head to head · open source
Files vs xplr
Files has 46,530 GitHub stars, 3,018 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. xplr has 4,851 stars, 97 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. Files leads on adoption by 859% (46,530 vs 4,851 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; xplr is written in Rust under MIT. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, xplr 2%. Files was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (developer-tools, 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 | xplr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 4.9K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-06 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 97 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Files if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick xplr if
- You want the xplr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and xplr fits your workflow better
About Files
Files is a modern file manager that helps users organize their files and folders. Our mission with Files is to build the best file manager for Windows, and we’re proud to be building it out in the open so everyone can participate. User feedback helps shape the features we work on, & the bug reports on GitHub help to make Files more reliable. Built and maintained by the open source community, Files features robust multitasking experiences, file tags, deep integrations, and an intuitive design. Installing and running Files Files is a community driven project that depends on your support to grow and improve. Please…
read the full Files overview →
About xplr
▸[ xplr] A hackable, minimal, fast TUI file explorer [ Install ] [ Documentation ] [ Hacks ] [ Plugins ] [ Integrations ] xplr is a terminal UI based file explorer that aims to increase our terminal productivity by being a flexible, interactive orchestrator for the ever growing awesome command line utilities that work with the file system. To achieve its goal, xplr strives to be a fast, minimal and more importantly, hackable file explorer. xplr is not meant to be a replacement for the standard shell commands or the GUI file managers. Rather, it aims to [integrate them all][14] and expose an intuitive…
More in Productivity & Utilities
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or xplr more popular?
Files has 46,530 GitHub stars and xplr has 4,851. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and xplr free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and xplr under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and xplr?
Files is written in C# and xplr 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 xplr?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (46,530 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose xplr if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.