Alternatives to Midnight Commander

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

  • ranger

    A console file manager with vi keybindings and a three-column view showing parent, current and preview.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    ranger swaps two panels for a vi-key three-column view with live previews and also offers a multi-pane mode, though Python startup makes it noticeably slower.

  • nnn

    A terminal file manager of about 150 KB that starts instantly, uses under 4 MB of memory and needs almost no configuration.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    nnn is a much smaller terminal manager using under 4 MB of memory, with plugins for previews, mounting and uploads, but its keybindings are terse.

  • Yazi

    A terminal file manager where nothing blocks: every read, preview and copy happens asynchronously.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Yazi is a fully asynchronous terminal manager with image previews and Lua plugins that also runs on Windows, with configuration kept in TOML files.

  • superfile

    A terminal file manager with a modern, colourful interface, built in Go with themes and plugin support.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    superfile gives a colourful themed terminal interface with previews and a processing bar for copies, installable on Windows too, though its hotkeys still change between releases.

  • Double Commander

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Double Commander keeps the two-pane workflow with multi-rename and FTP on Windows, macOS and Linux, but it is a desktop GUI rather than a terminal program.

  • xplr

    Explore files with a configurable terminal interface.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinux

    xplr is an MIT-licensed terminal interface with scriptable navigation on macOS and Linux, but customisation requires configuring the surrounding workflow.

  • broot

    Navigate large directory trees and find files in the terminal.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    broot focuses on compact tree navigation and interactive search and runs on Windows too, but changing the parent shell directory requires shell integration.

  • Far Manager

    A two-pane text-mode file manager and shell for Windows, extended by plugins for archives, FTP and network browsing.

    FreeOpen sourceWindows

    Far Manager keeps the two-pane text-mode layout but runs natively on Windows only, with plugins for archives, FTP and network browsing in the standard distribution.

Also worth comparing

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

  • clifm

    A shell-like terminal file manager that works directly on the command line, without menus or panes.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxCommand line

    Midnight Commander provides two visual panels with an editor and remote filesystem browsing, using function-key bindings instead of typed commands.

  • Commander One

    A dual-pane file manager for macOS with FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, cloud storage and archive support.

    FreemiumProprietarymacOS

    Midnight Commander moves the two-panel workflow into the terminal, free and open source, with archive and remote filesystem browsing.

  • far2l

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

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    Midnight Commander is a GPL-3.0 two-panel terminal manager for macOS and Linux with an editor and remote filesystems browsed like local folders, using function-key bindings.

  • felix

    A terminal file manager written in Rust with Vim-like key bindings and file previews.

    FreeProprietaryCommand line

    Midnight Commander swaps Vim-like keys for a two-panel layout with function keys, an editor and remote filesystem access.

  • ForkLift

    Dual-pane macOS file manager with built-in SFTP, S3 and WebDAV.

    PaidProprietarymacOS

    Midnight Commander is a free, open-source two-panel terminal manager that browses remote filesystems as local folders, trading ForkLift's graphical interface for function-key bindings.

  • Joshuto

    A ranger-like terminal file manager written in Rust with Miller-column navigation.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    Midnight Commander swaps Miller columns for two panels with an editor and remote filesystem browsing, using function keys.

  • Krusader

    A twin-panel commander-style file manager for KDE Plasma and other Linux and Unix desktops.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

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

  • Nimble Commander

    A free dual-pane file manager for macOS built around speed and keyboard navigation.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOS

    Midnight Commander moves the two-panel workflow into the terminal, working over SSH sessions and browsing archives and remote filesystems like folders.

  • Total Commander

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

    PaidProprietaryWindows

    Midnight Commander brings the two-panel workflow to the terminal on Linux and macOS under GPL-3.0, working over SSH but needing Cygwin or WSL on Windows.

  • Vifm

    A terminal file manager with a curses interface and Vim-like keybindings.

    FreeProprietaryWindowsLinuxCommand line

    Midnight Commander offers a two-panel terminal layout with function-key bindings instead of Vim keys, plus archive and remote filesystem browsing.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.