head to head · open source
superfile vs ranger
superfile has 24,010 GitHub stars, 837 forks, 269 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. ranger has 17,448 stars, 940 forks, 896 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. superfile leads on adoption by 38% (24,010 vs 17,448 stars). superfile is written in Go under MIT; ranger is written in Python under GPL-3.0. superfile has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, ranger 5%. superfile 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
| superfile | ranger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 837 | ⑂ 940 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick superfile if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ranger if
- You want the ranger 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 ranger fits your workflow better
About superfile
superfile is supported by the community. Demo Content Demo Content Installation macOS and Linux Windows Powershell Winget Scoop More installation methods Build For macOS/Linux For Windows Start superfile Supported Systems Tutorial Plugins Themes Hotkeys Notes Troubleshooting Uninstalling macOS and Linux Windows Contributing Thanks Support Core maintainer Contributors Powered by Star History ༼ つ ◕\ ◕ ༽つ Please share. Installation macOS and Linux If you want to inspect the script, see : install.sh Windows Powershell If you want to inspect the script, see : install.ps1 Winget Scoop More installation methods Click…
read the full superfile overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is superfile or ranger more popular?
superfile has 24,010 GitHub stars and ranger has 17,448. superfile has the larger community by that measure.
Are superfile and ranger free?
Both are open source. superfile is licensed under MIT and ranger under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between superfile and ranger?
superfile is written in Go and ranger 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, superfile or ranger?
Choose superfile if you want the larger community (24,010 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ranger if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.