head to head · open source
Files vs yazi
Files has 45,518 GitHub stars, 2,918 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. yazi has 42,278 stars, 1,022 forks, 65 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Files leads on adoption by 8% (45,518 vs 42,278 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; yazi is written in Rust under MIT. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, yazi 2%. yazi 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 | yazi | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 42K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 yazi if
- You want the yazi feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and yazi 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 yazi
Yazi is a terminal file manager written in Rust on non blocking async I/O, aimed at developers and command line users who want fast, customizable file browsing without leaving the terminal.
More in Productivity & Utilities
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or yazi more popular?
Files has 45,518 GitHub stars and yazi has 42,278. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and yazi free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and yazi under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and yazi?
Files is written in C# and yazi 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 yazi?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,518 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose yazi if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.