head to head · open source
BleachBit vs parallel-disk-usage
BleachBit has 6,963 GitHub stars, 455 forks, 313 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parallel-disk-usage has 731 stars, 25 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. BleachBit leads on adoption by 853% (6,963 vs 731 stars). BleachBit is written in Python under GPL-3.0; parallel-disk-usage is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. BleachBit has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, parallel-disk-usage 3%. 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 | parallel-disk-usage | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.0K | ★ 731 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 455 | ⑂ 25 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick BleachBit if
- You weight community size — 7.0K 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 parallel-disk-usage if
- You want the parallel-disk-usage feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and parallel-disk-usage 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 parallel-disk-usage
parallel disk usage (pdu) is a highly parallelized directory tree analyzer written in Rust that renders a graphical chart of file and directory sizes directly in the terminal, and it is aimed at developers and system administrators who need to find out where disk space has gone without leaving the command line.
read the full parallel-disk-usage overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is BleachBit or parallel-disk-usage more popular?
BleachBit has 6,963 GitHub stars and parallel-disk-usage has 731. BleachBit has the larger community by that measure.
Are BleachBit and parallel-disk-usage free?
Both are open source. BleachBit is licensed under GPL-3.0 and parallel-disk-usage under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between BleachBit and parallel-disk-usage?
BleachBit is written in Python and parallel-disk-usage in Rust. 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 parallel-disk-usage?
Choose BleachBit if you want the larger community (6,963 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose parallel-disk-usage if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.