Ant Renamer vs Easy File 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.

Easy File Renamer batch-renames files and folders on macOS, Windows, and the web using configurable rules. It previews proposed names before applying changes to disk. System Renamer provides 12 named rules, including text replacement, prefixes, numbering, case conversion, and extension changes. Rule stacks can be saved and reloaded as macros for repeat jobs. Media Renamer builds photo and video names from date, camera, dimensions, filename, and sequence tokens. Music Fixer reads and updates common audio tags, edits album art, and loads an exported iTunes Library XML file. Cloud File Renamer is a free browser companion for supported cloud accounts, while the desktop application does not scan cloud accounts itself. The trial permits adding files and previewing names, but registration is required to perform a rename. The add-files list holds 1,500 items; larger jobs use folder indexing. The maker says desktop files stay on the user’s computer and installers are digitally signed. Plans start at $39.99 a year.