Newt vs Rat Commander
Newt
newt-fm.org
Rat Commander
rat-commander.comSide by side
| Figure | Newt | Rat Commander |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · File managers | 8.9 (#1) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Spec score · Terminal File Managers | 8.4 (#9) | 8.3 (#12) |
| Archive support | Yes | Yes |
| Dual-pane layout | Yes | Yes |
| File operations | Users can view, copy, delete, move, edit, pack, or reveal files from the interface. | It supports file copy, move, delete, permissions, ownership, symlinks, and directory creation. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source license | Newt source code is available under the GNU GPL v3. | The project is licensed under GNU General Public License version 2, GPL-2.0-only. |
| Linux support | Yes | Yes |
| macOS support | Yes | Yes |
| Preview pane | Yes | Yes |
| Remote connections | It connects over SSH, containers, Kubernetes pods, and WSL distributions. | Remote filesystems support FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and SCP, and can be used alongside local and archive panels. |
| Remote file access | Yes | Yes |
| Windows support | Yes | Yes |
Plans
In their own words
Newt
Newt is a free, open-source file manager for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its two-pane interface handles local and remote filesystems, connecting through SSH, containers, Kubernetes pods, and WSL distributions. Remote sessions can run file operations, searches, terminals, and mounts on the remote host. Users can view, copy, move, delete, or edit files, and pack or reveal them. ZIP, TAR, compressed TAR, and CPIO archives can be browsed as directories, including nested and encrypted archives; ISO 9660 and UDF images can be browsed without extraction. S3 filesystems can be mounted, with range reads for large images. Recursive filename and content searches stream results into a pane linked to the files. Common actions have direct key controls, with configurable bindings and mouse controls also available. The backend uses Rust, while the interface uses React and TypeScript and packaging uses Tauri. Source code is available under the GNU GPL v3. No free-tier limits are stated.
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.