head to head · open source
nnn vs pomatez
nnn has 22,107 GitHub stars, 834 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pomatez has 4,921 stars, 213 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. nnn leads on adoption by 349% (22,107 vs 4,921 stars). nnn is written in C under BSD-2-Clause; pomatez is written in TypeScript under MIT. nnn has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, pomatez 4%. 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 | pomatez | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 4.9K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-05-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 834 | ⑂ 213 |
| 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 pomatez if
- You want the pomatez feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and pomatez fits your workflow better
About nnn
nnn Supercharge your productivity! [ Features ] $ $ [ Quickstart ] $ $ [ Plugins ] $ $ [ Wiki ] nnn ( n³ ) is a full featured terminal file manager. It's tiny ( 150 KiB), nearly 0 config and incredibly fast. It is designed to be unobtrusive with smart workflows to match the trains of thought. nnn can analyze disk usage, batch rename, launch apps and pick files. The plugin repository has tons of plugins to extend the capabilities further e.g. live previews, (un)mount disks, find & list, file/dir diff, upload files. A patch framework hosts sizable user submitted patches which are subjective in nature. Independent…
About pomatez
Pomatez Stay Focused. Take a Break. Features . Discord . Development . Installation . Privacy . License :sparkles: Features Customizable rules it allows you to modify the default Pomodoro configuration based on your personal preferences. Built in task list it allows you to create a simple list of todos and mark the items done when it's done. Full screen breaks once enabled, it will force you to not continue working during break time by occupying the whole screen of your desktop, but right now it doesn't support multiple monitors. Desktop notification once enabled, you will get desktop notifications from time to…
read the full pomatez overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nnn or pomatez more popular?
nnn has 22,107 GitHub stars and pomatez has 4,921. nnn has the larger community by that measure.
Are nnn and pomatez free?
Both are open source. nnn is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and pomatez under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nnn and pomatez?
nnn is written in C and pomatez 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 pomatez?
Choose nnn if you want the larger community (22,107 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose pomatez if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.