Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Nav – A terminal navigator for interactive `ls` workflows

Hi Everyone, I built a tool for interactive navigation in the terminal that is intended to replace the all-too-familiar cycle of `ls` to view a directory, followed by `cd`, then `ls`, and repeat. nav is a terminal filesystem explorer built for interactive `ls` workflows. The key features I wanted to enable are interactivity and search without feeling like I'm using anything other than `ls`. nav supports common `ls` options/flags, as well as tab completion, and might expand its support for less common options in the future. These options exist as both CLI flags and interactive toggles.…

Nav is a terminal filesystem explorer designed to streamline navigation by combining listing and directory changing into one interactive workflow. Built for developers who work in the command line, it replaces… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Nav – A terminal navigator for interactive `ls` workflows launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1
nav-cli▲4
Better command line navigation
2022 · npmjs.com · its alternatives →
2
tere – A Faster Alternative to cd+ls▲378
Hi HN! I wrote a small program to browse folders in the terminal. The main inspiration was type-ahead search in GUI file managers. There exist several programs that are similar (see the listing in the README), but none of them do it quite the way I like, and often they have a very complex UI and a ton of features. I tried to make something that is obvious how to use and gets out of your way. (I also wanted an excuse to learn Rust.) Let me know what you think!
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
3
Warp, a Rust-based terminal▲946
Hi HN community, I’m Zach, founder and CEO of Warp, and am excited to show you Warp, a fast Rust-based terminal that’s easy to use and built for teams. As of today, Warp is in public beta and any Mac user can download it. It works with bash, zsh, and fish. The terminal’s teletype-like interface has made it hard for the CLI to thrive. After 20 years of programming, I still find it hard to copy a command’s output; I always forget how to use `tar`; and I always have to relearn how to move my cursor. To fix fundamental accessibility issues, I believe we need to start innovating on the terminal,…
2022 · warp.dev · its alternatives →
4
Terminal UI for AWS▲390
Terminal UI for AWS (taws) - A terminal-based AWS resource viewer and manager - huseyinbabal/taws
Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
5
I made an ls alternative for my personal use▲197
blazing fast `ls` replacement with superpowers. Contribute to chaqchase/lla development by creating an account on GitHub.
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
6
Zev – Remember (or discover) terminal commands▲87
I'm often in the terminal and forget a command (or never knew it in the first place). This is a simple tool that lets you type out what you want, gives you several options, and then automatically puts the one you want in your clipboard.
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
7
Fig▲956
Autocomplete for the Terminal
2022 · fig.io · its alternatives →
8
Ov – feature rich terminal pager▲181
I made a terminal pager that can be used instead of more, less, tail -f. It has a mode that distinguishes between headers and columns.
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
9
A Terminal filesystem navigator▲11
Hi HN. This project is an experiment in terminal user interfaces. It is a filesystem navigator, which could become a useful tool in its own right, or a widget that could be integrated in to a larger tool. I wanted something that felt at home in a terminal session. So it had to use standard terminal themes. I also wanted it to be keyboard friendly and snappy - so no fancy visual effects. I'm going to park this project for now. But I will revisit it at some point down the line when I have more idea what it should become. I did have an idea that I could build a visual cd of sorts, which could…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
10FA
Fresh – A new terminal editor built in Rust▲187
I built Fresh to challenge the status quo that terminal editing must require a steep learning curve or endless configuration. My goal was to create a fast, resource-efficient TUI editor with the usability and features of a modern GUI editor (like a command palette, mouse support, and LSP integration). Core Philosophy: - Ease-of-Use: Fundamentally non-modal. Prioritizes standard keybindings and a minimal learning curve. - Efficiency: Uses a lazy-loading piece tree to avoid loading huge files into RAM - reads only what's needed for user interactions. Coded in Rust. - Extensibility: Uses…
Dec 2025 · sinelaw.github.io · its alternatives →
11
Cline CLI 2.0▲297
Parallel agents & headless CI/CD in your terminal
Feb 2026 · cline.bot · its alternatives →
12
Fig▲216
Visual apps and shortcuts for your terminal
2020 · its alternatives →
13
Lstr – A modern, interactive tree command written in Rust▲227
Hi HN, (First time poster!) I'm the author of `lstr`. I've always loved the classic Linux `tree` command for its simplicity, but I often found myself wanting more modern features like interactivity and Git integration. So, I decided to build my own version in Rust with a philosophy of being fast, minimalist, and interactive. It was also an excuse to help learn more about Rust\! Here's a quick look at the interactive mode: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bgreenwell/lstr/main/asset... I've just released v0.2.0 with some features I think this community might find…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
14
An interactive CLI ArXiv explorer▲21
CLI tool for exploring arXiv (inspired by karpathy's brilliant ArXiv Sanity Preserver) - knguyenanhoa/cli-arxiv
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
15
Textual Markdown – a Markdown “browser” in the terminal▲254
Hi HN, This is a TUI app which displays interactive Markdown documents. Interactive in the sense that you can scroll code fences / tables / and click links. There's a Table of Contents extracted from the MD, and a very rudimentary browser like forward + back. I'm thinking it could be the starting point for a variety of hypertext like applications in the terminal. Very much a work in progress.
