bat
Focus: file viewer. Shares command line and developer tool with ripgrep. Rated 4.7 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
Desktop App
ripgrep
A very fast command-line search tool for finding text across your files.
Rating
4.8 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Intermediate
Works on
macOS, Windows, Linux
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is ripgrep?
ripgrep is a free, open-source command-line tool that searches folders for any word or pattern in a fraction of the time older tools take. It skips hidden and ignored files by default and works on huge projects, so you can find that one line of code or note in seconds.
Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.
Pros: what ripgrep does well
- Searches large folders in seconds
- Respects .gitignore out of the box
- Free and open source
Cons: where it falls short
- Command line only
- Patterns use regex syntax
Who ripgrep is for
Anyone who often hunts for text across lots of files.
Who can skip it
People who never use the command line.
ripgrep alternatives
Not sold on ripgrep? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
fd
Focus: file search. Shares command line and developer tool with ripgrep. Rated 4.7 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
fzf
Focus: fuzzy finder and shell. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Same 4.8 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
Pandoc
Focus: document converter and markdown. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Same 4.8 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
restic
Focus: backup, encryption and snapshots. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Rated 4.7 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
zoxide
Focus: terminal, navigation and shell. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Rated 4.7 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit
Free alternatives to ripgrep
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
BorgBackup
Focus: backup, encryption and deduplication. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Rated 4.6 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
dua-cli
Focus: disk usage, storage cleanup and terminal. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Rated 4.6 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
eza
Focus: file listing, terminal and ls alternative. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Rated 4.6 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
hyperfine
Focus: benchmark, speed test and performance. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Rated 4.6 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
Magic Wormhole
Focus: file transfer, sharing and one-time code. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Rated 4.6 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreeCross-Platform
4.6Visit
Miller
Focus: csv, json and data wrangling. Shares command line and open source with ripgrep. Rated 4.6 (ripgrep: 4.8).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit
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