Best Free File Managers
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Compare the Top Free File Managers as of July 2025
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What are Free File Managers?
File managers, also known as file browsers or file explorers, are software applications that enable a user to browse, search, organize, and manage the files and folders on their computer or device. Compare and read user reviews of the best Free File Managers currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.
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1
Commander One
Electronic Team, Inc.
Commander One is the all-in-one file dual-panel file management application for Mac. It fully supports Mac M1 and M2 silicon and comes with a great interface that’s easy to maneuver and productivity-driven. The app is packed with features designed to increase the speed and ease of working with files. The ability to customize hotkeys, select specific files, show hidden files and view the entire work history and favorite files makes it amazing for those working with a lot of content. Moreover, Commander One also comes with an operation queue section, where users can see all of their files being processed, full support for archives, and a built-in viewer for text files of all kinds. Users can also choose to encrypt their files, with the super secure encryption feature that is built in and easy to set up. Power users can use the terminal emulator which also comes with the application to set up specific tasks and have full control over their workflow.Starting Price: $29.99 -
2
Directory Opus
GPSoftware
Directory Opus is a complete replacement for Explorer, with far more power and functionality than any other file manager available today. Single or dual pane file display and folder trees. Tabbed interface let you keep multiple folders open and switch quickly between them. Unique Explorer Replacement mode provides a full replacement for Windows Explorer. Quickly filter, sort, group, and search your folders. Color-code your files, and assign status icons, star ratings, tags, and descriptions. View images, documents, and more. Image marking lets you sort your photos quickly and easily. Batch renaming including easy-to-use keyboard macros. View and edit file metadata. Support for FTP and archive formats like Zip, 7Zip, and RAR. Built-in tools including synchronize and duplicate file finder. Calculate folder sizes and print or export folder listings. Queue multiple file copies for improved performance. Fully configurable user interface, colors, fonts, toolbars, keyboard hotkeys, etc.Starting Price: $31.65 one-time payment -
3
Apple Files
Apple
Access and organize your files no matter where they’re located, on your device, in the cloud, on an external drive or file server, with Files. The Recents view displays the files you’ve been working on lately in high-resolution thumbnails. Use the powerful browse view to navigate folders, organize your files with tags, move files between folders, and search. Files also make it easy to access iCloud Drive and third-party cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive. Press the Files icon in the Dock or Home screen to quickly open a file from anywhere. Connect an external drive or SD card to your device to access the files. Connect to a file server at work or a home PC using SMB from files. Use tags to organize files stored with different cloud providers and across different apps. Pin your favorite folders in Browse view for quick access to the ones you use most. Give people access to any file stored in iCloud Drive by sharing a link from the files app.Starting Price: Free -
4
Readdle Documents
Readdle
Documents is about action. Download videos. Read ePUBs. Open ZIP files. Watch movies. Edit PDFs. Documents gives you the superpowers to do what you want with your files. Add an extra layer of protection with the world’s fastest VPN. Use it to change your virtual location and enjoy music, video, and the TV shows you love. And yes, once enabled, VPN works perfectly across all your apps. Documents is now available on M1, becoming the first super app for desktop. Do what you want with your files, without jumping between dozens of apps. Manage all your files, watch videos, browse the web, edit PDFs, and more. Use a powerful built-in browser to quickly download mp3, books, videos, and literally anything from the Web. Private browsing is also there to respect your privacy. Think of it as an AirDrop on steroids. Now you can instantly send your photos, documents, or entire folders to a nearby iPhone or iPad. And no worries: the file structure in your folder will remain the same.Starting Price: Free -
5
Total Commander
Ghisler Software
