Terrier AlternativesFile Search Utilities and other similar apps like Terrier

Terrier is described as 'Highly flexible, efficient, and effective open source search engine, readily deployable on large-scale collections of documents' and is a File Search utility in the file management category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Terrier for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD and Flathub apps. The best Terrier alternative is Everything, which is free. Other great apps like Terrier are DocFetcher, Cling Fuzzy Finder, Recoll and Clapgrep.

Terrier iconTerrier
  0
  • ...

Terrier is a highly flexible, efficient, and effective open source search engine, readily deployable on large-scale...

More about Terrier
More about Terrier
Terrier alternatives page was last updated Apr 14, 2025
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
  1. Everything icon

    Everything

     1195 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    112 Everything alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • AU flagAustralia

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Locate files and folders by name instantly.

    Properties

    1.  Clean design
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  File Search
    2.  Instant results
    3.  Fast file and folder search
    4.  Support for regular expressions
    5.  Quick search
    6.  Monitor File Changes
    7.  Portable
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  Exclude files and folders
    10.  Works Offline
    11.  Search-in-files
    12.  No registration required

    Everything VS Terrier

     

    • Everything is the most popular Windows alternative to Terrier.

    • Everything is the most popular free alternative to Terrier.

    • Everything is Free and ProprietaryTerrier is Free and Open Source
    • Everything is LightweightTerrier is not according to our users
  2. DocFetcher icon

    DocFetcher

     125 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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 OS X, and is made available under the Eclipse Public License.

    126 DocFetcher alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Filter panel and preview panel enabled

    Top DocFetcher Features

    1.  Search-in-files
    2.  File content indexing
    3.  Indexed search
    4.  Full-Text Search
    5.  Content Searching
    6.  Portable
    7.  Built-in viewer
    8.  Shared Folders
    9.  Reads odt files
    10.  Network Scanner
    11.  Search in Archives

    DocFetcher VS Terrier

     

    • DocFetcher is the most popular Mac & Linux alternative to Terrier.

    • DocFetcher is the most popular Open Source alternative to Terrier.

    • DocFetcher is Free and Open SourceTerrier is also Free and Open Source
  4. Cling Fuzzy Finder icon

    Cling Fuzzy Finder

     8 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Instant fuzzy find any file, act on it in the same instant.

    53 Cling Fuzzy Finder alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Cling Fuzzy Finder screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Distraction-free
    2.  Privacy focused
    3.  Lightweight
    4.  Minimalistic

    Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  Works Offline
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  No registration required
    5.  Dark Mode
    6.  Support for scripting
    7.  Support for Hotkeys
    8.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts
    9.  Hidden files
    10.  Content Filtering
    11.  Fuzzy Finder
    12.  QuickLook File Preview

    Cling Fuzzy Finder VS Terrier

     
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    Copernic Desktop Search icon
    Copernic Desktop Search

    Instantly find documents, e-mails(full text), attachments, videos, pictures, music(metadata), and other types of files(file names). The size limit of the index of the free version is 75,000.

    https://copernic.com
    Learn More
  6. Recoll icon

    Recoll

     60 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    43 Recoll alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • FR flagFrance
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Search results

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  File Search
    2.  Indexed search
    3.  File content indexing
    4.  Full-Text Search
    5.  File preview
    6.  Search-in-files
    7.  Dark Mode
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  No registration required
    10.  Command line interface
    11.  Works Offline
    12.  Semantic Search

    Recoll VS Terrier

     
  7. Clapgrep icon

    Clapgrep

     7 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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…

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Clapgrep screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Full-Text Search
    2.  Content Searching
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  Built-in viewer
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  No registration required
    8.  Works Offline
    9.  File content indexing
    10.  Advanced searching

    Clapgrep VS Terrier

     
  8. Catfish icon

    Catfish

     40 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    30 Catfish alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • GTK
    • Xfce
    Catfish screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  Full-Text Search
    3.  Ad-free
    4.  Command line interface
    5.  Built-in viewer
    6.  Filtering

    Catfish VS Terrier

     
  10. FileMinutes icon

    FileMinutes

     3 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Work smarter with files on macOS with fast search, easy navigation, and integrated file actions all in one apps.

    53 FileMinutes alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    FileMinutes screenshot 1

    Top FileMinutes Features

    1.  No registration required
    2.  No Tracking
    3.  Live Preview
    4.  Works Offline
    5.  Dark Mode
    6.  Built-in viewer
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Keyboard Browsing
    9.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts
    10. Finder icon  Apple Finder Integration
    11.  QuickLook File Preview

    FileMinutes VS Terrier

     

    • FileMinutes is the most popular commercial alternative to Terrier.

    • FileMinutes is Paid and ProprietaryTerrier is Free and Open Source
  11. RecentX icon

    RecentX

     106 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    RecentX is an innovative launcher that gives you instant access to your files, folders, programs, websites & clipboard history. It automatically remembers your favorite & recent items so that you can launch them even faster.

    293 RecentX alternatives

    License model

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • IN flagIndia

    Platforms

    • Windows
    RecentX screenshot 1

    Top RecentX Features

    1.  File Tagging
    2. File Explorer icon  Windows Explorer Extension
    3.  Portable
    4.  Tagging
    5.  Indexed search
    6.  Folder-Search
    7.  Tabbed interface
    8.  Clipboard monitoring
    9.  Image Preview
    10.  Tag based
    11.  Folder Tagging
    12.  Bookmark History

    RecentX VS Terrier

     
  12. Copernic Desktop Search icon

    Copernic Desktop Search

     36 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Instantly find documents, e-mails(full text), attachments, videos, pictures, music(metadata), and other types of files(file names). The size limit of the index of the free version is 75,000.

    81 Copernic Desktop Search alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • CA flagCanada

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Copernic Desktop Search screenshot 1

    Copernic Desktop Search Features

    1.  OCR
    2.  Outlook search
    3.  PDF OCR
    4.  Indexed search

    Copernic Desktop Search VS Terrier

     
  13. Search Monkey icon

    Search Monkey

     35 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    A fast real-time search engine for displaying regular expression matches (both file name and content) across multiple directories.

    79 Search Monkey alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Search Monkey screenshot 1

    Search Monkey Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Content Searching
    3.  Content preview
    4.  Real-Time Search

    Search Monkey VS Terrier

     
  14. Desktop Docs icon

    Desktop Docs

     3 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Desktop Docs is the all-in-one platform to browse, edit, and export your media files.

    License model

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Desktop Docs screenshot 1

    Desktop Docs Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  No Tracking
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  Built-in viewer
    5.  File Tagging
    6.  No registration required
    7.  AI-Powered
    8.  Local Search
    9.  Video search

    Desktop Docs VS Terrier

     
  15. TextSeek icon

    TextSeek

     8 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    TextSeek is a professional full-text desktop search tool for Windows and MacOS. It supports PDF, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, RTF and other formats.

    102 TextSeek alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    TextSeek screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Full-Text Search
    2.  Portable
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  Works Offline
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  No registration required
    7.  In-document search

    TextSeek VS Terrier

     
12 of 43 Terrier alternatives