head to head · open source
Files vs elio
Files has 45,876 GitHub stars, 2,951 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped yesterday. elio has 891 stars, 27 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Files leads on adoption by 5,049% (45,876 vs 891 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; elio is written in Rust under MIT. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, elio 3%. 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 | elio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 891 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 27 |
| 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 elio if
- You want the elio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and elio 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 elio
elio is a snappy, batteries included terminal file manager written in Rust for Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD users who want rich previews, inline images, bulk actions, and trash support directly in their shell.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or elio more popular?
Files has 45,876 GitHub stars and elio has 891. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and elio free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and elio under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and elio?
Files is written in C# and elio 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 elio?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,876 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose elio if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.