Total Commander, version 10.52, is a shareware file manager for Windows® 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10/11, and Windows® 3.1. Two file windows side by side. Multiple language and Unicode support. Enhanced search function. Compare files (now with editor) / synchronize directories. Quick View panel with image and video display. ZIP, 7ZIP, ARJ, LZH, RAR, UC2, TAR, GZ, CAB, ACE archive handling + plugins. Built-in FTP client with FTPS (encrypted FTP) and HTTP proxy support. Multi-rename tool. Tabbed interface, regular expressions, history+favorites buttons. Thumbnails view custom columns. Compare editor, cursor in lister, separate trees, logging, enhanced overwrite dialog, etc. Unicode names almost everywhere, long names (>259 characters), a password manager for FTP and plugins, synchronize empty dirs, 64-bit context menu, quick file filter (Ctrl+S). USB port connection via special direct transfer cable, partial branch view (Ctrl+Shift+B), and many improvements to FTP synchronizing.Starting Price: Free -
6
Free Commander
Free Commander
FreeCommander is an easy-to-use alternative to the standard Windows file manager. The program helps you with your daily work in Windows. Here you can find all the necessary functions to manage your data stock. You can take FreeCommander anywhere, just copy the installation directory on a CD or USB stick, and you can even work with this program on a foreign computer. Copy, move, delete, and rename files and folders (alternatively as Windows or FreeCommander operation) Paths longer than 255 characters can be opened, copied, moved, and renamed. File filters (regexp possible too) for display and file operations. Easy access to system folders, control panel, desktop, and start menu. File viewer and thumbnail view inside archives too. Built-in file viewer to view files in hex, binary, text, or image format. Optional tree view for each panel. Flexible configuration of almost all features. Access to mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets) User-defined columns for detailed views.Starting Price: Free -
7
Q-Dir
Softwareok.com
The quad-directory-explorer makes your files and folders easy to manage, either installed or as a portable Windows program as an alternative freeware to Microsoft's File Explorer. Fast and easy access to your hard disks ergo advanced file management for network folders, USB sticks, floppy disks, and other storage devices Is the most popular tool from the category file management on Softwareok! File management in 4 windows with tabs. Folder size with extra information. Color filter for files and folders. Classic and modern address bar. Directory structure with visible tree branches. Print what you see in explorer views. Based on the MS Windows OS File Manager with full Unicode support. Q-Dir is a great alternative file manager for Windows with an amazing Quadro-view technique. Q-Dir gives you extra useful functions to make you happy. Save time by reducing mouse clicks and hand movements. Q-Dir does not have to be installed and can be executed easily from any location.Starting Price: Free -
8
Tablacus Explorer
Tablacus
A tabbed file manager with Add-on support. A vulnerability of script injection was found in Tablacus Explorer 17.3.30 or earlier. When opening a malicious FTP site, an arbitrary script will be executed. If you are using an earlier version, please update it promptly. Tabbed interface, add-on support, completely portable, no installation required. Multiple language and Unicode support. Columns, total file size, label, customizable association, menus, keys, mouse gestures, alias. Open source, 64-bit(TE64.exe/x64 Edition) and 32-bit(TE32.exe/x86 Edition) versions are available. Tablacus Explorer is an open-source file manager based on Windows Explorer that adds a few flavors of its own to make it easier for you to find files and folders stored on your system. It offers support for a multi-tabbed layout, various add-ons, different view modes, detailed file information, as well as customizable menus, keys, and mouse gestures.Starting Price: Free -
9
Files by Google
Google
A faster way to free up space, find files and share them. Files by Google is a file management app that helps you free up space with cleanup recommendations. Find files faster with simple navigation and search. Share files offline with others, fast and without using data. Back up data to save space on your device free up more space. Free up space faster and easier than ever: Delete photos, memes, duplicate files, apps you don't use, clear cache, etc. Use Files to see how much space is left on your phone and SD card. Easily transfer files from the app to an SD card and free up space. Use the built-in file cleaner to free up more space. You always know what you are deleting, we do not hide conditions or complicated phrases. Select only what you want to remove and keep the rest. They are your files, you are in charge. Use Files to have enough memory to keep your phone running smoothly. Use Bluetooth to establish a fast, encrypted and direct Wi-Fi connection.Starting Price: Free -
10
Owlfiles
Skyjos
