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.
Sysadmins, developers, and other Unix/Linux power users who manage files primarily from a terminal, including over SSH or on headless/minimal systems.
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.
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.
Where Midnight Commander stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Midnight Commander
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the File managers checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
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| File managers checklist | Midnight Commander | Directory Opus | Double Commander | Files | ForkLift | Path Finder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Every fact and feature listed for Midnight Commander is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License GPL-3.0 verified 2026-07-10
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/blob/master/COPYING -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-10
GNU Midnight Commander is released under the GNU General Public License version 3 or any later version.
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/blob/master/doc/README -
Platforms Linux, macOS verified 2026-07-10
GNU Midnight Commander runs on POSIX (Unix-like) operating systems, such as GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Solaris, HP-UX and others.
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/blob/master/doc/FAQ -
Status active verified 2026-07-10
Merge pull request #5131 from MidnightCommander/dependabot/github_actions/actions/checkout-7
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/commits/master -
Dual-pane view Yes verified 2026-07-10
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).
https://source.midnight-commander.org/man/mc.html -
Tabs No verified 2026-07-10
Tab, C-i, left-key,
https://source.midnight-commander.org/man/mc.html -
Batch rename Yes verified 2026-07-10
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
https://source.midnight-commander.org/man/mc.html -
Archive handling Yes verified 2026-07-10
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
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/blob/master/doc/README -
Cloud connections Yes verified 2026-07-10
The FTP File System (ftpfs) allows you to manipulate files on remote machines
https://source.midnight-commander.org/man/mc.html -
Keyboard-driven Yes verified 2026-07-10
All input lines in Midnight Commander use an approximation to the GNU Emacs editor's key bindings (default).
https://source.midnight-commander.org/man/mc.html -
Open source Yes verified 2026-07-10
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/blob/master/COPYING -
One-time purchase option No verified 2026-07-10
GNU Midnight Commander is released under the GNU General Public License version 3 or any later version.
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/blob/master/doc/README -
Search quality Yes verified 2026-07-10
Find file command can search for the file contents.
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/blob/master/doc/README -
Scripting Yes verified 2026-07-10
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
https://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc/blob/master/doc/README
FAQ
Yes. Double Commander, Files and ranger have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Double Commander, Files and ranger — every license claim links its source.