head to head · open source
Files vs Firefiles
Files has 45,547 GitHub stars, 2,920 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped today. Firefiles has 371 stars, 57 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. Files leads on adoption by 12,177% (45,547 vs 371 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; Firefiles is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Firefiles 15%. 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 | Firefiles | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 371 |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2025-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 57 |
| 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 Firefiles if
- You want the Firefiles feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Firefiles 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 Firefiles
Firefiles is an open source, self hosted alternative to Dropbox: a TypeScript and Next.js web application that turns your own cloud storage buckets — such as AWS S3, Backblaze, or Firebase Cloud Storage — into a single browser based drive with a familiar file system interface, built for people who want Dropbox style file management while keeping their files in storage they already own.
read the full Firefiles overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or Firefiles more popular?
Files has 45,547 GitHub stars and Firefiles has 371. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and Firefiles free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and Firefiles under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and Firefiles?
Files is written in C# and Firefiles in TypeScript. 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 Firefiles?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,547 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Firefiles if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.