Owlfiles is a powerful file management app on mobile platforms and desktop platforms. It can access not only files on your macOS, but also files on your server, NAS, and cloud. Stream movies and music on your Mac. Directly view and manage documents, and photos on your server, NAS, and cloud without downloading. Access network shares on PC, and NAS via SMB/CIFS protocol. Access network shares on PC, and NAS via SMB/CIFS protocol. Automatically discover servers and NAS when you set up a new connection. Stream movies and music from server/NAS/cloud to your Mac. Create unlimited connections with your computers, NAS, and cloud storage. Sync connections to all your devices. Sync files between macOS and server/NAS/cloud storage. Use Owlfiles on your mobile and desktop platforms. Built-in FTP Server for file transfer. Directly transfer files between Mac and mobile devices. Transfer files by drag and drop.Starting Price: Free -
11
OrganizerMaX
Bitqueues
Now you can enjoy your day with no stress, as this fantastic file manager for Windows & a perfect Windows Explorer alternative helps you with organizing the daily digital clutter a bit at a time. Tagging and organizing files and folders on Windows just got simpler with the help of this simple and innovative file manager for Windows which makes for a perfect Windows Explorer alternative. OrganizermaX is an innovative all-new file manager for Windows. If you are one of us, who don’t like getting bound to the traditional approach of organizing files in a folder structure. As we all know makes it so complicated to find files in due time, that we end up just leaving files on the desktop and downloading folders instead. With the thought in our mind of dealing with the mess later; and as obvious that later never happens. So, we came up with this simple yet innovative solution to make file organizing fun!Starting Price: $49 one-time payment -
12
Midnight Commander
Midnight Commander
GNU Midnight Commander is a visual file manager, licensed under GNU General Public License and therefore qualifies as Free Software. It's a feature-rich full-screen text mode application that allows you to copy, move and delete files and whole directory trees, search for files and run commands in the subshell. Internal viewers and editors are included. Midnight Commander is based on versatile text interfaces, such as Ncurses or S-Lang, which allows it to work on a regular console, inside an X Window terminal, over SSH connections, and all kinds of remote shells. Midnight commander can be used in local console or terminal emulator in any graphical environment or via ssh because it has a Text User Interface (TUI). Mailing lists on GoogleGroups are set up to read Trac messages only and are not an appropriate place to discuss MC bugs and solutions. Feel free to report bugs, attach your patches to the tickets and review the patches that are already in there.Starting Price: Free -
13
X File Explorer (Xfe)
Roland65
X File Explorer (Xfe) is an MS-Explorer or commander-like file manager for X. It is based on the popular, but discontinued, X Win Commander, originally developed by Maxim Baranov. Xfe is developed in 2002 by Roland Baudin, a french Linux enthusiast. Why another file manager when many excellent choices exist already? Why not use a full-blown, animated, bells-and-whistles file manager like Konqueror, Nautilus, or Rox? Although all these file managers are feature rich and cleverly designed, let's face it, they are huge! If you're a console addict, a light desktop user, or have an older system, resource-hogging file managers just aren't the way to go. Especially since most file managers are Desktop dependent (KDE, Gnome, Xfce, etc.), requiring you to load all kinds of unwanted bloat onto your system. Xfe is small, very fast, and only requires the FOX library to be fully functional. Plus, it can be launched from the command line in a fraction of a second.Starting Price: Free -
14
ranger
ranger
ranger is a console file manager with VI key bindings. It provides a minimalistic and nice curses interface with a view of the directory hierarchy. It ships with rifle, a file launcher that is good at automatically finding out which program to use for what file type. The examples/ directory contains several scripts and plugins that demonstrate how ranger can be extended or combined with other programs. These files can be found in the git repository. UTF-8 Support (if your Python copy supports it). Multi-column display. Preview of the selected file/directory. Common file operations (create/chmod/copy/delete/...) Renaming multiple files at once. VIM-like console and hotkeys. Automatically determine file types and run them with the correct programs. Change the directory of your shell after exiting ranger. Tabs, bookmarks, mouse support, etc.Starting Price: Free -
15
Deepin File Manager
Deepin
Deepin File Manager is a powerful & easy-to-use file-managing tool developed by Deepin Technology. It follows the functions and layout of the classic file manager, simplifies user operation on that basis, and added many distinctive features. With the easy-access navigation bar, diversified view, and sorting, you will be managing with high proficiency. Classic and innovative, all for a better experience! Deepin is an out-of-the-box desktop operating system, beautiful and easy to use. It is preinstalled with a number of self-developed applications, which not only satisfy your daily work, but also entertain you. Deepin is easy to install and can meet your work needs without additional system configuration and software installation. You can configure deepin as you want, but it is not necessary - optimal settings and adjustments have been applied by default to meet the usage demands of most users.Starting Price: Free -
