far2l vs Rat Commander
far2l
github.com
Rat Commander
rat-commander.comSide by side
| Figure | far2l | Rat Commander |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · File managers | 8.6 (#5) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Spec score · Terminal File Managers | 8.5 (#6) | 8.3 (#12) |
| Archive support | Yes | Yes |
| File operations | The README lists plugins including archive handling, file comparison, image viewing, and text transformations. | It supports file copy, move, delete, permissions, ownership, symlinks, and directory creation. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | The README identifies the license as GNU/GPLv2. | The project is licensed under GNU General Public License version 2, GPL-2.0-only. |
| Linux support | Yes | Yes |
| macOS support | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | The project describes Linux as its primary platform and says it also works on macOS and BSD, though BSD is not regularly tested. | The maker lists Linux, macOS, and Windows; its README notes that Windows lacks Drive Manager and Network Connections. |
| Remote file access | Yes | Yes |
| Windows support | No | Yes |
Plans
In their own words
far2l
far2l is a free Linux port of FAR Manager v2, with macOS support also listed. It offers graphical wxWidgets and SDL interfaces as well as terminal backends, whose dependencies and keyboard support vary. Its NetRocks plugin supports remote access through SFTP, SCP, SHELL, FTP, FTPS, SMB, NFS, WebDAV, and AWS S3. Other listed plugins handle archives, file comparison, a calculator, image viewing, Git gutter, Python scripting, and text transformations. Python plugin support is optional and requires the relevant Python development packages when building. Installation options include Debian and Ubuntu packages, Homebrew, source builds, and Docker. The project identifies far2l as GNU/GPLv2 software, but labels it beta and advises using it at one's own risk. It recommends checking out a stable release tag because the master branch is considered unstable. The compact Homebrew TTY build lacks Python plugins and SMB support in NetRocks. The project lists English, Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian as valid translations; other languages need substantial correction.
Rat Commander
Rat Commander is a free, two-panel terminal file manager for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It brings file browsing and media viewing together with editing, archives, Git, remote filesystems, and system tools. Panels can show files as lists, trees, thumbnail grids, or interactive 3D views, and can be split vertically or horizontally. The built-in viewer and editor support syntax highlighting, search and replace, Markdown, tables, images, and in-place hex editing. Git tools cover tasks including staging, commits, branches, diffs, and history. Remote connections over SFTP, SCP, FTP, and FTPS let users work with remote filesystems in a local-disk-like way. ZIP, TAR variants, 7z, and other archives can be browsed and edited; RAR is read-only. QR codes support sending and receiving files over a local network. Linux disk tools can mount, format, flash, and image disks and USB devices. On Windows, Drive Manager and Network Connections are unavailable. Rat Commander is written in Rust with Ratatui and is licensed under GNU GPL-2.0-only.