Guide and reference
How it compares
pālana combines two file panes, a per-host shell, and command plans in a native macOS application written in Swift. Either pane can browse this Mac or an SSH host. ZFS operations are available on hosts that support them.
Working across hosts#
Scroll horizontally to compare all five applications.
| Compare | pālana | Yazi | Transmit 5 | ForkLift 4 | Double Commander |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Server ↔ server | Transfer directly; copies can use the Mac | Copy between SFTP locations | Copy through the Mac | Copy between remote panes | Copy through connection plugins |
| Mac ↔ server | Copy and move over SSH | Copy over SFTP | Upload and download over SFTP | Copy and move over SFTP | Copy over SFTP |
| Existing SSH setup | System SSH: config, keys, agent | Own host settings; SSH agent | SSH config and agent; limits apply | OpenSSH config and agent | Own connections; SSH agent |
| ZFS datasets, snapshots, mounts | Built-in controls; whole-dataset send/receive | Run your own shell commands | Send your own SSH commands | Run commands in an external terminal | Run your own commands or tools |
| Terminal and shell | Use an in-app shell for each host | Run commands in its terminal | Open a terminal or send SSH commands | Open an external terminal | Enter commands; view output in-app |
| The plan: before execution | Review commands, host, route, and checks | Confirm overwrites and deletion | Resolve transfer conflicts | Set copy/move options; resolve conflicts | Set copy options; preview custom commands |
| Open source | Yes · GPL-3.0 | Yes · MIT | No | No | Yes |
| Cost | Free to build; free beta; 1.0 app: US $29 | Free app and source builds | US $45 direct | US $19.95; one year of updates | Free app and source builds |
Scope: pālana has no folder synchronization, cloud-storage protocols, or monitoring. Transmit, ForkLift, and Double Commander offer folder synchronization.
SSH and ZFS: pālana requires SSH access without login prompts;
direct transfers need onward authentication and supported tools.
Eligible datasets use zfs send and zfs receive, directly or through the Mac.
The received dataset stays unmounted. ForkLift supports ProxyJump;
Transmit does not support that option.
Interrupted transfers: pālana retains rsync partial files for retry; its tar and ZFS routes do not resume. Transmit, ForkLift, and Double Commander also offer resume, with protocol or operation limits.
Remote editing: pālana uploads saved edits automatically, checks for conflicts, and can ask before uploading. Editing rules. Transmit and ForkLift also upload saved remote edits.
pālana, Transmit, and ForkLift are Mac applications. Double Commander and Yazi also run on Linux and Windows; Yazi runs in a terminal.
pālana’s source builds remain free at every version. Its planned 1.0 app price includes 1.x updates. Useful beta reports earn the 1.0 app free.
Checked September 12, 2026 against the linked product pages and documentation. Transmit's direct purchase and Mac App Store subscription have different terms. ForkLift remains usable after its included update period; later updates require another license.
Which tool fits#
For file and ZFS work across SSH hosts: pālana uses your system SSH configuration and shows the commands and transfer route in a plan. It can copy directly between servers when authentication and tools permit, or stream a copy through the Mac. It provides no cloud-storage protocols, folder synchronization, or monitoring. See Requirements and Moving files.
For cloud storage and file-transfer protocols: Transmit supports S3, Backblaze B2, FTP, SFTP, and WebDAV. These connections let you work with storage services that pālana does not address. Panic documents the SSH configuration options it supports; a connection with jump-host rules needs checking against that list.
For network shares and folder synchronization on a Mac: ForkLift combines two panes with SMB, NFS, SFTP, cloud connections, and one-way or two-way folder synchronization. It also provides a transfer queue and remote editing that uploads changes when you save.
For file management inside a terminal: Yazi provides previews, tabs, bulk selection, and queued file tasks. Its built-in SFTP connections browse remote hosts using its own configuration. Its optional command-line tools add capabilities such as PDF previews and content search. Midnight Commander provides two text-mode panes, an editor, and a subshell; it can run inside an SSH session. Its manual also documents remote filesystems.
For a Mac file manager with archive tools and configurable actions: Marta provides keyboard and mouse control, archive browsing, Lua plugins, and a built-in terminal that follows pane locations. Its archive tools include browsing nested archives.
For an open-source graphical interface across operating systems: Double Commander and muCommander provide two panes and remote connections. Double Commander includes archive browsing, a text editor, bulk renaming, checksums, and directory synchronization, which compares two folders and copies changes between them. muCommander lists macOS, Windows, and Linux packages, supports SFTP, SMB, NFS, and S3, and requires Java 11 or later.
For commands or scripts you already maintain: a shell lets you invoke the installed tools directly. In pālana, ⌘` starts or resumes the focused host's shell. Commands entered there run directly; the file-operation plan does not review shell input.
Commands and consequences#
pālana's file and ZFS plans identify the commands, execution host, and transfer route. ZFS plans cover datasets, snapshots, mount state, and send/receive. Direct server transfers depend on the available tools and SSH route; the Mac carries bytes for local endpoints and proxy transfers.
Ordinary copy, move, and delete plans wait for Enter. Remote editing has a separate default: a saved edit uploads automatically when the remote file is unchanged. Settings can require confirmation for each upload. A copy-based file move removes source files progressively through rsync, so interruption can leave files split between locations. The plan reference and remote-editing rules describe those consequences.