16
Polo File Manager
teejee2008
Advanced file manager for Linux written in Vala. Supports multiple panes (single, dual, quad) with multiple tabs in each pane. Supports archive creation, extraction, and browsing. Support for cloud storage; running and managing KVM images, modifying PDF documents and image files, booting ISO files in KVM, and writing ISO files to USB drives. Polo is a modern, light-weight file manager for Linux with support for multiple panes and tabs; support for archives, and much more. Single-pane, dual-pane (vertical or horizontal split), and quad-pane layouts. Supports multiple tabs in each pane. Each tab has an embedded terminal which can be toggled with the F4 key. Devices popup displays list of connected devices with options to mount and unmount. Supports locking/unlocking LUKS encrypted devices. Support for browsing archives as normal folders. Supports the creation of archives in multiple formats with advanced compression settings.Starting Price: Free -
17
Shrestha Files Pro X
JPT Games and Apps
A modern dual-pane file manager with tabs and colorful themes for Windows 11 and Windows 10 devices. If you are looking for a dual-pane file manager with tabs and colorful themes, look no further: Shrestha Files Pro X is here with a modern and minimalist design to supercharge your productivity! Get it from the Microsoft Store now. Fluent design matching the look and feel of Windows 11 and Windows 10. Standard single pane mode for all users or advanced dual pane mode for power users. Drop files and/or folders inside a tab or inside a folder within a tab. Automatically saves and restores open tabs, view types per tab, pane size, etc. Search to find items in the current folder and sub-folders. Simple list, detailed list, small grid, medium grid, large grid, and tiles. Internal viewers for text and image files. The tabbed interface is similar to web browsers. Move tabs from one pane to another. Standard colorful themes and custom themes by users.Starting Price: Free -
18
Files
Files
A modern file explorer that pushes the boundaries of the platform. Explore a beautiful Windows-first design. Manage all your files with increased productivity. Work across multiple folders with tabs and so much more. Cloud files integration? Tabs and multiple layouts? Rich file previews? Files has it covered with robust features you expect from a modern file manager. Integration with cloud services such as OneDrive, Google Drive, and iCloud allows you to manage your documents and photos in the cloud, right from the sidebar. Preview documents, photos, and more without opening them. Support for rich previews, syntax highlighting, markdown, and video playback is all built-in. Quickly mark and organize your files and folders for later by assigning them colored and named tags for easy identification. You can even add your own custom tags! Avoid multiple windows and keep your desktop clutter-free. Files features a browser-like tabbing interface complete with keyboard shortcuts.Starting Price: Free -
19
fman
fman
Press Ctrl+P to quickly jump to a directory. fman remembers which folders you visit most often and suggests them first. This is so much quicker than manually navigating through directory hierarchies. Tailor fman to your needs via its powerful plugin system. Install plugins created by others, or write your own and share them with the community. fman is an alternative to file managers such as Explorer on Windows or Finder on macOS. You use it to browse directories, copy or move files, mount external drives, etc. It lets you perform these tasks much more efficiently than other file managers. This makes it extremely easy to copy or move files. You just open the directory you want to copy from on one side and the destination on the other. A simple keyboard shortcut then performs the copy. Unlike other file managers, you don't have to deal with multiple windows, drag files, or copy/paste in separate steps. File-related tasks can be carried out much more quickly that way.Starting Price: €39 one-time payment -
20
Explorer++
Explorer++
Explorer++ is a lightweight and fast file manager for Windows. Explorer++ is a small and fast file manager for Windows. With tabs, bookmarks, and advanced file operations, it allows you to be much more productive! Currently, the method Explorer++ uses to monitor directories for changes only works in real filesystem folders. That means that if you create a file in a library, for example, Explorer++ won’t pick up the change. A unified system to persist data in a single format would have clear advantages. Explorer++ would still need to be able to load data from the registry/XML config file (at least initially), but the general process of loading and saving data would be a lot simpler. In Explorer++, column results are retrieved in a background thread. That stops the application from hanging while data is being retrieved. With the option to save to the registry or a configuration file, Explorer++ is completely portable.Starting Price: Free -
