When comparing SpaceFM vs Ranger, the Slant community recommends Ranger for most people. In the question“What are the best file managers for UNIX-like systems?” Ranger is ranked 5th while SpaceFM is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Ranger is:
Which makes for a good choice of file explorer for those that use machines without a GUI.
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Pros
Pro Incredibly customizable
Just right click on any menu or menu option (including the context menu itself) and you'll be allowed to customize it. This lets you add support or integration for features you find missing.
Pro Minimal dependencies
It only needss gtk, udev, desktop-file-util and shared-mime-info which is available in most systems.
Pro Highly extensible
Functionalities can be extended by user scripts as plugins. Some scripts can also be downloaded from https://github.com/IgnorantGuru/spacefm-plugins/wiki. Plugins can be exported too.
Pro Tab and panel support
SpaceFM supports up to 4 individually customizable panels as well as multi-tabbed file management.
Pro No back seat driver
Does not obstruct professional work by engrossing root warnings.
Pro Desktop management support
Can be used to set wallpaper and desktop icons with high configuration support.
Pro Easily open folder as root
Can open different folders as root, this way you don't have to use the terminal to move around files for which you need root permission.
Pro Gtk-2 and 3 support
Available in gtk2 and gtk3.
Pro Intuitive and extendable through plug-ins
Great UI, easy to use and configure, several plug-ins available to make everyday tasks even easier.
Pro Can be used in terminal
Which makes for a good choice of file explorer for those that use machines without a GUI.
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.
Pro Vim-like bindings
Ranger has Vim-like keybindings which help a lot in increasing efficiency and speed up the workflow.
Pro Extensible, scriptable (with python)
Ranger allows the use of various scripts for calling on individual or multiple files, for file previews, or for other operations.
In commands.py the "my_edit"-function can be extended to do whatever in python can be done. Target files can be the file under the cursor (self.fm.thisfile.path), the files marked/selected in the current tab (self.fm.thistab.get_selection() ) and the files in the copy-buffer (add/remove: ya, yr) (respectively the delete-buffer: add/remove da/dr) (both: self.fm.copy_buffer).
The most appropriate list of files can be found out automatically, like so:
if self.fm.copy_buffer:
for file in self.fm.copy_buffer:
...
elif self.fm.thistab.get_selection():
for file in self.fm.thistab.get_selection():
...
else:
file = self.fm.thisfile.path
...
Pro File preview
Unlike other terminal file managers, Ranger can preview many files, including text files, archives, etc, but also pdf files, pictures and videos.
Pro Bookmark system
Makes it easy to jump to any specific folder locations you work with.
Pro Easily used with SSH
Pro Image preview support
Ranger can use w3m to preview images in terminal through framebuffer.
Pro Fast and responsive
This software is super fast and responsive in navigation.
Pro Treeview and listview (equal viewports) possible
Supports any number of viewports on folders side by side.
Pro PDF preview
This may fall under "File preview", but it is a very powerful feature for PDF files in particular.
Cons
Con Ugly
Con Some operations are slow
Because it tries to be as lightweight as possible and tries to use very little RAM. This can unfortunately lead to it being slow sometimes.
Con Not for everyone
Con Ugly
Con Bloated
Written in a scripted language. Enabling file previews makes it even slower.
Con Depends heavily on third party utilities
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.
Con No way to calculate folder size
Con Needs heavy configuration to setup
Con No built-in ability to navigate FTP/SSH
Most other GUI-based file managers provide easy bookmarking and browsing of multiple FTP & SSH locations using either keys or keychain stored user credentials. Ranger doesn't have this.
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. Too bad ... 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.