head to head · open source
BleachBit vs gdu
BleachBit has 6,939 GitHub stars, 454 forks, 313 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. gdu has 5,982 stars, 235 forks, 54 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. BleachBit leads on adoption by 16% (6,939 vs 5,982 stars). BleachBit is written in Python under GPL-3.0; gdu is written in Go under MIT. BleachBit has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, gdu 4%. BleachBit was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | gdu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.9K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 454 | ⑂ 235 |
| 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 gdu if
- You want the gdu feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and gdu 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 gdu
gdu (go DiskUsage()) is a fast disk usage analyzer with a console interface written in Go, aimed at developers, system administrators and other terminal users who need to find out what is consuming space on a disk.
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Frequently asked questions
Is BleachBit or gdu more popular?
BleachBit has 6,939 GitHub stars and gdu has 5,982. BleachBit has the larger community by that measure.
Are BleachBit and gdu free?
Both are open source. BleachBit is licensed under GPL-3.0 and gdu under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between BleachBit and gdu?
BleachBit is written in Python and gdu in Go. 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 gdu?
Choose BleachBit if you want the larger community (6,939 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose gdu if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.