Side by side
Alfa vs cfiles
Both stand on terminal file managers. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APILinuxMac+3
Alfa offers rule-based accessibility checks, structured reports, and a range of developer integrations. Teams should account for the experimental status of most integrations and the stated runtime requirements.
Visit Alfa Free plan LinuxMac
Choose cfiles if you want a free, terminal-based file manager with vim-like controls and can install its preview and search dependencies. Look elsewhere if you need previews without tool-specific limitations or cannot provide the required trash directory.
Visit cfilesThe facts
| Alfa | cfiles | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows | Linux, Mac |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Alfa | cfiles |
| Website | github.com | github.com |
| On terminal file managers | #4 of 29 | #8 of 29 |
Alfa: what it does well
- Includes WCAG-based rules and supports pluggable ACT rules.
- Custom rules and result filters are supported.
- CLI can audit a page and save JSON results.
- Scraper and crawler integrations cover pages across a site.
- Free and released under the MIT license.
What to know first
- Most integrations are experimental and may change.
- Building from source requires Node.js 20 or later and Yarn.
- Older environments are not explicitly supported.
cfiles: what it does well
- Free software under the MIT License.
- Runs on Linux and macOS.
- Provides vim-like navigation and scrolling shortcuts.
- Supports copying, moving, renaming and removing selected files.
- Can show image, media, archive and PDF previews.
What to know first
- Preview features rely on external dependencies.
- Überzug has limitations with MP3 album art and arrow-key scrolling.
- w3mimgdisplay previews may disappear after resizing or changing workspaces.
- Trash requires $HOME/.local/share/Trash/files to exist.