Far Manager is the text-mode two-panel file manager for Windows: open source, keyboard-driven, endlessly extended by plugins, and at home inside a console. cwdio agrees with almost every one of its instincts and disagrees on exactly one: it is graphical. Two real panels with thumbnails and previews, and an embedded terminal that follows the panel — so you keep the shell without giving up the pictures. If you live entirely in a console, Far is the tool. If you want Far’s keys with a screen, previews, git and an undo, cwdio is worth an afternoon.
Side by side
| cwdio | Far Manager | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Graphical, dark or light, dockable | Text mode (“Far Manager works in text mode”) |
| Platform | 64-bit Windows 10/11 | Windows |
| Licence | Free in beta; Founding Users free forever; one-time tiers at 1.0 | Open source, BSD-3-Clause |
| Source | Private; binaries and issues public | Open, on GitHub |
| Two panels | Yes; per-panel folder tabs | Yes |
| Terminal | Embedded, two-way working-directory sync; SSH shell on SFTP | It is in the console; a command line under the panels |
| Remote | SFTP and FTP/FTPS as folders, credentials encrypted by the OS | FTP client as a bundled plugin |
| Archives | ZIP, 7z, RAR, tar read (incl. encrypted); ZIP, 7z, tar.gz create | Archive support as a bundled plugin |
| Viewer / editor | Space Quick Look (images, video, audio, PDF, CSV tables, Markdown, code, diff, hex); F4 built-in or external editor | Built-in viewer and editor with colour highlighting |
| Transfers | Verified copy, resume, journaled queue that survives a restart, per-file skip/retry | Standard copy and move |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z undoes a batch; overwrite stash; delete to Recycle Bin | — |
| Search | Name and content, honours .gitignore; Everything when installed | Find file |
| Git | Status column, changes, branches, history, push/pull | Via plugins, if any |
| Plugins | Own platform, no public marketplace | Large plugin architecture; archives, FTP, network browser and temporary panel ship as plugins |
| Telemetry | None | None (open source) |
Where Far Manager is stronger
- It runs anywhere a console does, including over a remote session where a GUI would be painful.
- Plugins. A very large body of plugins written over decades, and an architecture designed for them.
- Speed and density. Nothing is faster than text, and Far shows a lot of it.
- Open source, BSD-licensed.
Where cwdio is different
- Graphics without losing the shell. Thumbnails, a Space preview of almost any file, a size map, and a terminal that follows the panel — the folder you look at is the folder your prompt is in.
- Transfers designed for interruption. Verification, resume after a dropped drive or connection, and a journal that survives a restart.
- Undo covers a batch, overwritten files are stashed, deletes go to the Recycle Bin.
- Git in the panel. Status badges, changes, branches and history.
- Remote as folders. SFTP and FTP/FTPS, with an SSH shell on the same connection.
Who should pick which
- Keep Far Manager if the console is where you work, or a Far plugin is central to your day.
- Choose cwdio if you want the same two-panel keyboard model with previews, a synced terminal, git and undo — and you are on 64-bit Windows 10/11.
- Running Far inside cwdio’s embedded terminal is a real workflow, not a joke.
Switching notes
F5/F6/F7/F8, F3/F4, Tab, Alt+F1/Alt+F2 and Ctrl+U carry over. cwdio’s Ctrl+Shift+F4 always opens the built-in editor (Far’s force-internal chord); Ctrl+E always the external one. New: Space for Quick Look, Ctrl+` for the terminal, Ctrl+Shift+P for the command palette, Ctrl+Z for undo. Full table: keyboard shortcuts; the text editor page explains the F4 model.
Last checked
Far Manager facts read 2026-08-15 from the FarGroup/FarManager GitHub repository: “a program for managing files and archives in Windows operating systems”, “works in text mode”, BSD-3-Clause, and “archive support, FTP client, temporary panel and network browser are all implemented as plugins included in the standard distribution”. farmanager.com blocked automated fetching; nothing further is claimed.