Compare software

fselect vs plocate: catalog facts
fselect	plocate
Best for: People who find SQL easier to write than find expressions	Best for: Linux users who want instant file name searches across a whole system
Free Free and open source, dual licensed under MIT and Apache 2.0.	Free Free and open source.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Linux, Command line
Readable SQL-like queries instead of find flags Subqueries and aggregate functions All 3 strengths for fselect Readable SQL-like queries instead of find flags Subqueries and aggregate functions Can compare results across several directories	Very fast file name lookups Smaller index than mlocate All 3 strengths for plocate Very fast file name lookups Smaller index than mlocate Drop-in replacement for the system locate
Not a complete replacement for find and ls Query grammar is SQL-like but not real SQL	Linux only Results are only as fresh as the last index update
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT OR Apache-2.0	License: GPL-2.0-or-later
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for fselect github.com/jhspetersson/fselect Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for plocate plocate.sesse.net Catalog checked September 23, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.