head to head · open source
nnn vs portabase
nnn has 22,107 GitHub stars, 834 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. portabase has 1,867 stars, 145 forks, 33 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. nnn leads on adoption by 1,084% (22,107 vs 1,867 stars). nnn is written in C under BSD-2-Clause; portabase is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. nnn has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, portabase 8%. 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 | portabase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 834 | ⑂ 145 |
| 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 portabase if
- You want the portabase 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 portabase 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 portabase
Portabase Portabase is a tool designed to simplify the backup and restoration of your database instances. It integrates seamlessly with Portabase agents for managing operations securely and efficiently. [![NextJS][NextJS]][NextJS url] [![BetterAuth][BetterAuth]][BetterAuth url] [![Drizzle][Drizzle]][Drizzle url] [![ShadcnUI][ShadcnUI]][ShadcnUI url] [![Docker][Docker]][Docker url] Website • Documentation • Demo • Installation • Report Bug • Request Feature Installation You have 5 ways to install Portabase: Automated CLI (recommended) details Docker Run details Docker Compose setup details Unraid Community Apps…
read the full portabase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nnn or portabase more popular?
nnn has 22,107 GitHub stars and portabase has 1,867. nnn has the larger community by that measure.
Are nnn and portabase free?
Both are open source. nnn is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and portabase under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nnn and portabase?
nnn is written in C and portabase 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 portabase?
Choose nnn if you want the larger community (22,107 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose portabase if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.