# Alternatives to Midnight Commander The terminal file manager classic. Midnight Commander ranks #7 of 9 in File managers, with an Alt Score of 82. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free and available on Linux and macOS. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/midnight-commander/ Category: File managers ## Where Midnight Commander stands out - **Open source** — 4 of 9 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Sysadmins, developers, and other Unix/Linux power users who manage files primarily from a terminal, including over SSH or on headless/minimal systems. - **What you get**: A full-screen, text-mode dual-pane file manager for copying, moving, deleting, and searching files and directory trees. It bundles a built-in file viewer, text editor (mcedit), and diff viewer (mcdiff), plus subshell command execution and skin-based theming. It runs anywhere a terminal does—local console, X terminal emulator, or remote shell—via ncurses or S-Lang. - **How it works**: You navigate two side-by-side directory panes with the keyboard, using function-key shortcuts (F1 help, F5 copy, F6 move, F8 delete, etc.) to act on files between the panes, drop into a command line/subshell when needed, and open files directly in the built-in viewer or editor. ## Profile - **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-10) - **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-10) - **Starts at**: ? - **Platforms**: Linux, macOS - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [Directory Opus](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/directory-opus.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Windows | | 2 | [Double Commander](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/double-commander.md) | 91 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 3 | [Files](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/files.md) | 91 | MIT | Windows | | 4 | [ForkLift](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/forklift.md) | 91 | Proprietary | macOS | | 5 | [Path Finder](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/path-finder.md) | 91 | Proprietary | macOS | | 6 | [Total Commander](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/total-commander.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Windows, Android | | 7 | [Marta](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/marta.md) | 73 | Proprietary | macOS | | 8 | [ranger](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ranger.md) | 73 | GPL-3.0 | Linux, macOS | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | File managers checklist | Midnight Commander | Directory Opus | Double Commander | Files | ForkLift | Path Finder | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Free | One-time | Free | Free | One-time | Subscription | | Starts at | ? | ? | ? | $9.99 | $19.95 | $32.95 (1 Year License) | | License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 | MIT | Proprietary | Proprietary | | Platforms | Linux, macOS | Windows | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows | macOS | macOS | | Dual-pane view | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Tabs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Batch rename | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Archive handling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Cloud connections | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Keyboard-driven | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Open source | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | | One-time purchase option | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Search quality | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Scripting | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for Midnight Commander. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: GPL-3.0 — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007” - **Pricing model**: Free — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “GNU Midnight Commander is released under the GNU General Public License version 3 or any later version.” - **Platforms**: Linux, macOS — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “GNU Midnight Commander runs on POSIX (Unix-like) operating systems, such as GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Solaris, HP-UX and others.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Merge pull request #5131 from MidnightCommander/dependabot/github_actions/actions/checkout-7” - **Dual-pane view**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Midnight Commander provides a view of two directories at the same time. One of the panels is the current panel (a selection bar is in the current panel).” - **Tabs**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Tab, C-i, left-key,” - **Batch rename**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “The copy/move operations let you translate the names of files in an easy way. To do it, you have to specify the correct source mask and usually in the trailing part of the destination specify some wil” - **Archive handling**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Built in Virtual File System: manipulate remote file systems through the FTP and SFTP protocols or over secure shell, browse contents of tar, ar, rpm, zip, cpio, lha and rar archiv” - **Cloud connections**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “The FTP File System (ftpfs) allows you to manipulate files on remote machines” - **Keyboard-driven**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “All input lines in Midnight Commander use an approximation to the GNU Emacs editor's key bindings (default).” - **Open source**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007” - **One-time purchase option**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “GNU Midnight Commander is released under the GNU General Public License version 3 or any later version.” - **Search quality**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Find file command can search for the file contents.” - **Scripting**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Subshell support: Run your commands by a real shell interpreter. GNU Midnight Commander interacts with bash, tcsh and zsh to provide you with all of the facilities available in your preferre” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/