head to head · open source
yazi vs Nextcloud
yazi has 42,278 GitHub stars, 1,022 forks, 65 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Nextcloud has 36,844 stars, 5,227 forks, 3,657 open issues and last shipped yesterday. yazi leads on adoption by 15% (42,278 vs 36,844 stars). yazi is written in Rust under MIT; Nextcloud is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. yazi has attracted 2% as many forks as stars, Nextcloud 14%. Nextcloud 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
| yazi | Nextcloud | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 42K | ★ 37K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 5.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick yazi if
- You weight community size — 42K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Nextcloud if
- You want the Nextcloud feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Nextcloud 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 Nextcloud
Nextcloud is a self hosted cloud collaboration platform built in PHP, licensed under AGPL 3.0. It enables organizations and individuals to store, synchronize, and share files, contacts, calendars, and other data on infrastructure they control, replacing reliance on third party cloud services. The project lives in the open source cloud software ecosystem and serves as a decentralized alternative to proprietary suites like Dropbox, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365.
read the full Nextcloud overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is yazi or Nextcloud more popular?
yazi has 42,278 GitHub stars and Nextcloud has 36,844. yazi has the larger community by that measure.
Are yazi and Nextcloud free?
Both are open source. yazi is licensed under MIT and Nextcloud under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between yazi and Nextcloud?
yazi is written in Rust and Nextcloud in PHP. 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 Nextcloud?
Choose yazi if you want the larger community (42,278 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Nextcloud if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.