head to head · open source
Seafile vs vifm
Seafile has 15,310 GitHub stars, 1,676 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 19 days ago. vifm has 3,277 stars, 147 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Seafile leads on adoption by 367% (15,310 vs 3,277 stars). Seafile is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence; vifm is written in C under GPL-2.0. Seafile has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, vifm 4%. vifm 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Seafile | vifm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 147 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Seafile if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C
- 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 Seafile
Seafile is an open source cloud storage system written in C and positioned as a self hosted alternative to Dropbox and Google Drive. It organizes files into libraries, each of which can be synced separately, encrypted with a user chosen password, and shared between users or groups. The project lives in the self hosted file sync and document management ecosystem, where it combines storage, collaboration, knowledge management, and metadata features.
read the full Seafile 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.
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More File Management & Sync projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the File Management & Sync field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Seafile or vifm more popular?
Seafile has 15,310 GitHub stars and vifm has 3,277. Seafile has the larger community by that measure.
Are Seafile and vifm free?
Both are open source. Seafile has no licence declared in this registry, and vifm is licensed under GPL-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Seafile and vifm?
Seafile is written in C 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, Seafile or vifm?
Choose Seafile if you want the larger community (15,310 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose vifm if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.