7 Best Free Alternatives to Fences

The 7 Best Free Alternatives to Fences | Free Desktop Organizer

It always starts as one random thing; boom, we have a decluttered desktop on our system. The desktop is filled with random stuff in random stuff, that only slows down our productivity but also minimizes the aesthetic look of our system. Just as important as it is to neatly organize your physical cupboard, the desktop of your windows should also be clean. Desktop organizers have always been important, as they help you save time and manage things perfectly. 

One such way of great service was Fences, the ultimate desktop organizer. But, ever since it has become a paid service, consumers have faced many issues. Worry not, as we have covered you with the 7 best free alternatives to fences. So your desktop can look clean and minimal and help you crush your productivity goals. 

How We Rank Free Desktop Organizing Alternatives To Stardock Fences

We care for our readers and develop a thorough and rigorous way to rank all these great free alternatives to make your life easier and more enjoyable. 

Price

A free desktop organizer is the only thing better than a paid desktop organizer. We know you are not willing to spend any money on the service; hence we have concluded the list to be free desktop organizers only. But the features and functions are still the same. You will be getting all the great functionality, just for free. 

Similarity To Fences

Desktop organizers are all about saving your time and managing it better. And there is no benefit if the alternatives are not similar to fences. We have made sure that our list is very easy to switch, so you don’t even feel like you are on a new application. It must have all the same buttons and UI to make you feel at home.

Features

It shouldn’t mean it provides fewer premium features than the Fences if it’s free. If the service has to make a place in your heart, it should be loaded with features so you can increase your productivity and provide you with a great user experience. Your preferred alternative should include a quick search, a folder portal, and many other amazing options.

Ease of Use

The sole purpose of using a desktop organizer is to make it easier to use your system. It should be so easy to use; even if you are new to desktop organizers, you shouldn’t have any problem using it. The preferred choice must manage your desktop and help you save time with the help of a few clicks.

The List of 7 Best Alternatives To Fences

Desktop OrganizerPriceSimilarity To FencesFeaturesEase of Use
iTop Easy DesktopFree10Quickly Hide Data, Folder Portal, Quick Search, Customizable Fences, , Private Box, , AI Robot, Regular Updates, Wallpapers10
xLaunchpadFree7Mac-Inspired Layout, No Need for App Shortcuts, Reorganizes Files and Folders9
SideSlideFree5Dock Workspace, Fully Customizable, News Feed7
ViPadFree8Drag and Drop To Organize the Data, Customizable Tabs Can Be Downloaded, Quick Search10
RainmeterFree6Open Source, Customizable Skins, Regular Skins Updates, Displays System Information7
Tago FencesFree9Organizes Downloaded Data, Double Click to Open Files, Individual Color Fences8
Nimi PlacesFree8Media Previewing, Customizable Thumbnails. Individual Thumbnails for Data8

1.  iTop Easy Desktop

7 Best Alternatives To Fences - iTop

Price: Free

The best contender for Fences has to be iTop Easy Desktop. It provides so much same functionality you might even forget you are using another service. Users can control their system fully or let the software do its magic automatically. Like fences, it allows you to create a folder portal, a directory to access your files and folders on the PC quickly. You can also hide all the data in a click and navigate on your system using the hotkeys.

Pros

  • Free to Use
  • ChatAI powered by ChatGPT for quick questions
  • Containers quickly hide
  • Highly Similar to Fences
  • Available in 30 Languages

Cons

  • Not open source

2. xLaunchpad

7 Best Alternatives To Fences - Xlaunchpad

Price: Free

If you want the Mac computer layout on your Windows, then xLaunchpad is your best option. It organizes all the data neatly by putting it under a rocket icon. All you have to do is simply click on it to open everything. It can reorganize applications, desktop icons, files, folders, and anything you have on your system.

