head to head · open source
ranger vs ffsend
ranger has 17,448 GitHub stars, 940 forks, 896 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. ffsend has 7,423 stars, 207 forks, 33 open issues and last shipped 12 months ago. ranger leads on adoption by 135% (17,448 vs 7,423 stars). ranger is written in Python under GPL-3.0; ffsend is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. ranger has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, ffsend 3%. 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 | ffsend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 7.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2025-11-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 940 | ⑂ 207 |
| 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 ffsend if
- You want the ffsend feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and ffsend fits your workflow better
About ranger
Ranger 1.9.4 ============ Ranger is a console file manager with VI key bindings. It provides a minimalistic and nice curses interface with a view on the directory hierarchy. It ships with rifle , a file launcher that is good at automatically finding out which program to use for what file type. For mc aficionados there's also the multi pane viewmode. This file describes ranger and how to get it to run. For instructions on the usage, please read the man page ( man ranger in a terminal). See HACKING.md for development specific information. For configuration, check the files in ranger/config/ or copy the default…
read the full ranger overview →
About ffsend
[![Build status on GitLab CI][gitlab ci master badge]][gitlab ci link] [![Newest release on crates.io][crate version badge]][crate link] [![Project license][crate license badge]](LICENSE) [crate license badge]: [crate link]: [crate version badge]: [gitlab ci link]: [gitlab ci master badge]: Notice: the default Send host is provided by [@timvisee][timvisee] (info). Please consider to [donate] and help keep it running. ffsend Easily and securely share files from the command line. A [Send][send] client. Easily and securely share files and directories from the command line through a safe, private and encrypted link…
read the full ffsend overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ranger or ffsend more popular?
ranger has 17,448 GitHub stars and ffsend has 7,423. ranger has the larger community by that measure.
Are ranger and ffsend free?
Both are open source. ranger is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ffsend under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ranger and ffsend?
ranger is written in Python and ffsend 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 ffsend?
Choose ranger if you want the larger community (17,448 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ffsend if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.