head to head · open source
yazi vs PairDrop
yazi has 42,278 GitHub stars, 1,022 forks, 65 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PairDrop has 11,435 stars, 693 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. yazi leads on adoption by 270% (42,278 vs 11,435 stars). yazi is written in Rust under MIT; PairDrop is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. yazi has attracted 2% as many forks as stars, PairDrop 6%. yazi 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 | PairDrop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 42K | ★ 11K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-04-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 693 |
| 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 PairDrop if
- You want the PairDrop feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and PairDrop 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 PairDrop
PairDrop is open source JavaScript web app for file sharing. It lives in browser PWA ecosystem, using WebRTC, WebSockets, IndexedDB, Node.js. It is fork of Snapdrop. It is inspired by Apple AirDrop. It is listed as Productivity & Utilities / File Management & Sync. License is GPL 3.0. GitHub metadata lists 11390 stars and 690 forks.
read the full PairDrop overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is yazi or PairDrop more popular?
yazi has 42,278 GitHub stars and PairDrop has 11,435. yazi has the larger community by that measure.
Are yazi and PairDrop free?
Both are open source. yazi is licensed under MIT and PairDrop under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between yazi and PairDrop?
yazi is written in Rust and PairDrop in JavaScript. 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 PairDrop?
Choose yazi if you want the larger community (42,278 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose PairDrop if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.