21
Altap Salamander
Altap
Altap Salamander 4.0 works seamlessly with both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 10, 8.1, and 7. Most popular network protocols such as FTP, FTPS, SCP, or SFTP are supported. Altap Salamander is designed to be as fast as possible: quick navigation among directories, fast directory reading, and fast and smooth painting of panels. Full control over your recent history lists, seamlessly integrated password manager, or option to protect your sensitive files with strong encryption algorithms. Built-in viewers will instantly display the content of the most popular file formats. Text and binary files, bitmap images, or database files. Open architecture allows to extend Altap Salamander with custom plugins or automate common tasks using scripts written in any language supported by the Windows Script Host such as JScript or VBScript. Work with your files even if they are stored in archives. All major formats as ZIP, RAR, 7-Zip, or ISO/UDF image are supported.Starting Price: Free -
22
TagSpaces
TagSpaces UG
TagSpaces is privacy aware, cross-platform file browser with note-taking capabilities. It helps you organize your files and folders with tags and colors. Free downloads are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. With the built-in advanced markdown editor, you can create notes that can include tables, todo-lists, math formulas, or diagrams. TagSpaces can connect to any folder on your hard drive and provide a convenient way to browse its content. You have the ability to add labels called tags to any file or folder. Using tags along the folder hierarchy allows you to have cross-references in the folders. The built-in search allows you to find files with any combination of tags. On top of that in the Pro version, you can add descriptions and geo-tags to files and folders. The Pro version gives you the ability to turn every folder to a Kanban board, which can be useful in many ways. With the TagSpaces Web Clipper, you can collect web pages and bookmarks from the Web.Starting Price: $39 per year -
23
One Commander
Milos Paripovic
One Commander V3 is a modern file manager for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Features include tabs, dual-pane browsers, column navigation, built-in preview, a theming system, color tags, and much more. It is free for home use and has no ads. One Commander requires Windows 10 or Windows 11 and .NET 4.8 framework (pre-installed on Windows 10 and 11) Windows 10S is NOT supported. High-DPI screen recommended (above 96ppi). Acrylic window effect is supported only in Windows 10, but Mica window effect is available in Windows 11 (may not work in some Insider builds) Commercial use requires a Pro license (includes additional features). This program doesn't attempt to be just a better-looking Windows File Explorer with tabs or a MacOS Finder for Windows with columns, but to challenge the existing workflows that remained unchanged since the '90s.Starting Price: $12 one-time payment -
24
FileVoyager
FileVoyager
FileVoyager is a freeware Orthodox file manager (OFM) for Microsoft Windows. OFMs are file managers using two panels of disk browsers. This dual pane layout makes very easy the transfer operations of files or folders between sources and destinations. FileVoyager contains a large collection of tools and functionality. Browse disks, folders (real or virtual), shares, archives, and FTP/FTPS in one unified way. Browsing in various display modes (like a report or thumbnail modes) Usual file operations (rename, copy, move, link, delete, recycle) in the containers listed above and even between them. Pack and unpack ZIP, 7Zip, GZip, BZip2, XZ, Tar, and WIM formats (FileVoyager wraps 7-zip) Unpack ARJ, CAB, XAR, Z, RAR, LZH, LZMA, ISO, WIM and many others (FileVoyager wraps 7-zip) Play virtually any audio or video formats (FileVoyager relies at once on installed codecs, on WMP, and on VLC) Compare files or folders. Synchronize folders.Starting Price: Free -
25
Unreal Commander
Max Diesel
Unreal Commander is a freeware file manager for Windows® Vista/7/8/10/11. Two-panel interface. UNICODE support, an extended search of files. Multi-rename tool and synchronization of directories. Support of archives ZIP, 7Z, RAR, CAB, WIM, TAR, GZ, TGZ, BZ2, TBZ2, LHA, and ARJ. Built-in FTP client, thumbnail mode, and folder tabs. Support of WLX/WCX/WDX plugins. Build-in viewer and quick view function. Network support and drag-and-drop support. History and Hotlist functions. Copy/move/delete files background mode support. Deleting files with WIPE. Background pictures support. Visual styles: color categories of files, fonts for all interface elements, and more. With Unreal Commander"s many features you can manage your files and folders with greater ease. Its familiar design makes it accessible to advanced and novice users alike. Automatic numbering mode has been added to the file renaming dialog displayed when copying.Starting Price: Free -
