head to head · open source
Files vs dufs
Files has 45,518 GitHub stars, 2,918 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. dufs has 10,756 stars, 589 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Files leads on adoption by 323% (45,518 vs 10,756 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; dufs is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, dufs 5%. 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 | dufs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 11K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 589 |
| 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 dufs if
- You want the dufs 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 dufs 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 dufs
Dufs is a Rust command line file server, released under the Apache 2.0 licence and distributed as dufs , that serves static files, accepts uploads, supports search and access control, and speaks WebDAV from a single binary.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or dufs more popular?
Files has 45,518 GitHub stars and dufs has 10,756. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and dufs free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and dufs under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and dufs?
Files is written in C# and dufs 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 dufs?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,518 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose dufs if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.