head to head · open source
nnn vs Edge-Drop
nnn has 21,958 GitHub stars, 819 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Edge-Drop has 578 stars, 38 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. nnn leads on adoption by 3,699% (21,958 vs 578 stars). nnn is written in C under BSD-2-Clause; Edge-Drop is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. nnn has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Edge-Drop 7%. nnn was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| nnn | Edge-Drop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 578 |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 819 | ⑂ 38 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nnn if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Edge-Drop if
- You want the Edge-Drop feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Edge-Drop fits your workflow better
About nnn
nnn (n³) is a tiny, nearly zero config terminal file manager written in C and released under the BSD 2 Clause licence, built for developers, sysadmins, and command line users who want fast filesystem browsing, disk usage analysis, batch renaming, and file picking without leaving the shell.
About Edge-Drop
Edge Drop is a free, Apache 2.0 licensed Windows desktop clipboard shelf that hides invisibly on the edge of the screen and springs open when the cursor approaches it, letting developers and designers drag text, links, images, and files directly into any application they are already using.
read the full Edge-Drop overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nnn or Edge-Drop more popular?
nnn has 21,958 GitHub stars and Edge-Drop has 578. nnn has the larger community by that measure.
Are nnn and Edge-Drop free?
Both are open source. nnn is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Edge-Drop under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nnn and Edge-Drop?
nnn is written in C and Edge-Drop in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nnn or Edge-Drop?
Choose nnn if you want the larger community (21,958 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose Edge-Drop if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.