head to head · open source
rclone vs FarManager
rclone has 60,069 GitHub stars, 5,468 forks, 1,273 open issues and last shipped yesterday. FarManager has 2,232 stars, 248 forks, 156 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rclone leads on adoption by 2,591% (60,069 vs 2,232 stars). rclone is written in Go under MIT; FarManager is written in C++ under BSD-3-Clause. rclone has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, FarManager 11%. FarManager 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
| rclone | FarManager | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 60K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 248 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick rclone if
- You weight community size — 60K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick FarManager if
- You want the FarManager feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and FarManager fits your workflow better
About rclone
Rclone is an MIT licensed, Go based command line program that syncs files and directories to and from cloud storage providers, built for anyone who needs one tool for many backends instead of a separate client for every service.
read the full rclone overview →
About FarManager
Far Manager is a text mode file and archive manager for Windows, built in C++ under a BSD 3 Clause licence, aimed at users and administrators who prefer a keyboard driven console interface for file operations and who want to extend the tool through plugins.
read the full FarManager overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rclone or FarManager more popular?
rclone has 60,069 GitHub stars and FarManager has 2,232. rclone has the larger community by that measure.
Are rclone and FarManager free?
Both are open source. rclone is licensed under MIT and FarManager under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rclone and FarManager?
rclone is written in Go and FarManager in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, rclone or FarManager?
Choose rclone if you want the larger community (60,069 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose FarManager if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.