head to head · open source
uppy vs ranger
uppy has 30,989 GitHub stars, 2,103 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ranger has 17,405 stars, 942 forks, 896 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. uppy leads on adoption by 78% (30,989 vs 17,405 stars). uppy is written in TypeScript under MIT; ranger is written in Python under GPL-3.0. uppy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, ranger 5%. uppy 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
| uppy | ranger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 942 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick uppy if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 uppy
Uppy is an MIT licensed, TypeScript built, modular JavaScript file uploader for web browsers that drops into any web application, aimed at developers who would rather wire up plugins than build file uploading from scratch.
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uppy or ranger more popular?
uppy has 30,989 GitHub stars and ranger has 17,405. uppy has the larger community by that measure.
Are uppy and ranger free?
Both are open source. uppy is licensed under MIT and ranger under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uppy and ranger?
uppy is written in TypeScript 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, uppy or ranger?
Choose uppy if you want the larger community (30,989 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ranger if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.