Terminal File Managers
Alternatives to Alfa
Alfa is a free accessibility conformance engine for websites built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It checks WCAG-based rules, accepts pluggable ACT Rules Format implementations, and returns EARL JSON-LD results. Its scraper and crawler collect pages for auditing, while integrations connect with frameworks, browsers, test runners, and CI/CD tools. A command-line interface handles single-page audits, and developers can filter results by conformance level or WCAG version. It runs across web, desktop, Linux, and self-hosted environments.
- 01 Broot
Broot suits people who want terminal-oriented directory navigation, file search, previews, and file operations.
Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux8.6 Visit Specs - 02 FileManagerTUI
FileManagerTUI suits people who prefer keyboard-driven file management in a terminal and want an inline editor and preview.
Free plan Open source Windows · macOS · Linux8.6 Visit Specs - 03 Clifm
Clifm suits people who prefer shell commands to a traditional terminal file-manager interface.
Free plan macOS · Linux · Android8.5 Visit Specs - 04 elio
It suits terminal users who want file previews and file operations within one file manager.
Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux · Self-hosted8.5 Visit Specs - 05 far2l
It suits Linux or macOS users looking for a file manager with terminal and graphical backends, archive tools, and remote file access.
Free plan macOS · Linux8.5 Visit Specs - 06 nnn
nnn suits terminal users who want file operations, previews and search in a compact, low-configuration tool.
Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux · Android8.5 Visit Specs - 07 cfiles
It suits Linux and macOS users who want keyboard-driven terminal file management with previews, shell access and scripting.
Free plan macOS · Linux8.4 Visit Specs - 08 Newt
Newt suits people who work with local files alongside remote systems, archives, or disc images.
Free plan Open source Windows · macOS · Linux8.4 Visit Specs - 09 FModel
FModel suits Windows users who want to inspect or export assets from Unreal Engine game archives.
Free plan Windows8.3 Visit Specs - 10 pointer
Pointer suits Linux or macOS users who want terminal-based, two-pane file management with previews, archives, remote browsing, and extensibility.
Free plan macOS · Linux8.3 Visit Specs - 11
Rat Commander It suits terminal users who want file management, editing, Git, and remote access in one application across Linux, macOS, or Windows.
Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux8.3 Visit Specs - 12 RTFM Free plan macOS · Linux8.2 Visit Specs
- 13 TUIFIManager
TUIFIManager suits people looking for a terminal file manager, particularly Termux users.
Free plan Open source Windows · macOS · Linux · Android8.2 Visit Specs - 14 Dynamic File Manager Free plan Linux8.1 Visit Specs
- 15 Joshuto Free plan macOS · Linux8.1 Visit Specs
- 16
Midnight Commander It suits people who prefer a text-mode file manager and need file operations in local consoles, terminals, or remote shells.
Free plan macOS · Linux · Self-hosted8.1 Visit Specs - 17 superfile
superfile suits developers who prefer to handle lightweight file and directory tasks in a terminal.
Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux8.1 Visit Specs - 18 Runa
Runa suits terminal users on Linux, macOS or Windows who want keyboard-driven file management with customizable layouts and previews.
Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux7.9 Visit Specs - 19 Deepfence SecretScanner Free plan Linux · Self-hosted7.8 Visit Specs
- 20 Vifm Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux7.8 Visit Specs
- 21
Zeta Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux7.8 Visit Specs - 22
Yazi Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux7.7 Visit Specs - 23 Far Manager Free plan Windows7.6 Visit Specs
- 24 Middle Manager macOS · Linux · Self-hosted7.5 Visit Specs
- 25 UnixTree Free plan Windows · macOS · Linux7.5 Visit Specs
- 26 Termix Windows · macOS · Linux7.2 Visit Specs
- 27
ranger Linux7.0 Visit Specs - 28 xplr macOS · Linux7.0 Visit Specs
Choosing instead of Alfa
Alternatives matter when Alfa’s developer-managed approach, separate npm packages, or experimental integrations do not fit your workflow. Alfa is free and open source, but its tooling requires a compatible JavaScript environment, with source builds requiring Node.js 20 or later and Yarn. Compare whether you need browser extensions, scheduled monitoring, manual review, mobile testing, broader assistive-technology access, or a managed service. Also weigh each product’s WCAG coverage, scan scope, integration path, reporting, and price against Alfa’s customizable rules and free MIT-licensed distribution.