head to head · open source
Nextcloud vs superfile
Nextcloud has 36,863 GitHub stars, 5,232 forks, 3,657 open issues and last shipped today. superfile has 23,303 stars, 856 forks, 269 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Nextcloud leads on adoption by 58% (36,863 vs 23,303 stars). Nextcloud is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; superfile is written in Go under MIT. Nextcloud has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, superfile 4%. Nextcloud was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), 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
| Nextcloud | superfile | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 23K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | PHP | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.2K | ⑂ 856 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Nextcloud if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick superfile if
- You want the superfile feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and superfile fits your workflow better
About Nextcloud
Nextcloud is a self hosted cloud collaboration platform built in PHP, licensed under AGPL 3.0. It enables organizations and individuals to store, synchronize, and share files, contacts, calendars, and other data on infrastructure they control, replacing reliance on third party cloud services. The project lives in the open source cloud software ecosystem and serves as a decentralized alternative to proprietary suites like Dropbox, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365.
read the full Nextcloud overview →
About superfile
superfile is a modern terminal file manager, written in Go, that gives Linux, macOS and Windows users a full screen text user interface for browsing and managing files, aimed at developers and command line users who want more than typed shell commands.
read the full superfile overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Nextcloud or superfile more popular?
Nextcloud has 36,863 GitHub stars and superfile has 23,303. Nextcloud has the larger community by that measure.
Are Nextcloud and superfile free?
Both are open source. Nextcloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and superfile under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Nextcloud and superfile?
Nextcloud is written in PHP and superfile in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Nextcloud or superfile?
Choose Nextcloud if you want the larger community (36,863 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose superfile if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.