Free Finder Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Finder for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best free Mac alternative is Double Commander, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Finder and many of them are free and available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free Mac alternatives to Finder are Spacedrive, GNOME Files, Thunar and Commander One.

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Alternatives list

  1. Double Commander icon
     618 likes

    Open-source file manager with dual-panel interface, inspired by Total Commander. Supports plugin use, advanced search, tabbed browsing, and runs smoothly with background operations. Unicode and multi-platform compatibility enhance its versatility.

    145 Double Commander alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
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    2
    Double Commander vs Finder Comments
    Denis Yurashku
    Positive
    0

    Open Source, Fast, comfortable.

    Guest
    Negative
    -12

    it does not replace the Finder, but bring Windows Explorer to your Mac... = HORRIBLE way of working with files.

    • Double Commander is Free and Open SourceFinder is Free and Proprietary
    • Double Commander is Lightweight and Privacy focusedFinder is not according to our users
  2. Spacedrive icon
     176 likes

    Open-source file explorer integrates cloud, local, and offline storage across devices using a secure virtual distributed filesystem in Rust, enabling unified management, file syncing, privacy control, intuitive interface, and ownership without centralized servers.

    89 Spacedrive alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  3. GNOME Files icon
     228 likes

    GNOME Files, formerly known as Nautilus, is the official file manager for the GNOME desktop, giving the user a simple way to navigate and manage its files.

    66 GNOME Files alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • GNOME
    • MacPorts
    • XQuartz
    • Linux Mobile
     
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    1
    GNOME Files vs Finder Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    With MacPorts it works and is much much much better than finder. Allows you to connect to network disks, manage mounts, formats, create symlinks, and offer much more customization and features than finder.

    • GNOME Files is Free and Open SourceFinder is Free and Proprietary
    • GNOME Files is Lightweight and Privacy focusedFinder is not according to our users
  4. Thunar icon
     150 likes

    Thunar is a modern file manager for the Xfce Desktop Environment. Thunar has been designed from the ground up to be fast and easy-to-use. Its user interface is clean, intuitive, and customizable. Thunar is fast and responsive with a good start up time and directory load time.

    91 Thunar alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Xfce
    • MacPorts
    • XQuartz
     
  5. Commander One icon
     73 likes

    Swift file manager for Mac that offers a dual-pane interface, multi-tab browsing & advanced search. The PRO Pack adds features like FTP client, cloud integration (Box, Amazon S3), compression & more, enhancing file management capabilities.

    111 Commander One alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
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    1
    Commander One vs Finder Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Norton Commander on Midnight Commander younger sister. With Mac's look and feel. Runs on El Capitan as well.

    • Commander One is Freemium and ProprietaryFinder is Free and Proprietary
    • Commander One is LightweightFinder is not according to our users
  6. ForkLift icon
     105 likes

    Dual pane macOS file manager featuring SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, cloud drives, real-time activity view, folder sync, drag-and-drop file transfers, preview panel, multi-rename, batch operations, server connections, text editing, themes, and tagging for efficient workflows.

    134 ForkLift alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
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    2
    ForkLift vs Finder Comments
    Digital Sorceress
    Positive
    0

    Forklift 4 is a great Finder replacement.. especially for those of us who came to MacOS from Windows. There are a few things about finder that just really are hard to get used to, and the interface that ForkLift provides just feels a lot more friendly.

    One big positive is that you can pretty much bind a key combo to any command at all in the app - I've found some other Finder alternatives a bit short in this department.

    The down side is that it keys on command which means you get a full list of commands and have to pick ONE shortcut for that command. Other apps key to combo so you can map say command + Backspace AND also have delete both map to delete

    The other great thing with ForkLift is that it seamlessly integrates with SFTP, iCloud, DropBox etc. so you can pretty much treat remote services as drives.

    It has a 15 day free trial and does nag often to upgrade - but the total cost is quite reasonable - I paid $29 for "Family" plan so all my macs are covered.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    I remember when the first version of Forklift came out. It was designed to be a total Finder replacement. In the year 2020, Forklift 3 still does it ??

    • ForkLift is Freemium and ProprietaryFinder is Free and Proprietary
    • ForkLift is LightweightFinder is not according to our users
  7. CoverFlowFinder icon
     12 likes

    Brings iconic 3D Cover Flow file browsing to macOS, includes dual pane navigation, Quick Look integration, sidebar access to volumes, instant file sorting, context menus, type-ahead search, familiar Finder-like interface, and open source availability.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  8. muCommander icon
     125 likes

    muCommander is a lightweight, cross-platform file manager with a dual-pane interface. It runs on any operating system with Java support (Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, *BSD, Solaris...).

    119 muCommander alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • BSD
    • Java
     
  9. Rascal icon
     5 likes

    Keyboard-centric macOS file manager featuring dual panes, vim navigation, command palette, inline terminal syncing with folders, disk usage treemap, macOS tag support, multi-view modes, 17 themes, smart folders, Homebrew install, free and open source on macOS 13+.

    63 Rascal alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Homebrew
     
  10. Cmdr icon
     3 likes

    Ultra-fast, open-source two-pane file manager for macOS featuring customizable shortcuts, live folder sizes, high-speed SMB and MTP transfers, instant large file viewing, built-in git history browsing, and fully optional, privacy-first on-device AI for smart search and selection.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  11. fman icon
     233 likes

    The most modern dual-pane file manager. For Windows, Mac and Linux.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  12. XtraFinder icon
     67 likes

    XtraFinder add tabs and extra features to the Finder.

    23 XtraFinder alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Finder
     
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    1
    XtraFinder vs Finder Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Much better than the original!

    • XtraFinder is Freemium and ProprietaryFinder is Free and Proprietary
    • XtraFinder is CustomizableFinder is not according to our users
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