FolderSizes vs TreeSize: Feature Comparison
Last updated: July 2026
FolderSizes and TreeSize are two of the most established Windows disk space analyzers, and both can produce detailed tree size reports across local and network drives. They differ most in how they are packaged and licensed: TreeSize splits its capabilities across three editions sold as annual subscriptions, while FolderSizes offers a full-featured free edition plus perpetual Personal and Pro licenses. This comparison looks honestly at both tools to help you decide which fits your needs.
THE TOOLS
TreeSize is a disk space manager developed by JAM Software GmbH (Trier, Germany). It is a mature, widely used product available in three editions: TreeSize Free (non-commercial home use only), TreeSize Personal, and TreeSize Professional - the paid editions sold as annual per-user subscriptions. Its standout strengths include remote and cloud scanning (SharePoint, Amazon S3, Azure, and SSH in the paid tiers) and duplicate deduplication via NTFS hardlinks.
FolderSizes is a comprehensive disk space analysis and reporting tool developed by Key Metric Software (Michigan, USA) using secure software development practices. It has been continuously updated since 2003 and is sold as a perpetual license - buy it once and it keeps working, with a free edition that has no time limit.
EDITIONS & LICENSING: THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE
Feature checklists only tell half the story here, because the two products slice their editions very differently:
| Edition question | FolderSizes | TreeSize |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing model (paid editions) | Perpetual - pay once | Annual per-user subscription |
| Free edition: advanced file search | Yes | No (Personal+) |
| Free edition: duplicate file detection | Yes | No (Personal+) |
| Free edition: chart types | Treemap, sunburst, bar & pie | Treemap |
| Free edition: report export | No (Pro) | PDF only |
| Mid-tier edition feature set | Personal = every Pro feature (home-use license) | Personal lacks scheduling, CLI & portable mode |
| Scheduling & command line | Pro (and Personal) | Professional only |
In short: the free edition of FolderSizes includes capabilities - advanced multi-criteria search, duplicate/largest/oldest/temporary file reports, and four visualization types - that TreeSize reserves for its paid subscriptions, while FolderSizes Personal delivers the complete Pro feature set under a lower-cost license for non-commercial home use.
FEATURE COMPARISON
Both tools handle the fundamentals well: fast multi-threaded scanning, folder tree size reporting, treemap visualization, and cleanup of large files. The table below focuses on where they differ.
| Feature | FolderSizes | TreeSize |
|---|---|---|
| Visualization | ||
| Treemap visualization | Yes | Yes (2D/3D) |
| Bar & pie charts | Yes | Yes |
| Sunburst chart visualization | Yes | No |
| Graph data highlighting (by date, attributes, custom rules) | Yes | No |
| Reporting | ||
| Dedicated file report types (largest, oldest, temporary, duplicates, owners, ages, attributes...) | Yes (13 report types) | Statistics & search views |
| Duplicate file detection | Yes (free edition) | Yes (Personal+, with hardlink dedupe) |
| Deduplicate via NTFS hardlinks | No | Yes (Personal+) |
| Export to HTML, XML, Excel, PDF & CSV with custom templates | Yes (Pro) | PDF free; Excel/CSV/HTML in Personal+ |
| Monitoring Over Time | ||
| File system snapshots with comparison | Yes (Pro) | Yes (Personal+) |
| Multi-point storage trend analyzer | Yes (Pro) | Scan history |
| Built-in report scheduling with email delivery | Yes (Pro) | Professional only |
| Scanning Targets | ||
| Local drives, network shares & UNC paths | Yes | Yes |
| Cloud services (SharePoint, S3, Azure) & SSH scanning | No | Yes (paid editions) |
| MTP device scanning (phones, cameras) | No | Yes |
| Platform & Licensing | ||
| Portable mode (no installation) | No | Yes (Professional) |
| Free edition usable with no time limit | Yes | Yes (non-commercial use only) |
| Perpetual (pay-once) licensing | Yes | No (annual subscription) |
WHERE TREESIZE SHINES
TreeSize is a polished, mature product with genuine strengths. Its paid editions can scan well beyond the Windows file system - SharePoint document libraries, Amazon S3 buckets, Azure storage, and remote Linux systems over SSH - which is valuable in cloud-heavy environments. Its duplicate finder can deduplicate redundant files in place using NTFS hardlinks rather than deleting them. It also scans mobile devices over MTP, offers a portable edition for administrators who work across many machines, and renders its treemap in both 2D and 3D.
