head to head · open source
nnn vs Reef
nnn has 21,929 GitHub stars, 817 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Reef has 603 stars, 31 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. nnn leads on adoption by 3,537% (21,929 vs 603 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 5%. 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 | ★ 603 |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-06-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 817 | ⑂ 31 |
| 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 (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 Reef
Reef is a free, MIT licensed macOS window manager that binds applications to number keys and gives each app its own Alt Tab style switcher, aimed at Mac users who want to refocus any window of any app from the keyboard instead of hunting through the Dock or Mission Control.
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Frequently asked questions
Is nnn or Reef more popular?
nnn has 21,929 GitHub stars and Reef has 603. 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 (21,929 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose Reef if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.