Compare software

plocateGNU findutils
Free

Free and open source.

 Free

Free software from the GNU Project.

Linux, Command line Linux, Command line
  • Very fast file name lookups
  • Smaller index than mlocate
  • Powerful file matching by name, type, size, time and more
  • locate gives very fast lookups from a file name database
  • Linux only
  • Results are only as fresh as the last index update
  • locate results are only as current as the last updatedb run
  • Option syntax is dense and takes time to learn
Downloadable app Downloadable app
Open source Open source
License: GPL-2.0-or-later License: GPL-3.0-or-later
No account needed No account needed
Works offline Works offline

Checked September 23, 2026

Checked October 1, 2026

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