head to head · open source
yazi vs Seafile
yazi has 42,278 GitHub stars, 1,022 forks, 65 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Seafile has 15,256 stars, 1,677 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped yesterday. yazi leads on adoption by 177% (42,278 vs 15,256 stars). yazi is written in Rust under MIT; Seafile is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence. yazi has attracted 2% as many forks as stars, Seafile 11%. 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 | Seafile | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 42K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| 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 Seafile if
- You want the Seafile feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and Seafile 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 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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is yazi or Seafile more popular?
yazi has 42,278 GitHub stars and Seafile has 15,256. yazi has the larger community by that measure.
Are yazi and Seafile free?
Both are open source. yazi is licensed under MIT, and Seafile has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between yazi and Seafile?
yazi is written in Rust and Seafile 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 Seafile?
Choose yazi if you want the larger community (42,278 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Seafile if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.