Alternatives to Krusader

A twin-panel commander-style file manager for KDE Plasma and other Linux and Unix desktops. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Krusader.

  • Double Commander

    A free dual-pane file manager in the Total Commander tradition, running on Linux and macOS too.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Double Commander is a GPL-2.0 dual-pane manager that also runs on Windows and macOS, without KDE library dependencies.

  • Midnight Commander

    Two-panel file manager for the terminal, with an editor and remote access.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    Midnight Commander brings the two-panel workflow to the terminal, working over plain SSH sessions with an editor.

  • muCommander

    An open-source, cross-platform dual-pane file manager with remote filesystem, cloud storage and archive support.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    muCommander is a Java cross-platform dual-pane manager with FTP, SFTP, SMB, S3 and cloud storage, with large downloads.

  • far2l

    A port of the Far Manager v2 dual-panel console file manager to Linux and macOS.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    far2l brings the Far Manager dual-panel console interface to Linux and macOS, with plugins and a keyboard-heavy workflow.

  • Xfe

    A fast, lightweight file manager for X on Linux and Unix with Explorer- and Commander-style layouts.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Xfe is a lighter Linux manager with a dual-pane Commander layout, editor and SSH access, with a plainer interface.

  • Nemo

    Cinnamon's file manager, a Nautilus fork with more built-in options.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Nemo is the Cinnamon file manager with dual panes and extensions, lacking Krusader's sync and comparison tools.

  • Konqueror

    KDE's combined web browser and file manager, using Qt WebEngine for pages.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Konqueror is KDE's combined web browser and file manager with FTP and SFTP, but single-purpose commander features are not documented.

  • Total Commander

    The dual-pane Windows file manager people have been using since 1993, still updated, still shareware.

    PaidProprietaryWindows

    Total Commander is the paid, closed-source Windows original with a large plugin ecosystem, not available on Linux.

Also worth comparing

These listings name Krusader as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Caja

    The file manager of the MATE desktop, used to browse files and manage the desktop on Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Krusader switches to a two-pane commander layout with sync and SFTP, but it is built on KDE libraries and has a dense interface.

  • gFTP

    A free multithreaded GTK file transfer client for Linux and other Unix-like systems.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Krusader is an open-source twin-panel file manager with built-in SFTP and FTP transfers and directory synchronisation, though it pulls in KDE libraries.

  • PCManFM-Qt

    A Qt-based file manager and desktop icon manager, the default file manager of the LXQt desktop.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Krusader is a Qt and KDE-based twin-panel commander with synchronisation, archive handling and SFTP, with a denser interface and more dependencies.

  • Sigma File Manager

    Modern file manager with tabs, dual-pane view, global search and media previews.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsLinux

    Krusader is a native Linux twin-panel manager with synchronisation, archives and SFTP/FTP, built on KDE libraries and with no Windows build.

  • Thunar

    The lightweight default file manager of the Xfce desktop environment for Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Krusader offers a twin-panel commander layout with directory sync, archives and SFTP transfers, but depends on KDE libraries and has a denser interface.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.