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
16
Ell – A command-line interface for LLMs written in Bash▲214
Hi HN! I've created a CLI tool called "ell" that allows you to interact with LLMs directly from your terminal. Designed with the Unix philosophy in mind, ell is simple, modular, and extensible. You can easily pipe input and output to integrate with other tools. Its templates and hook-based plugins enable you to customize and extend its functionality to suit any needs. Check out the README for usage instructions and examples. I developed this tool because existing solutions often felt too heavy, with many dependencies, or they weren't friendly to piping and customization. I, on the contrary,…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
17
Envelope – A modern environment variable cli tool▲103
Hey HN! I've built this cli tool to manage env variables of a project, but mostly for fun and to try out Rust and the clap crate. I had this idea when I made a big mistake and broke some production stuff because I had a very messy .env file laying around in my project. I was implementing new features for one of my projects and in my .env file I had the test database url commented out and the production one was not. Long story short, I applied migrations to the production database instead of my local test one and broke a lot of production APIs :') I wanted a tool that could easily help me…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
18
Server Explorer▲93
An explorer for your Unix server, with editors and CLI
2024 · serverexplorer.ledocdev.com · its alternatives →
19
Xplr – A hackable, minimal, fast TUI file explorer▲205
A hackable, minimal, fast TUI file explorer. Contribute to sayanarijit/xplr development by creating an account on GitHub.
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
20
A terminal spreadsheet editor with Vim keybindings▲126
While speccing out this spreadsheet tool, I realized that I never had to think about the keybindings. It all just came naturally from Vim. Normal/insert/visual modes, hjkl navigation, dd/yy/p, :w, :q. The usual muscle memory works. It supports CSV/TSV import and export, and a native .cell format that preserves formulas. The formula engine handles SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MIN, MAX, and IF with range references. The codebase is a Cargo workspace: a pure cell-sheet-core library (no TUI dependency) and a cell-sheet-tui crate on top of ratatui. Early days, but it's usable. To…
Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
21
Yakari – Interactive TUIs for CLI tools▲78
Hi HN! I wanted to share Yakari, a tool I built to make command-line interfaces more approachable through interactive TUIs. If you've ever forgotten CLI flags or needed to look up command syntax, this might help. Yakari turns complex commands into interactive menus. Users can navigate through options with simple key presses instead of memorizing complex command structures. If you've used Emacs and Magit (or any other Transient) before, the interface will feel familiar. Features: - Transform CLIs into guided menus - Create custom menus for any CLI - Support for flags, named parameters,…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
22
Sol – A de-minifier for shell programs▲147
I've built a tool called sol (like "soul") that helps you inspect and format complex shell one-liners. Features: - Choose which transformations you want (break on pipe, args, redirect, whatever) - "Peeks" into stringified commands (think xargs, parallel) and formats those, too - Auto-breaks at a given width (e.g., 80 characters) - Shows you non-standard aliases, functions, files, etc. that you might not have in your shell environment - Breaks up long jq lines with jqfmt because—let's be honest—they're getting out of hand As a security researcher and tool developer, I often encounter (or…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
23
Elles – A nicer /bin/ls▲57
A nicer /bin/ls. Contribute to arp242/elles development by creating an account on GitHub.
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
24
Clide ▲93
Grid-layout terminal with an AI that drives your shells.
Apr 2026 · clide.app · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →