Alternatives to superfile
A terminal file manager with a modern, colourful interface, built in Go with themes and plugin support. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
superfile
A terminal file manager with a modern, colourful interface, built in Go with themes and plugin support.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as superfile.
Yazi
A terminal file manager where nothing blocks: every read, preview and copy happens asynchronously.
Yazi is an MIT terminal manager that is fully asynchronous, with image previews, code highlighting and Lua plugins, and its Windows support is newer than its Unix side.
ranger
A console file manager with vi keybindings and a three-column view showing parent, current and preview.
ranger offers a three-column vi-key view with previews and Python configuration and has more plugins, but it is slower and does not run on Windows.
nnn
A terminal file manager of about 150 KB that starts instantly, uses under 4 MB of memory and needs almost no configuration.
nnn is a minimal 150 KB terminal manager using under 4 MB of memory with many plugins, but it has no Windows build outside Cygwin or WSL.
broot
Navigate large directory trees and find files in the terminal.
broot focuses on compact tree navigation and interactive search on Windows, macOS and Linux, but changing the parent shell directory requires shell integration.
xplr
Explore files with a configurable terminal interface.
xplr is an MIT terminal explorer with scriptable navigation on macOS and Linux only, and customisation requires configuring the surrounding workflow.
Midnight Commander
Two-panel file manager for the terminal, with an editor and remote access.
Midnight Commander is a GPL two-panel terminal manager with a built-in editor and remote filesystem browsing, using function-key bindings and needing Cygwin or WSL on Windows.
Joshuto
A ranger-like terminal file manager written in Rust with Miller-column navigation.
Joshuto provides ranger-style Miller-column navigation in Rust with fzf and zoxide integration, running on macOS and Linux only.
Vifm
A terminal file manager with a curses interface and Vim-like keybindings.
Vifm uses Vim keybindings in a curses interface and offers Windows binaries, though it is listed as not open source.
Also worth comparing
These listings name superfile 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.
superfile swaps the shell-prompt workflow for a colourful themed full-screen interface with previews, fuzzy search and a trash can.
felix
A terminal file manager written in Rust with Vim-like key bindings and file previews.
superfile is an MIT-licensed Go terminal manager with a themed visual interface, previews, fuzzy search and a trash can, though hotkeys still change between releases.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
