head to head · open source
vifm vs chadtree
vifm has 3,277 GitHub stars, 147 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. chadtree has 1,688 stars, 62 forks, 93 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vifm leads on adoption by 94% (3,277 vs 1,688 stars). vifm is written in C under GPL-2.0; chadtree is written in Python under GPL-3.0. vifm has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, chadtree 4%. chadtree was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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
| vifm | chadtree | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.3K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 147 | ⑂ 62 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vifm if
- You weight community size — 3.3K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chadtree if
- You want the chadtree 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 chadtree fits your workflow better
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.
About chadtree
CHADTree is a file manager plugin for Neovim, written in Python, aimed at developers who want a fast, feature rich tree explorer as an alternative to NERDTree.
read the full chadtree overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vifm or chadtree more popular?
vifm has 3,277 GitHub stars and chadtree has 1,688. vifm has the larger community by that measure.
Are vifm and chadtree free?
Both are open source. vifm is licensed under GPL-2.0 and chadtree under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vifm and chadtree?
vifm is written in C and chadtree 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, vifm or chadtree?
Choose vifm if you want the larger community (3,277 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose chadtree if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.