head to head · open source
Files vs strata
Files has 45,958 GitHub stars, 2,962 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped yesterday. strata has 1,084 stars, 87 forks, 88 open issues and last shipped today. Files leads on adoption by 4,140% (45,958 vs 1,084 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; strata is written in Rust under MIT. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, strata 8%. strata 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 | strata | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-13 | 2026-10-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 87 |
| 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 strata if
- You want the strata feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and strata 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 strata
Strata is a fast, keyboard first file manager for Linux, written in Rust with GTK4, built for Omarchy and compatible Wayland desktops, and intended for people who would rather drive navigation, search and file operations from the keyboard than from a mouse.
read the full strata overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or strata more popular?
Files has 45,958 GitHub stars and strata has 1,084. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and strata free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and strata under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and strata?
Files is written in C# and strata 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 strata?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,958 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose strata if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.