head to head · open source
syncthing vs nimble-commander
syncthing has 89,403 GitHub stars, 5,522 forks, 388 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. nimble-commander has 746 stars, 57 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. syncthing leads on adoption by 11,884% (89,403 vs 746 stars). syncthing is written in Go under MPL-2.0; nimble-commander is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. syncthing has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, nimble-commander 8%. syncthing 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
| syncthing | nimble-commander | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 89K | ★ 746 |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-10-13 | 2026-10-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 57 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick syncthing if
- You weight community size — 89K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nimble-commander if
- You want the nimble-commander feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and nimble-commander fits your workflow better
About syncthing
Syncthing is an open source continuous file synchronization program written in Go that keeps files identical across two or more computers, aimed at individual users who want to sync their own data without a third party service.
read the full syncthing overview →
About nimble-commander
Nimble Commander is a free, open source, dual pane file manager for macOS, aimed at Mac users who want keyboard driven navigation and the speed of classic file managers instead of the pointer first workflow of the Finder.
read the full nimble-commander overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is syncthing or nimble-commander more popular?
syncthing has 89,403 GitHub stars and nimble-commander has 746. syncthing has the larger community by that measure.
Are syncthing and nimble-commander free?
Both are open source. syncthing is licensed under MPL-2.0 and nimble-commander under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between syncthing and nimble-commander?
syncthing is written in Go and nimble-commander 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, syncthing or nimble-commander?
Choose syncthing if you want the larger community (89,403 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose nimble-commander if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.