head to head · open source
Files vs joshuto
Files has 45,676 GitHub stars, 2,938 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. joshuto has 3,732 stars, 165 forks, 102 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Files leads on adoption by 1,124% (45,676 vs 3,732 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; joshuto is written in Rust under LGPL-3.0. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, joshuto 4%. 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 | joshuto | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 165 |
| 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 joshuto if
- You want the joshuto feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and joshuto 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 joshuto
Joshuto is a ranger like terminal file manager written in Rust, intended for keyboard driven users on Linux and macOS who want a fast, configurable text interface file browser rather than a graphical one.
read the full joshuto overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or joshuto more popular?
Files has 45,676 GitHub stars and joshuto has 3,732. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and joshuto free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and joshuto under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and joshuto?
Files is written in C# and joshuto 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 joshuto?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,676 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose joshuto if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.