head to head · open source
ranger vs dufs
ranger has 17,405 GitHub stars, 942 forks, 896 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. dufs has 10,759 stars, 589 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. ranger leads on adoption by 62% (17,405 vs 10,759 stars). ranger is written in Python under GPL-3.0; dufs is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. ranger has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, dufs 5%. ranger 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 | dufs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 11K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-06-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 942 | ⑂ 589 |
| 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 dufs if
- You want the dufs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and dufs 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 dufs
Dufs is a Rust command line file server, released under the Apache 2.0 licence and distributed as dufs , that serves static files, accepts uploads, supports search and access control, and speaks WebDAV from a single binary.
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Frequently asked questions
Is ranger or dufs more popular?
ranger has 17,405 GitHub stars and dufs has 10,759. ranger has the larger community by that measure.
Are ranger and dufs free?
Both are open source. ranger is licensed under GPL-3.0 and dufs under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ranger and dufs?
ranger is written in Python and dufs 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 dufs?
Choose ranger if you want the larger community (17,405 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose dufs if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.