head to head · open source
nnn vs Reef
nnn has 22,107 GitHub stars, 834 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Reef has 616 stars, 34 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. nnn leads on adoption by 3,489% (22,107 vs 616 stars). nnn is written in C under BSD-2-Clause; Reef is written in Swift under MIT. nnn has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Reef 6%. 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 | Reef | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 616 |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-09-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 834 | ⑂ 34 |
| 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 Reef if
- You want the Reef feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and Reef 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 Reef
Reef The macOS window manager that gives every app its own Alt Tab. Download for macOS · GitHub Releases (Requires macOS 14.6+) How we made Reef (YouTube) Key Features Reef lets you bind applications to number keys and cycle through their windows with an Alt Tab like interface. We built Reef because we wanted a fast and simple window switcher for macOS. Bind applications to number keys to refocus to any window for that app Assign profiles for different sets of bindings Do your binding and profile management through the keyboard Customizable keyboard shortcuts Usage Binding You should start by binding different…
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Frequently asked questions
Is nnn or Reef more popular?
nnn has 22,107 GitHub stars and Reef has 616. nnn has the larger community by that measure.
Are nnn and Reef free?
Both are open source. nnn is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Reef under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nnn and Reef?
nnn is written in C and Reef in Swift. 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 Reef?
Choose nnn if you want the larger community (22,107 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose Reef if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.