head to head · open source
ranger vs chadtree
ranger has 17,417 GitHub stars, 940 forks, 896 open issues and last shipped 28 days ago. chadtree has 1,688 stars, 62 forks, 93 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ranger leads on adoption by 932% (17,417 vs 1,688 stars). ranger is written in Python under GPL-3.0; chadtree is written in Python under GPL-3.0. ranger has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, chadtree 4%. chadtree was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (file-manager), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| ranger | chadtree | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-10-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 940 | ⑂ 62 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ranger if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chadtree if
- You want the chadtree feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and chadtree fits your workflow better
About ranger
Ranger is a console file manager with VI key bindings, written in Python and released under the GNU General Public License version 3, for terminal users who want to browse, preview, and manipulate files without leaving a Unix shell.
read the full ranger overview →
About chadtree
CHADTree is a file manager plugin for Neovim, written in Python, aimed at developers who want a fast, feature rich tree explorer as an alternative to NERDTree.
read the full chadtree overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ranger or chadtree more popular?
ranger has 17,417 GitHub stars and chadtree has 1,688. ranger has the larger community by that measure.
Are ranger and chadtree free?
Both are open source. ranger is licensed under GPL-3.0 and chadtree under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ranger and chadtree?
ranger is written in Python and chadtree in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ranger or chadtree?
Choose ranger if you want the larger community (17,417 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose chadtree if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.