The best disk usage analyzers, according to hackers
7 disk usage analyzers were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 4 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended disk usage analyzers with the badge. Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Shows where disk space goes
Terminal disk usage analyzer that shows where space goes and is available in most distro repos; critics say scans can be slow, including unwanted paths.
Very fast by reading file metadata
Fast disk space analyzer that reads NTFS file system metadata instead of scanning every file, so it shows what is using storage almost instantly on Windows.
Colour treemap shows storage clearly
Free Mac app that draws a colour treemap of disk usage, showing what takes up space; it has been around for over two decades.
All 7 disk usage analyzers, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ncdu | 22 | 1 | 96% | 7 | — | Approved |
| 2 | Leaves | 16 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| 3 | WizTree | 12 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Tied 4 | GrandPerspective | 11 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Tied 4 | WinDirStat | 11 | 2 | 85% | 5 | — | Approved |
| 6 | dust disk usage analyzer | 8 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| 7 | gdu disk usage analyzer | 7 | 1 | 88% | 4 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same disk usage analyzer in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to disk usage analyzers that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.