head to head · open source
ranger vs cryfs
ranger has 17,405 GitHub stars, 942 forks, 896 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. cryfs has 2,304 stars, 170 forks, 154 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ranger leads on adoption by 655% (17,405 vs 2,304 stars). ranger is written in Python under GPL-3.0; cryfs is written in Rust under LGPL-3.0. ranger has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, cryfs 7%. cryfs 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
| ranger | cryfs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 942 | ⑂ 170 |
| 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 cryfs if
- You want the cryfs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and cryfs 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 cryfs
CryFS is a FUSE based cryptographic filesystem written in Rust that encrypts a vault directory so it can be stored safely in cloud services such as Dropbox, iCloud, or OneDrive, and it is intended for Linux users who want their file contents, file sizes, directory structure, and metadata hidden from the storage provider rather than encrypted one file at a time.
read the full cryfs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ranger or cryfs more popular?
ranger has 17,405 GitHub stars and cryfs has 2,304. ranger has the larger community by that measure.
Are ranger and cryfs free?
Both are open source. ranger is licensed under GPL-3.0 and cryfs under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ranger and cryfs?
ranger is written in Python and cryfs in Rust. 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 cryfs?
Choose ranger if you want the larger community (17,405 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose cryfs if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.