head to head · open source
yazi vs ai-file-sorter
yazi has 42,620 GitHub stars, 1,040 forks, 65 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ai-file-sorter has 1,794 stars, 184 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped yesterday. yazi leads on adoption by 2,276% (42,620 vs 1,794 stars). yazi is written in Rust under MIT; ai-file-sorter is written in C++ under AGPL-3.0. yazi has attracted 2% as many forks as stars, ai-file-sorter 10%. ai-file-sorter 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
| yazi | ai-file-sorter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 43K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-10-03 | 2026-10-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 184 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick yazi if
- You weight community size — 43K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ai-file-sorter if
- You want the ai-file-sorter feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and ai-file-sorter fits your workflow better
About yazi
Yazi is a terminal file manager written in Rust on non blocking async I/O, aimed at developers and command line users who want fast, customizable file browsing without leaving the terminal.
About ai-file-sorter
AI File Sorter is a cross platform desktop application that uses local or remote LLMs to categorize and rename files for people who want tidier folders without giving up control over what changes.
read the full ai-file-sorter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is yazi or ai-file-sorter more popular?
yazi has 42,620 GitHub stars and ai-file-sorter has 1,794. yazi has the larger community by that measure.
Are yazi and ai-file-sorter free?
Both are open source. yazi is licensed under MIT and ai-file-sorter under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between yazi and ai-file-sorter?
yazi is written in Rust and ai-file-sorter 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, yazi or ai-file-sorter?
Choose yazi if you want the larger community (42,620 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ai-file-sorter if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.