WHERE FOLDERSIZES GOES FURTHER
A Genuinely Useful Free Edition
TreeSize Free is limited to non-commercial use and omits file search, duplicate detection, and all export formats except PDF. The free edition of FolderSizes includes advanced multi-criteria search, duplicate/largest/oldest/temporary file reports, file classification reports, all four chart types, scan filtering, and file operations - a working disk space analyzer, not a teaser.
Perpetual Licensing
TreeSize's paid editions are annual per-user subscriptions - stop paying and you lose access to updates and, eventually, the licensed software. A FolderSizes Personal or Pro license is perpetual: pay once, use it as long as you like, and upgrade to a new major version only when it's worth it to you. FolderSizes Personal carries the complete Pro feature set for non-commercial home use.
Deeper Visual Analysis
FolderSizes offers four distinct interactive chart types, including a sunburst visualization that makes hierarchy depth visible in ways a treemap cannot - plus graph data highlighting that colors any chart by file age, attributes, owner, or custom rules to answer questions like "how much of this drive is stale data?" at a glance. FolderSizes 10 also adds metric-based heat tinting to the folder size detail report, color-coding the size, size on disk, file count, and folder count columns so storage hotspots stand out instantly even in deep folder hierarchies.
Purpose-Built File Reports
FolderSizes provides 13 dedicated file report types - largest, oldest, newest, temporary, and duplicate files, plus distributions by type, category, owner, age, size, name, attributes, and folder depth - each one a ready-to-run report rather than a search you assemble yourself. Reports feed directly into move, copy, delete, and archive operations.
Storage Trends & Capacity Planning
Beyond one-off snapshot comparisons, the FolderSizes Trend Analyzer charts storage growth across many snapshots by folder, owner, or file type, and FolderSizes 10 adds capacity planning insights - helping you predict when a volume will fill, not just see that it grew.
DEVELOPMENT & SUPPORT
FolderSizes
- Developer: Key Metric Software (Michigan, USA)
- Active since: 2003 (continuously maintained)
- Licensing: Free edition; perpetual Personal & Pro licenses
- Support: Professional technical support
- Platforms: Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 SP1; Windows Server 2025, 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012 R2
TreeSize
- Developer: JAM Software GmbH (Trier, Germany)
- Active since: 1990s (long-established, actively maintained)
- Licensing: Free edition (non-commercial); Personal & Professional annual subscriptions
- Support: Support included with active subscription
- Platforms: Modern Windows desktop and server editions
WHICH SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
TreeSize is a strong choice if you need to analyze storage beyond the Windows file system - SharePoint, S3, Azure, or Linux servers over SSH - or if hardlink-based deduplication and a portable edition matter to your workflow, and an annual subscription fits your budgeting model.
FolderSizes is the better fit if you want maximum capability per dollar: a free edition that actually includes search and duplicate detection, a Personal edition with the full Pro feature set for home use, and perpetual licensing for businesses. Its four chart types, 13 dedicated file reports, snapshot workflow, and trend analysis make it particularly effective for Windows-centric IT teams managing storage over time.
The free edition of FolderSizes includes all four visualization types, file reports, advanced search, scan filtering, and disk space reports. The Pro edition adds data export, scheduling, trend analysis, snapshots, and the command-line interface.
Want tree-style size data for entire directory branches? See our guide to folder tree size reporting.
Also evaluating other tools? See our FolderSizes vs WinDirStat and FolderSizes vs WizTree comparisons, or the full Best Windows Disk Space Analyzers roundup.