dupeGuru vs rdfind
dupeGuru
dupeguru.voltaicideas.netrdfind
rdfind.pauldreik.seSide by side
| Figure | dupeGuru | rdfind |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Duplicate File Finders | 8.6 (#3) | 7.3 (#23) |
| Purpose | dupeGuru is a desktop GUI tool for finding duplicate files on a computer. | rdfind finds duplicate files by comparing their contents rather than their names, and can help compress backup directories. |
| Support | The project directs users to its GitHub issue tracker to report bugs or suggest features. | The site directs users to GitHub issues for bug reports and feature requests and invites suggestions and comments. |
Plans
In their own words
dupeGuru
dupeGuru is a desktop tool for finding duplicate files on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its Standard, Music, and Picture modes offer different ways to compare files. Filename scans can detect similar names, while Music mode can compare names or selected tags and show music-specific details. Picture mode looks for similar images, including different-sized images when that preference is enabled. Contents scans identify exact matches, first using file sizes to rule out files that cannot match and then comparing contents with MD5 hashes. A recursive contents scan can also locate duplicate folders. Users can filter and sort results, preview files, and delete, move, or copy marked duplicates. Reference folders and duplicate groups are designed to protect reference files and leave at least one item in each group. The documentation recommends checking results before deletion: similar-word matching can cause false positives and slow scans, and picture comparisons can be CPU-intensive. dupeGuru is free, with packages listed for Windows, macOS, Debian, RPM, Arch Linux, and Ubuntu PPA.
rdfind
rdfind is a free command-line utility that finds duplicate files by comparing contents rather than names. It searches supplied directories recursively, including comparisons within or across directories, and can also accept individual files. Matching uses file size, first and last bytes, checksums, and inode or device identity. Supported checksums are MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512, and xxh128, with SHA-1 as the default. By default, rdfind writes a results file without changing files. Options can delete duplicates or replace them with symbolic or hard links, while a dry run previews an enabled action. Filters can ignore empty files or set minimum and maximum sizes. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows; Linux packages include apt and dnf examples, Mac installation can use MacPorts, and Windows users may use Cygwin. The manual warns about changing directories during a run, symlink attacks when deleting or linking, and unsupported ownership or permissions handling.