gdu
A fast, parallel disk usage analyzer with an interactive console interface written in Go.
What is gdu?
Gdu is a disk usage analyzer written in Go that provides a fast, interactive terminal interface for exploring and managing disk space. It solves the problem of identifying large files and directories efficiently, using parallel processing to speed up scans, especially on SSDs. The tool offers both interactive navigation and scriptable output modes for flexible integration into workflows.
System administrators, developers, and power users who need to quickly analyze disk usage from the command line, particularly those managing servers or workstations with large storage volumes.
Developers choose Gdu for its exceptional speed due to parallelized scanning, its intuitive keyboard-driven interface, and its ability to save and reload analyses. It outperforms traditional tools like `du` and offers a modern alternative to ncdu with additional features like database storage and extensive configuration.
Overview
Fast disk usage analyzer with console interface written in Go
Use Cases
Best For
- Quickly identifying large files and directories consuming disk space
- Interactive disk exploration via a terminal UI
- Scripting disk usage analysis with JSON export
- Analyzing SSD storage with parallel processing
- Saving and comparing disk usage snapshots over time
- Filtering analysis by file type, age, or path patterns
Not Ideal For
- Workflows requiring graphical or web-based disk usage visualizations
- Environments with slow, single-core CPUs or HDD-only storage
- Scripts that need the absolute fastest one-off scan without interactive overhead
Pros & Cons
Pros
Utilizes multiple CPU cores for rapid analysis, outperforming tools like du and ncdu in benchmarks, especially on SSDs as highlighted in the performance comparisons.
Provides a keyboard-driven UI with sorting, deletion, and file viewing, making disk exploration efficient without leaving the terminal.
Supports saving scans to SQLite or BadgerDB for reloading with -r flag, and JSON export for scripting, enabling persistent analysis without rescanning.
Allows exclusion by path, file type, regex, and time-based filters via flags like -i, -I, and --since, enabling focused disk usage analysis.
Cons
Optimized for SSDs with parallel processing, but on HDDs the speed gain is minimal, and the README notes that sequential mode must be manually enabled with --sequential.
Requires YAML config files for advanced settings like styling and sorting, which can be cumbersome for casual users compared to simpler command-line tools.
Saving analysis to databases significantly increases scan time, as benchmarks show it can be 4-5 times slower than default mode, adding latency for repeated queries.
Open Source Alternative To
gdu is an open-source alternative to the following products:
A command-line tool for calculating disk usage, similar to du but with additional features like sorting and filtering.
A command-line disk usage analyzer that shows disk space usage for directories in a fast and parallel manner.
diskus is a command-line tool written in Rust that analyzes disk usage and provides a fast, parallel alternative to tools like du. It displays disk usage statistics in a human-readable format.
PDU (Protocol Data Unit) is a term in networking for a unit of data transmitted between network entities, not a specific software product.
ncdu (NCurses Disk Usage) is a command-line disk usage analyzer with an ncurses interface that helps visualize disk space usage in directories.
Frequently Asked Questions
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