The Best Open Source Everything AlternativesTop File Search Utilities and other similar apps like Everything

The best open source alternative to Everything is FSearch. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Everything and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Everything are DocFetcher, Recoll, Catfish and Cling Fuzzy Finder.

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Everything alternatives are mainly File Search Utilities, but if you're looking for File Managers or Application Launchers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux, Mac, Windows, Open Source, Android and Windows + Open Source. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Everything.
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Alternatives list

  1. FSearch icon
     86 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.

    91 FSearch alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
     
    |
    9
    FSearch vs Everything Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    zahrun
    2

    It works on Linux and it's fast

    Top Negative Comment
    jondemon
    1

    It's extremely slow indexing compared to Everything.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Is exactly what I was looking for as an alternative to Everything for Linux. Works great

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 9 comments
    • FSearch is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
  2. DocFetcher icon
     132 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.

    137 DocFetcher alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
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    2
    DocFetcher vs Everything Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    4

    This is a file indexer, it is not designed to map complete drives without major configuration changes, it is designed to index the content of some folder's files, including their complete text content not just their existance like Everything does.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Its indexing feature outperforms the other ones

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • DocFetcher is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
  3. Recoll icon
     64 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.

    55 Recoll alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
    |
    1
    Recoll vs Everything Comments
    renArD
    Negative
    0

    Recoll indexes file contents, neither Everything Search

    • Recoll is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
  4. Catfish icon
     44 likes

    Catfish is a 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.

    34 Catfish alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • GTK
    • Xfce
     
    |
    2
    Catfish vs Everything Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    2

    Everything is instant once the drive is indexed which takes seconds on my 5T drive. Catfish is very slow by comparison, having to actually search each time you type something instead of immediately showing all results.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    -1

    it's fast and simple to use, you can simply select the drive, add a keyword and start the search.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Catfish is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
  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.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Homebrew
     
  6. EverythingToolbar is integration for the Windows taskbar to use "Everything" which is an administrative tool that locates files and folders by filename instantly for Windows.

    It's Lightweight & Simple

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    1
    EverythingToolbar vs Everything Comments
    Kris Regina
    Negative
    0

    Voidtools Everything is not available for Linux (or macOS), so it doesn't even count as an alternative. Plus, this is more of an extension for the windows taskbar powered by Everything than a genuine alternative.

    • EverythingToolbar is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
    • EverythingToolbar is CustomizableEverything is not according to our users
  7. fzf icon
     38 likes

    A command-line fuzzy finder written in Go.

    26 fzf alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Vim
     
    |
    3
    fzf vs Everything Comments
    alelondon
    Positive
    0

    well written, easy to learn, clear, fast , effective, forgiving.

    Tobias Karlsson
    Negative
    0

    It doesn't support search the file system

    BadTek
    Positive
    0

    Fast cli-tool to search files.

    • fzf is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
  8. Gnome Do icon
     177 likes

    GNOME Do allows you to quickly search for many items present on your desktop or the web, and perform useful actions on those items.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
    |
    1
    Discontinued

    The program seems to be no longer updated. Last version, 0.95.3, released on November 2014, can be still downloaded from Launchpad.

    Gnome Do vs Everything Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    There are mainly 2 big reasons : 1st : It does not find everything (every file) that does exist on your system. 2nd : It is not a tool to find specific files, especially if they are located on other disk drives.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Gnome Do is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
  9. 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
     
  10. Cross-platform desktop search application offering rapid full-text and regular expression search, recursive folder filtering, result highlighting, large file support, and a lightweight native UI built with Tauri and powered by ripgrep, ideal for complex codebases.

    84 Searchmonkey III alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
    |
    2
    Searchmonkey III vs Everything Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    MUCH slower than Everything.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Search monkey works almost as well on Ubuntu

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Searchmonkey III is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
  11. Indexer++ icon
     13 likes

    Indexer++ is probably the best open-source desktop files and folders search utility for Windows.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  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.

    73 Locate32 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    1
    Discontinued

    The project seems to be no longer developed. Last version, 3.1.11.8220a, released in May 2015, can be still downloaded from SourceForge.

    Locate32 vs Everything Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    1

    still very good andsimple but effective

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Locate32 is Free and Open SourceEverything is Free and Proprietary
12 of 35 Everything alternatives