26
Multi Commander
Multi Commander
Multi Commander is a multi-tabbed file manager and is an alternative to the standard Windows Explorer. It uses a very popular and efficient dual-panel layout. Multi Commander has everything you need in your daily work with files to increase your speed and efficiency. It has all the standard features that any file manager has, like copy, move, rename, and view. But Multi Commander's big strengths are the special features that allow you to accomplish advanced tasks with ease. Tasks such as auto-unpacking, auto-sorting, browsing inside archives; editing the Windows Registry and accessing FTP; searching for and viewing files and pictures. There is also powerful, built-in scripting support that allows you to automate many tasks and expand their functionality. It allows you to do everything from the keyboard using shortcuts so that you can work quickly and efficiently. Dual pane tabbed interface, works with multiple folders open.Starting Price: Free -
27
Files&Folders
Finebits
Files&Folders is a fully functional file manager for Windows 10. Manage your files and folders, extract archives, watch movies, view pictures and listen to music. File and folder options (copying, moving, renaming, deleting). Opening and extracting files from archives (RAR, ZIP, 7z, ZipX, ISO, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ARJ, XZ, CAB...) Built-in viewer and media player (doc, Docx, rtf, jpeg, png, BMP, gif, tiff, mp3, WMA, m4a, aac, wav, ac3, Avi, 3gp, WMV, mp4, m4v, mov). Audio playback in the background. Search for files and folders. Snapped mode support. SkyDrive access and Dropbox access. Operating with the system clipboard (copying to Windows Explorer) Themes and backgrounds, Bing wallpaper, etc. Founded by industry experts in 2013, Finebits OÜ provides a range of enterprise-class tools for the Windows Store.Starting Price: $9 one-time payment -
28
Konvertor
Logipole
Konvertor is a fast and reliable two-panel, multi-tab file manager for Windows. It has an intuitive interface and offers viewers for all popular file formats as well as uncommon and very rare ones (4734 in the current version). Konvertor is a way to work with files more efficiently. Konvertor does not change any settings in Windows and does not hook itself into anything inside Windows. Konvertor 5.04 works seamlessly with both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7. Konvertor is designed to be as fast as possible: quick navigation among directories, fast directory reading, and fast and smooth painting of panels and thumbnails. Konvertor is portable, it is configured to store all configurations and settings in the same folder that it is run from. Built-in viewers will instantly display the content of all file formats. Text and binary files, bitmap and vector images, videos, audio, and 3D files, Office documents or programs files.Starting Price: Free -
29
Ultimate File Manager
Paweł Porwisz
Ultimate File Manager (UFM) is an advanced file manager distributed with carefully selected and configured freeware applications. The purpose of the UFM project is to make the best environment to run your favorite applications within one place. The main application of the project is well-known and appreciated total commander file manager (shareware) or its freeware equivalent multi commander. UFM lets you manage all of your files and applications in the best and simplest way. This properly configured, easy-to-use, and very powerful environment gives you the best experience, whatever you want to do! Ultimate File Manager is designed for the Microsoft Windows platform and is distributed to the end user as an installer, which is written in NSIS and Delphi CE. The installer is simple and intuitive. The installer copies all required files and configures the system properly (you can use both normal and portable installation).Starting Price: Free -
30
Vifm
Vifm
Vifm is a file manager with a curses interface, which provides a Vim-like environment for managing objects within file systems, extended with some useful ideas from mutt. If you use vi, Vifm gives you complete keyboard control over your files without having to learn a new set of commands. Vim-like user mappings. Vim-like command-line mode with ranges and abbreviations. Vim-like marks and registers. Directory tree comparison. Operation undoing/redoing/backgrounding. FUSE file systems support. Color schemes can also be applied to specific sub-trees. File decorations are customizable according to their type and/or name. Named bookmarks (tags) Less-like preview mode with customizable viewers. Advanced file filtering and renaming capabilities. One or two pane views within tabs. Shell-like and external command-line editing. Table/grid/tree/miller views of files. Built-in integration with GNU Screen and tmux. Multi-block selection. Cross-platform (GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Windows, Mac OS)Starting Price: Free