head to head · open source
Files vs fanbox
Files has 45,863 GitHub stars, 2,951 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fanbox has 1,021 stars, 148 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Files leads on adoption by 4,392% (45,863 vs 1,021 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; fanbox is written in JavaScript under MIT. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, fanbox 14%. 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 | fanbox | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C# | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-08 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 148 |
| 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 fanbox if
- You want the fanbox feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and fanbox 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 fanbox
FanBox is a local first macOS cockpit for running coding agents like Claude Code and Codex alongside your files, aimed at developers whose AI generated projects have scattered across their disk.
read the full fanbox overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or fanbox more popular?
Files has 45,863 GitHub stars and fanbox has 1,021. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and fanbox free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and fanbox under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and fanbox?
Files is written in C# and fanbox in JavaScript. 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 fanbox?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,863 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose fanbox if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.