Dolphin vs Vifm
Dolphin
apps.kde.orgVifm
vifm.infoSide by side
| Figure | Dolphin | Vifm |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · File Manager Software | 8.8 (#3) | 8.4 (#16) |
| Archive support | Yes | Yes |
| Batch rename | Yes | Yes |
| Dual-pane view | Yes | Yes |
| File operations | It supports creating, moving, deleting, compressing, sharing, and duplicating files and folders. | Features include undoing, redoing, and backgrounding operations, as well as trash. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Supported platforms | linux,windows | The site describes Vifm as cross platform for GNU/Linux, *BSD, Solaris, Windows, and Mac OS, and UTF 8 aware. |
| Purpose | Dolphin is KDE’s file manager for browsing and managing files on hard drives, USB sticks, SD cards, and other storage. | Vifm is a curses based file manager that provides a Vim like environment for managing filesystems. |
| Support | The product page links to the Dolphin Handbook and KDE forum for help, and to bug reporting and source code pages. | The site directs general usage questions to its Q&A site, where registration is not required, and lists GitHub issues, SourceForge tracker, and email for other contact. |
| Tabbed interface | Yes | Yes |
Plans
In their own words
Dolphin
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.