head to head · open source
rclone vs File-Manager
rclone has 60,108 GitHub stars, 5,475 forks, 1,273 open issues and last shipped yesterday. File-Manager has 1,791 stars, 129 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped today. rclone leads on adoption by 3,256% (60,108 vs 1,791 stars). rclone is written in Go under MIT; File-Manager is written in Kotlin under GPL-3.0. rclone has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, File-Manager 7%. File-Manager 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 | File-Manager | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 60K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-10-04 | 2026-10-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 129 |
| 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 File-Manager if
- You want the File-Manager feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and File-Manager 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 File-Manager
Fossify File Manager is an open source, ad free Android file manager for users who want to browse, organise, lock and clean up their device's storage without handing their file access to an advertising funded app.
read the full File-Manager overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rclone or File-Manager more popular?
rclone has 60,108 GitHub stars and File-Manager has 1,791. rclone has the larger community by that measure.
Are rclone and File-Manager free?
Both are open source. rclone is licensed under MIT and File-Manager under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rclone and File-Manager?
rclone is written in Go and File-Manager in Kotlin. 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 File-Manager?
Choose rclone if you want the larger community (60,108 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose File-Manager if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.