When comparing Default Folder X vs XtraFinder, the Slant community recommends XtraFinder for most people. In the question“What are the best power user tools for macOS?” XtraFinder is ranked 23rd while Default Folder X is ranked 39th.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Directory assistant Finder Integration
From the Open / Save file dialog, you can access your recent, favorite, and open folders. Includes a menubar item and can add to the Finder toolbar for quick access.
Pro New features are intuitive
Many of the features provided by Default Folder are quite intuitive and quickly become very useful. When a save dialogue is open, just click on an open Finder window to change the current path to that directory. Integrated Quicklook previews make selecting files in the list view much easier, and Spotlight tags can be added directly from the save dialogue.
Pro Free
Pro Old full-size color labels from OS X < 10.9
Pro Adds useful toolbar items
XtraFinder provides useful options for toolbar such as: Launch as Root, New Terminal Here, New File..., and Select...
Pro Additional right-click options
Xtra Finder provides additional options when performing the right click.
Pro Custom hotkeys
Pro Copy Path
Pro Can open a terminal in set position
XtraFinder can open up a terminal from the right-click menu in given path with "New Terminal Here".
Pro Dual panel
Split the Finder window into to windows to achieve better file handling.
Pro Colored icons in the Finder sidebar
Cons
Con Doesn't work on recent macOS versions without a workaround
This tool doesn't work on recent macOS versions, except if you try workaraound that may or may not work. It involves disabling System Integrity Protection and details on how to do it can be found on the XtraFinder website.