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TL;DR - Dust
- Visualizes disk usage with intuitive, colored bar graphs.
- Automatically identifies largest directories and files.
- Offers various options for filtering, display, and output format.
Pricing: Free forever
Best for: Individuals & startups
What is Dust?
Dust is a command-line utility written in Rust that provides a more intuitive way to analyze disk space usage compared to the traditional 'du' command. It's designed for anyone who needs a quick and clear overview of which directories and files are consuming the most disk space on their system, without needing to sort or head the output.
The tool presents disk usage with a visual hierarchy, using colored bars and shades of grey to indicate parent-child relationships and proportional disk consumption. It automatically recurses into directories to find the largest subdirectories and files, displaying a manageable number of results directly in the terminal. Dust is particularly useful for developers, system administrators, and anyone troubleshooting disk space issues, offering immediate insights into disk allocation without complex command-line arguments.
Available on: Linux, macOS, Windows
Pros & Cons
Pros
- More intuitive and visually appealing than 'du'
- Quickly identifies disk space hogs
- No need for additional sorting or filtering commands
- Highly configurable with numerous options
- Available on multiple platforms (Cargo, Homebrew, Snap, Anaconda, Scoop, etc.)
Cons
- Snap version has limited file access (only /home directory)
- Requires Rust for compilation if not using pre-built binaries
Preview
Key Features
Hierarchical disk usage visualization with colored barsDisplays largest subdirectories and filesOption to show full path of subdirectoriesApparent size vs. disk space usage displayFilter by number of directories shownSpecify recursion depth for subdirectoriesShow only directories or only filesReverse order of output
Pricing Plans
Pricing checked Aug 3, 2026
Open Source
Free
- Full source code access
- Apache License 2.0 license
- Community support
- Self-hosted
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Dust FAQ
How does Dust help in managing disk space?
Dust provides a visual hierarchy of disk usage directly in the terminal, using colored bars and shades of grey. This allows users to quickly identify which directories and files are consuming the most disk space without needing to sort or filter output manually.
Which teams would benefit most from using Dust?
Dust is particularly useful for developers, system administrators, and anyone involved in troubleshooting disk space issues. It offers immediate insights into disk allocation, making it a valuable tool for those who manage system resources.
Does Dust offer more intuitive visualization than traditional tools?
Yes, Dust is designed to be more intuitive and visually appealing than the traditional 'du' command. It presents disk usage with a clear visual hierarchy, which helps in understanding disk consumption at a glance.
How is Dust priced?
Dust is free to use, as it does not require any paid plans. Users can access its features without any cost.
Can Dust be configured to suit specific user preferences?
Yes, Dust is highly configurable and offers numerous options to tailor its behavior. This allows users to adjust its output and functionality to better suit their specific needs for disk usage analysis.
What kind of limitation does the Snap version of Dust have?
The Snap version of Dust has limited file access, specifically only to the /home directory. This means it cannot analyze disk usage outside of the user's home directory when installed via Snap.
How does Dust compare to a tool like Procs?
Dust focuses on visualizing disk usage with a hierarchical and color-coded display, making it easy to spot disk space hogs. Procs, on the other hand, is designed for process management and monitoring, offering different insights into system activity.
Source: github.com