head to head · open source
nnn vs BleachBit
nnn has 22,107 GitHub stars, 834 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. BleachBit has 7,349 stars, 486 forks, 313 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nnn leads on adoption by 201% (22,107 vs 7,349 stars). nnn is written in C under BSD-2-Clause; BleachBit is written in Python under GPL-3.0. nnn has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, BleachBit 7%. 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
| nnn | BleachBit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 7.3K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 834 | ⑂ 486 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nnn if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick BleachBit if
- You want the BleachBit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and BleachBit fits your workflow better
About nnn
nnn Supercharge your productivity! [ Features ] $ $ [ Quickstart ] $ $ [ Plugins ] $ $ [ Wiki ] nnn ( n³ ) is a full featured terminal file manager. It's tiny ( 150 KiB), nearly 0 config and incredibly fast. It is designed to be unobtrusive with smart workflows to match the trains of thought. nnn can analyze disk usage, batch rename, launch apps and pick files. The plugin repository has tons of plugins to extend the capabilities further e.g. live previews, (un)mount disks, find & list, file/dir diff, upload files. A patch framework hosts sizable user submitted patches which are subjective in nature. Independent…
About BleachBit
BleachBit BleachBit cleans files to free disk space and to maintain privacy. Running from source To run BleachBit without installation, first install the system dependencies, then build the translations and run it: Many Linux systems have the basic dependencies: you may skip installation, but in case of any issues, please check for missing dependencies. Then, review the preferences. Then, select some options, and click Preview. Review the files, toggle options accordingly, and click Delete. For information regarding the command line interface, run: Read more about running from source. Links BleachBit home page…
read the full BleachBit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nnn or BleachBit more popular?
nnn has 22,107 GitHub stars and BleachBit has 7,349. nnn has the larger community by that measure.
Are nnn and BleachBit free?
Both are open source. nnn is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and BleachBit under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nnn and BleachBit?
nnn is written in C and BleachBit in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nnn or BleachBit?
Choose nnn if you want the larger community (22,107 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose BleachBit if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.