Alternatives to Altap Salamander
A two-panel file manager for Windows with built-in viewers, archive support and FTP/SFTP clients. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Altap Salamander
A two-panel file manager for Windows with built-in viewers, archive support and FTP/SFTP clients.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Altap Salamander.
Total Commander
The dual-pane Windows file manager people have been using since 1993, still updated, still shareware.
Total Commander keeps the two-pane keyboard workflow with archives, FTP and SFTP built in, but it is paid shareware and adds a large plugin ecosystem and directory synchronisation.
Double Commander
A free dual-pane file manager in the Total Commander tradition, running on Linux and macOS too.
Double Commander is open source under GPL-2.0 and also runs on macOS and Linux, with archives browsed as folders and FTP included, though its interface is dated.
Far Manager
A two-pane text-mode file manager and shell for Windows, extended by plugins for archives, FTP and network browsing.
Far Manager is an open-source text-mode two-pane manager for Windows, relying on plugins for archives and FTP, and it is actively developed with x64 and ARM64 builds.
FreeCommander
Free dual-pane Windows file manager with tabs, search and archive handling.
FreeCommander is a free dual-pane Windows manager that adds folder comparison, synchronisation and a portable mode, with extra features in a paid donor edition.
Unreal Commander
A freeware two-panel file manager for Windows with archive support, an FTP client and plugins.
Unreal Commander is a free two-panel Windows manager with folder tabs, archive support, an FTP client and Total Commander plugin support, but the current version is a long-running beta.
EF Commander
A two-panel Windows file manager with an archiver, viewer, hex editor and FTP/SFTP client.
EF Commander is a paid two-panel Windows manager with FTP, SFTP, FTPS and SCP plus a built-in archiver and hex editor, and it is actively maintained.
SpeedCommander
A dual-pane file manager for Windows with a viewer for 80+ formats, archives and FTP/SFTP.
SpeedCommander is a paid dual-pane Windows manager with a viewer for over 80 formats, FTP and SFTP access, and macros, with cloud access in the Pro edition.
Multi Commander
Free multi-tab, multi-pane Windows file manager aimed at power users.
Multi Commander is free for personal and commercial use and adds multi-tab panes, a scripting engine and user-defined commands, though its interface is dense.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Directory Opus
Professional Windows file manager with tabs, dual pane, scripting and FTP.
XYplorer
Tabbed Windows file manager with scripting, portable mode and deep search.
xplorer²
A paid tabbed dual-pane file manager for Windows that replaces File Explorer.
Q-Dir
Quad-pane Windows file manager that shows up to four folders at once.
Explorer++
A tabbed replacement for Windows Explorer that can run completely portable and save its settings to a file.
Files
A file manager for Windows with tabs, columns, tags and dual panes, built the way Explorer should have been.
