When comparing Vifm vs SpaceFM, the Slant community recommends SpaceFM for most people. In the question“What are the best file managers for UNIX-like systems?” SpaceFM is ranked 11th while Vifm is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose SpaceFM is:
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.
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Pros
Pro Allows you to stay in the terminal
Since it runs in a terminal, it may live within ssh sessions, tmux/screen sessions, etc.
Pro Nice Themes for a terminal app
Vifm has a lot of good themes that you can easily grab from the main site and use with the :colorscheme command.
Pro Configurable
You can easily configure almost all aspects of vifm by just editing the dotfile which is pretty easy is you are comfortable with configuring apps.
Pro Great integration with vim
The vifm.vim plugin allows you to use vifm as a powerful filepicker for vim.
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.
Pro Dual pane
The dual pane nature of vifm makes copy paste and moving files from one folder to another super easy.
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.
Cons
Con Useless for non-vi users
Even to quit one has to use ":q".
Con Very high learning curve for newbies
Con Can only be used in terminal
Vifm lacks a standalone GUI option.
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.