head to head · open source
BleachBit vs burrow
BleachBit has 6,940 GitHub stars, 454 forks, 313 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. burrow has 1,429 stars, 176 forks, 58 open issues and last shipped yesterday. BleachBit leads on adoption by 386% (6,940 vs 1,429 stars). BleachBit is written in Python under GPL-3.0; burrow is written in Swift under MIT. BleachBit has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, burrow 12%. burrow was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (cleaner), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| BleachBit | burrow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.9K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 454 | ⑂ 176 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick BleachBit if
- You weight community size — 6.9K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick burrow if
- You want the burrow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and burrow fits your workflow better
About BleachBit
BleachBit is a free, GPL 3.0 system cleaner written in Python that deletes files on Windows and Linux to free disk space and protect privacy, made for desktop users and administrators who want a cross platform alternative to commercial cleanup tools.
read the full BleachBit overview →
About burrow
Burrow is a free, open source (MIT), native macOS app that combines junk cleanup, app management, maintenance, disk analysis, and live system status in one window, with a built in MCP server so AI agents such as Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor can query and care for the same machine.
read the full burrow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is BleachBit or burrow more popular?
BleachBit has 6,940 GitHub stars and burrow has 1,429. BleachBit has the larger community by that measure.
Are BleachBit and burrow free?
Both are open source. BleachBit is licensed under GPL-3.0 and burrow under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between BleachBit and burrow?
BleachBit is written in Python and burrow in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, BleachBit or burrow?
Choose BleachBit if you want the larger community (6,940 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose burrow if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.