Pros

  • Free 
  • Reorganizes Applications, Files, and Folders
  • No Need for Application Shortcuts
  • Easy To Operate
  • Mac-Inspired Layout with a Rocket Icon

Cons

  • No Folder Portal
  • It Doesn’t Quickly Hide All Desktop Icons
  • No Customizable Fences

3. SideSlide

sideslide 7 Best Alternatives To Fences

Price: Free

The SideSlide interface might not be like Fences, but it still provides great usability and functionality. It works around creating a workspace, a place with containers, shortcuts, commands, a news feed, reminders, and anything you need. The dock sits silently on the side of the desktop. Whenever you need it, just click on it, and you have many productivity options on your system. It might require a bit of customization, but once you get the hang of it, everything runs smoothly. 

Moreover, it has a Subject Tracker, a feature that pulls all the latest news from the internet based on your liking.

Pros

  • Free
  • Dock to DeClutter All Your Data
  • Ultimate Customizations
  • Super Clean Desktop
  • Subject Tracker (News Feed)

Cons

  • Bit Difficult to Understand
  • No Folder Portals
  • Doesn’t Allow Customizable Fences
  • No Quickly Hiding Your Desktop Icons

4. ViPad

7 Best Alternatives To Fences-vipad

Price: Free

Another software based on container layout is the ViPad Desktop Organizer. Users can organize the desktop with a single container and switch between the tabs. Every tab can be customized for a new group of content. The tabs can hold web links, documents, music, social media contacts, etc. 

All the tabs are fully searchable by just typing anywhere, and the data can be organized by dragging and dropping as you like.

Pros

  • Free
  • Single Container for All Your Data
  • Drag and Drop to Organize the Data
  • Customizable Tabs can Be Downloaded from the Internet
  • Easy to Search Your Data

Cons

  • No Keyboard Shortcut

5. Rainmeter

7 Best Alternatives To Fences - Rainmeter

Price: Free

Rainmeter is one of the most famous and powerful open-source desktop organizers that helps you in organizing the data with the help of widgets, known as skins, that are user generated. These skins can hold your data such as applications, calendars, weather, email, pictures, etc. The skins can be downloaded from the internet to increase productivity further.

Furthermore, the skins are always available and can be easily accessed by pressing the “shift” button on your keyboard. The skins can also display system information such as RAM, processor performance, battery power, etc.

Pros

  • Free 
  • Open Source
  • Highly Customizable Skins
  • Can Display System Information
  • Always Developing Skins

Cons

  • A Bit Different than Fences
  • No Central Interface 

6. Tago Fences

TAGO-Fences-7 Best Alternatives To Fences

Price: Free

The Tago Fences is so similar to Fences it even has used the same name. It is effortless to install and download and doesn’t put too much burden on your system. Users can easily rearrange files with drag and drop and even make multiple categories. The software can hide icons initially and organize the files and their shortcuts. It also automatically organizes the newly downloaded data by putting them where they belong. You can also change the color of the individual fences to better mark them as you like. 

Pros

  • Price
  • Rearranges Data by Drag and Drop
  • Organizes the Newly Downloaded Data
  • Allows to Change the Color of Individual Fences
  • Files Can Be Opened by Double Clicking
  • Easy to Use

Cons

  • It Doesn’t Allow To Hide the Data Quickly
  • No Folder Portal

7. Nimi Places

Nimi Places - 7 best Free Alternatives to Fences

Price: Free

The Nimi Places Desktop Organizer helps you arrange and organize the data in a container form and helps your data take place. Users can easily label the containers according to the data in them. With the help of containers, it can display a wide array of data using thumbnails, allowing users to access it quickly. The containers also support previewing images, videos, and media players, making them more efficient.

In addition, every container can use an individual theme, different sizes, and colored labels for increased productivity. The thumbnails even work with folder directories, web page directories, files, etc.

Pros

  • Free
  • Allows Customizable Fences
  • Supports Media Previewing
  • Thumbnails Can Be Arranged with Sizes, Colors, and Themes

Cons

  • No Folder Portal
  • It Doesn’t Quickly Hide All Desktop Icons

Wrapping it Up

The need for having a free desktop organizer that looks and works like Fences is critical. We have concluded the list of the 7 best free organizers to make your life easier and better managed. All the above-mentioned options have premium features, an easy-to-use interface, and much more without paying a cent. If you feel we still need to include any of your favorite organizers, let us know in the comments below. Happy Organizing!