Catfish AlternativesFile Search Utilities and other similar apps like Catfish

Catfish is described as 'Handy file searching tool for Linux and Unix. The interface is intentionally lightweight and simple, using only GTK+3. You can configure it to your needs by using several command line options' and is a File Search utility in the file management category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Catfish for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Flathub and BSD apps. The best Catfish alternative is Everything, which is free. Other great apps like Catfish are FSearch, DocFetcher, Recoll and Cling Fuzzy Finder.

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Alternatives list

  1. Everything icon
     1243 likes

    An administrative tool that finds files and folders by filename instantly, displaying all files on local or network drives. Supports filters, 19 languages, portable usage, lightweight resource consumption, no tracking, and dark mode.

    115 Everything alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
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    6
    • Almost everyone thinks Everything is a great Catfish alternative.

    • Everything is the most popular Windows alternative to Catfish.

    • Everything is the most popular free alternative to Catfish.

    • Everything is Free and ProprietaryCatfish is Free and Open Source
    • Everything is Privacy focusedCatfish is not according to our users
  2. FSearch icon
     76 likes

    FSearch is a fast file search utility for GNU/Linux operating systems, inspired by Everything Search Engine. It's written in C and based on GTK+3.

    87 FSearch alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
     
    • FSearch is the most popular Linux alternative to Catfish.

    • FSearch is the most popular Open Source alternative to Catfish.

    • FSearch is Free and Open SourceCatfish is also Free and Open Source
    • FSearch is Privacy focusedCatfish is not according to our users
  3. DocFetcher icon
     129 likes

    DocFetcher is an Open Source desktop search application: It allows you to search the contents of files on your computer. — You can think of it as Google for your local files. The application runs on Windows, Linux and macOS, and is made available under the Eclipse Public License.

    129 DocFetcher alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
    • DocFetcher is the most popular Mac alternative to Catfish.

    • DocFetcher is Free and Open SourceCatfish is also Free and Open Source
    • DocFetcher is Privacy focusedCatfish is not according to our users
  4. Recoll icon
     62 likes

    This package is a personal full text search package which is based on a very strong backend (Xapian), for which it provides an easy to use and feature-rich interface.

    44 Recoll alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
  5. Quickly fuzzy search system, hidden, or dotfiles using keyboard navigation, then preview, copy paths, batch rename, or run custom scripts. Supports exclusion rules, minimal UI, Quick Filters, and power user features for efficient macOS file management.

    57 Cling Fuzzy Finder alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  6. Clapgrep icon
     10 likes

    Ever had a folder full of PDF files, where you knew, somewhere in there, is what you're looking for. But you did not know in which file. So you had to search each of them at a time…

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
  7. Filezo icon
     107 likes

    Filezo (Formerly known as RecentX) is an innovative launcher that gives you instant access to your files, folders & programs. It automatically remembers your favorite & recent items so that you can launch them even faster.

    300 Filezo alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    • Filezo is the most popular commercial alternative to Catfish.

    • Filezo is Paid and ProprietaryCatfish is Free and Open Source
  8. DeepPeek icon
     6 likes

    Seek, peek, and preview to find your work instantly — even if it's buried in folders, or you've lost track of it over the months.

    51 DeepPeek alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  9. SearchMyFiles icon
     35 likes

    SearchMyFiles is a non-indexing portable alternative to the standard "Search For Files And Folders" module of Windows. It allows you to easily search files in your system by wildcard, by last modified/created/last accessed time, by file attributes, by file content...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  10. Quick macOS file searching with substring, prefix, suffix, exact, and path-mixed patterns, case-sensitive or regex search modes, instant language switching, keyboard shortcuts, Quick Look previews, Finder integration, clipboard copy, and open-source code.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  11. FileMinutes icon
     3 likes

    Enables rapid file search by name or content, intuitive keyboard navigation, integrated file actions, direct Finder window and tab management, instant results, saved recent searches, data privacy with no tracking, and Apple Notarized safety for secure macOS use.

    57 FileMinutes alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  12. Locate32 icon
     83 likes

    Locate32 is software which can be used to find files from your harddrives and other locations. It works like updatedb and locate commands in Unix based systems. In other words, it uses databases to store information about directory structures and uses these databases in searches.

    75 Locate32 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
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