head to head · open source
Spacedrive vs vifm
Spacedrive has 39,073 GitHub stars, 1,351 forks, 57 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. vifm has 3,277 stars, 147 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Spacedrive leads on adoption by 1,092% (39,073 vs 3,277 stars). Spacedrive is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; vifm is written in C under GPL-2.0. Spacedrive has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, vifm 4%. Spacedrive was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (cross-platform, 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
| Spacedrive | vifm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-05 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 147 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Spacedrive if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick vifm if
- You want the vifm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and vifm fits your workflow better
About Spacedrive
Spacedrive is an open source, cross platform file explorer built on a virtual distributed filesystem written in Rust. It unifies local and remote storage—including cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and S3—into a single interface, enabling unified search, browsing, and syncing across devices without centralized servers.
read the full Spacedrive overview →
About vifm
Vifm is a curses based, Vim like file manager for the terminal that gives people who already use Vim complete keyboard control over their files without having to learn a new set of commands.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Spacedrive or vifm more popular?
Spacedrive has 39,073 GitHub stars and vifm has 3,277. Spacedrive has the larger community by that measure.
Are Spacedrive and vifm free?
Both are open source. Spacedrive is licensed under Apache-2.0 and vifm under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Spacedrive and vifm?
Spacedrive is written in Rust and vifm 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, Spacedrive or vifm?
Choose Spacedrive if you want the larger community (39,073 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose vifm if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.