Ant Renamer vs Bulk Renamer

Ant Renamer is a free Windows program for applying rules to large batches of file and folder names. Its actions include changing extensions, replacing or inserting text, moving or deleting characters, numbering names, and changing letter case. It can build names from MP3 ID3 v1.1 tags, modification dates and times, EXIF information, regular expressions, or names in a supplied list or file. The program changes names only, not file contents. It supports Unicode names, including Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic characters, on NT systems. The interface is available in English and numerous other languages, including French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Tamil. Ant Renamer is free software under the GNU General Public License version 2 or, at the user’s option, a later version. Version 2.13.0 is offered as an installer and as a portable ZIP package. The project began in 2003 and is still maintained, though its maker describes it as based on old tools and not using newer Windows features. The maker points users to the included help file, online manuals, a forum, or email support.

Bulk Renamer is a free desktop app for batch-renaming files in a chosen folder, available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It displays a live preview of each proposed filename before applying the batch. Rename patterns can combine find-and-replace, prefixes or suffixes, sequential numbering, case conversion, and extension changes; find-and-replace accepts plain text or regular expressions. The app loads files from the selected folder but does not include subfolders. Before a batch runs, it checks whether destination names duplicate one another or already exist on disk, and a conflict blocks the operation. Undo reverses the latest successful batch only. That history is kept in memory and does not remain after the app closes. Bulk Renamer is open-source under the MIT license and its free plan costs nothing, with no account required. The maker notes that an unsigned app may trigger standard Gatekeeper or SmartScreen warnings on first launch until code-signing is set up. Infinite Creation describes its free tools as serving people who create, validate, publish, and teach media.