con

Source code written in Pascal language

But this does not affect users negatively. It's just programmers problem. See More

ReliableApep's Experience

I use it every day on windows and linux. It has a couple of little niggles but nothing major. Alexx2000 does update it, which is nice. See More

Top Pro

Powerful tcmd-like search tool (alt+F7)

Top Con

Freeze after mouse double-click on directory list item

IndustriousVoluptas's Experience

Best Total Commander replacement for the Mac. I tried a lot but this was the best for me. See More

Top Pro

Directory Hotlist

Save shortcuts to folders. Organize them in a treeview with submenus. Define a name and sorting for each entry. See More

Top Con

Can't edit files on remote FTP servers

SociableLiber's Experience

COol! See More

Top Pro

tcmd-like multi-rename tool (CTRL+M)

HealthyTiamat's Experience

fast and most mime support See More

Top Pro

Closely follows TotalCommander UX

For instance, the 'Settings | Layout' pane is quasi-identical to TCs. See More

ResponsibleAmechania's Experience

Was using krusader which works great but needs a lot of dependencies from KDE , which is not installed on my current machine. See More

Top Pro

Source Code written in (Object) PASCAL

It's all a matter of perspective. I'm not for an argument about IDE's, frameworks etc, but to me that's a big plus. I think it should be a tie, it's either a pro or a con or should that be neither a pro nor a con. It just depends on context. See More

Top Pro

DC uses TCmd plugin API

so you can use documentation from Total Commander for writing plugins. WCX (packer), WDX (content), WFX (file system), WLX (lister). See More

Top Pro

It's that good, you can replace tcmd on windows too

Top Pro

Very sophisticated

Although it is lightweight and simple to use, it can do very sophisticated tasks, like copying files from directories which have a certain extension or file size or have a certain text pattern in them. Also, it's very customizable and stable. See More

See All

The Best 1 of 17 OptionsWhy?

My Recommendation for Double Commander

My Recommendation for Double Commander

Multi-platform (Linux, Windows, MacOS X)

Much slower on Linux and Mac than on Windows

Configurable

Apparently only one developer

Source code is available (true free software)

Source code written in Pascal language

Powerful tcmd-like search tool (alt+F7)

Freeze after mouse double-click on directory list item

Directory Hotlist

Can't edit files on remote FTP servers

tcmd-like multi-rename tool (CTRL+M)

Closely follows TotalCommander UX

Source Code written in (Object) PASCAL

DC uses TCmd plugin API

It's that good, you can replace tcmd on windows too

Very sophisticated

16 Other Options Considered

My Recommendation for Midnight Commander

My Recommendation for Midnight Commander

Can be run in the terminal

Can't replace Total Commander because it's a console application

Works perfectly in remote terminal

No directory bookmarks

Stable

No tabs

Often available in default repository

Missing "multi-rename" tool

Very intelligent and fast

File viewer: searching can be quite cumbersome

Similar layout to Total Commander

Lacks drag and drop feature

Intuitive interface

Quirky 2-key shortcuts

Lightweight

Many key combinations are hard-coded and not configurable

Easy to use

Can only be run in the terminal

Lynx-like motion

Quirky and hard to remember shortcuts

Well-presented

Does not use screen space as effective as a GUI application

Emacs-ish keybindings

No easy way to change colors matching certain files

Missing optional "vim-like" key binding

My Recommendation for muCommander

My Recommendation for muCommander

Available on Linux, Mac, and Windows

Documentation could be improved

Easy to use directory bookmark manager

A little bit ugly

Customizable shortcuts

Internal viewer supports images

My Recommendation for ranger

My Recommendation for ranger

Vim-like keybindings

Difficult learning curve for people who are not used to Vim

Works in terminal

A great idea but not GUI friendly

Customizable

Can't replace Total Commander because it's console application

Customizable keybindings

Works in terminal

Extensible, scriptable

Easily used with SSH

File preview

Minimalist and efficient

Multi platform (Linux/Mac/Windows)

Image preview support

Treeview and listview (equal viewports) possible

PDF preview

Fast and responsive

Bookmark system

Vim-like bindings

My Recommendation for krusader

My Recommendation for krusader

Versatile

Root mode