Dolphin vs Total Commander

Dolphin is KDE’s file manager for browsing and managing files on local storage, including hard drives, USB sticks and SD cards, as well as remote machines and internet cloud services. It supports creating, moving, deleting, compressing, sharing and duplicating files and folders. Multiple tabs let users work in several folders, while split view supports drag-and-drop copying or moving between panes. Choose among grid, detailed and tree views, and configure most of the application’s behavior. The right-click menu supports custom actions. An integrated terminal runs commands in the current folder. Plugins extend workflows with Git and Nextcloud, while listed extensions cover services such as Google Drive, Amazon S3 and Samba. Dolphin is free and open source under GPL-2.0-or-later. Linux installation is available through AppStream stores or distribution package managers, and Flathub is listed. Windows installers are available as nightly builds for testing. KDE links to a handbook, forum, bug reporting and source code for support and contribution.

Total Commander is a file manager for Windows and Android, with two side-by-side file windows for working across folders. It supports searching, comparing and synchronizing files, as well as batch renaming. The interface includes tabs, history and favorites. Archive handling covers ZIP, 7ZIP, ARJ, LZH, RAR, UC2, TAR, GZ, CAB and ACE, with plugins available for archive handling, FTP and password management. Its built-in FTP client supports encrypted FTPS and HTTP proxies, and cloud storage access is listed. A portable version is available. The mobile versions are free. The Windows shareware demo lasts 30 days; afterward, users must order the full version or delete the program. The Windows version costs 42 Euro plus VAT in Europe and some other countries. Registered users can download future updates for free until further notice. The maker is based in Bolligen, Switzerland.