Broot

Windows · Mac · Linux

Freedom report

Three barsScore 6.5

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely3 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Broot is ranked #5 of 28 in terminal file managers on Freedom251. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. There is a free plan.

Broot plans and pricing

All plans

Broot Free MIT-licensed · source and precompiled binaries available github.com · 28 Sept 2026

Compared on terminal file managers

Free plan: Yes
Dual-pane layout: Yes
Linux support: Yes
macOS support: Yes
Windows support: Yes
Preview pane: Yes
Archive support: No

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The record

Purpose: Broot is a way to navigate directories, find files, and launch commands.
Directory overview: It provides directory overviews and handles .gitignore and .ignore files.
Search: It supports relevance-based search, regular expressions, content search, and logical search operators.
Navigation: Users can select a directory and return to the shell with that directory as the current location.
File operations: Move, copy, remove, and mkdir operations are built in, and users can add shortcuts.
Panels: Multiple panels can be opened for navigation and copying or moving elements between panels, with customizable colors.
Preview: It provides synchronized file preview panels and can display high-resolution images through Kitty's graphics protocol in Kitty and WezTerm.
Document preview: With transformers, it can preview PDF and Office files.
Staging area: Its staging area lets users execute commands on several files in one go.
Storage analysis: Sorting by size or date and whale-spotting mode help identify files or folders taking space, while sizes, dates, and file counts are computed in the background.
Git integration: Git status views show file states, branch name, upstream divergence, and change statistics.
Client-server mode: Broot can act as a client or server so another process can control it or query its state; this feature currently uses Unix sockets and is available only on Unix-like systems.
License: The repository is released under the MIT License, with permission to use, copy, modify, publish, distribute, sublicense, and sell the software subject to the license conditions.
Support: The maker provides contact by email and invites users to chat through Miaou.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Terminal File Managers in 2026#5 of 28

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Sources

dystroy.org/broot/· checked 28 Sept 2026
dystroy.org/broot/staging-area/· checked 28 Sept 2026
dystroy.org/broot/remote/· checked 28 Sept 2026
github.com/Canop/broot/blob/main/LICENSE· checked 28 Sept 2026
dystroy.org· checked 28 Sept 2026