head to head · open source
Files vs cryfs
Files has 45,547 GitHub stars, 2,920 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped today. cryfs has 2,304 stars, 170 forks, 154 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Files leads on adoption by 1,877% (45,547 vs 2,304 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; cryfs is written in Rust under LGPL-3.0. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, cryfs 7%. Files 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
| Files | cryfs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 170 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Files if
- You weight community size — 46K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cryfs if
- You want the cryfs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and cryfs fits your workflow better
About Files
Files is a modern, MIT licensed file manager for Windows, written in C and maintained by an open source community, for Windows users who want a customizable, actively developed alternative for organising files and folders.
read the full Files overview →
About cryfs
CryFS is a FUSE based cryptographic filesystem written in Rust that encrypts a vault directory so it can be stored safely in cloud services such as Dropbox, iCloud, or OneDrive, and it is intended for Linux users who want their file contents, file sizes, directory structure, and metadata hidden from the storage provider rather than encrypted one file at a time.
read the full cryfs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or cryfs more popular?
Files has 45,547 GitHub stars and cryfs has 2,304. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and cryfs free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and cryfs under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and cryfs?
Files is written in C# and cryfs 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, Files or cryfs?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,547 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose cryfs if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.