head to head · open source
Files vs nova
Files has 45,856 GitHub stars, 2,952 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped today. nova has 1,198 stars, 52 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Files leads on adoption by 3,728% (45,856 vs 1,198 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; nova is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, nova 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 | nova | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 52 |
| 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 nova if
- You want the nova 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 nova 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 nova
Yazelix Nova is a Nix packaged terminal workspace for developers who want a batteries included development environment built from focused, first party components rather than assembling their own.
More in Productivity & Utilities
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or nova more popular?
Files has 45,856 GitHub stars and nova has 1,198. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and nova free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and nova under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and nova?
Files is written in C# and nova 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 nova?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,856 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nova if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.