head to head · open source
Files vs ai-file-sorter
Files has 45,824 GitHub stars, 2,952 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped today. ai-file-sorter has 1,794 stars, 184 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Files leads on adoption by 2,454% (45,824 vs 1,794 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; ai-file-sorter is written in C++ under AGPL-3.0. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ai-file-sorter 10%. Files was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (file-manager), 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.
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Side by side
| Files | ai-file-sorter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-10-05 | 2026-10-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 184 |
| 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 ai-file-sorter if
- You want the ai-file-sorter feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and ai-file-sorter 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 ai-file-sorter
AI File Sorter is a cross platform desktop application that uses local or remote LLMs to categorize and rename files for people who want tidier folders without giving up control over what changes.
read the full ai-file-sorter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or ai-file-sorter more popular?
Files has 45,824 GitHub stars and ai-file-sorter has 1,794. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and ai-file-sorter free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and ai-file-sorter under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and ai-file-sorter?
Files is written in C# and ai-file-sorter in C++. 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 ai-file-sorter?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,824 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ai-file-sorter if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.