head to head · open source
BleachBit vs squirreldisk
BleachBit has 7,480 GitHub stars, 488 forks, 313 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. squirreldisk has 2,249 stars, 110 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 27 days ago. BleachBit leads on adoption by 233% (7,480 vs 2,249 stars). BleachBit is written in Python under GPL-3.0; squirreldisk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. BleachBit has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, squirreldisk 5%. BleachBit was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (cross-platform, linux), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| BleachBit | squirreldisk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-12 | 2026-10-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 488 | ⑂ 110 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick BleachBit if
- You weight community size — 7.5K 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 squirreldisk if
- You want the squirreldisk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and squirreldisk fits your workflow better
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 →
About squirreldisk
SquirrelDisk See what's using your disk space, and clean it up safely. For macOS, Windows and Linux. Free. [!NOTE] SquirrelDisk 2 is here. After a few quiet years, SquirrelDisk is back, rebuilt from the ground up by its original author in native Rust: faster, better looking, and with many long standing bugs fixed on every platform. Completely free, and actively maintained here in this repository. Download All builds are on the releases page. SquirrelDisk updates itself when a new version comes out. macOS says the app can't be opened SquirrelDisk is distributed outside the App Store, so macOS asks for…
read the full squirreldisk overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More System Cleanup & Optimization projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the System Cleanup & Optimization field.
Frequently asked questions
Is BleachBit or squirreldisk more popular?
BleachBit has 7,480 GitHub stars and squirreldisk has 2,249. BleachBit has the larger community by that measure.
Are BleachBit and squirreldisk free?
Both are open source. BleachBit is licensed under GPL-3.0 and squirreldisk under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between BleachBit and squirreldisk?
BleachBit is written in Python and squirreldisk 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 squirreldisk?
Choose BleachBit if you want the larger community (7,480 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose squirreldisk if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.