FolderSizes vs WizTree: Feature Comparison
Last updated: April 2026
FolderSizes and WizTree are both popular Windows disk space analyzers, but they take different approaches. WizTree focuses on raw scanning speed through direct NTFS Master File Table (MFT) access. FolderSizes provides a broader analysis toolkit with multiple visualizations, comprehensive file reporting, and enterprise automation features. This comparison looks at both tools honestly to help you decide which fits your needs.
THE TOOLS
WizTree is a disk space analyzer developed by Antibody Software (New Zealand). Its headline feature is NTFS MFT scanning, which reads the file system's Master File Table directly to enumerate files extremely quickly on local NTFS drives. WizTree is free for personal use; commercial use requires a paid supporter code starting at $25. It is actively maintained, with the latest release (v4.31) in March 2026.
FolderSizes is a comprehensive disk space analysis and reporting tool developed by Key Metric Software (Michigan, USA) using secure software development practices. Available in both free and professional editions, it has been continuously updated since 2003, with hundreds of releases over that span.
FEATURE COMPARISON
Both tools handle the basics well — scanning drives, showing folder sizes, and helping you find large files. The differences emerge in visualization, reporting, export, and automation capabilities.
| Feature | FolderSizes | WizTree |
|---|---|---|
| Visualization | ||
| Treemap visualization | Yes | Yes |
| Bar chart visualization | Yes | No |
| Pie chart visualization | Yes | No |
| Sunburst chart visualization | Yes | No |
| Graph data highlighting (by date, attributes, custom rules) | Yes | No |
| Treemap image export | No | Yes (PNG via CLI) |
| File Reports | ||
| Largest / oldest / newest file reports | Yes | Largest only (File View) |
| Duplicate file detection | Yes | Yes (by name/size/date) |
| File owner analysis | Yes | No |
| File type / extension breakdown | Yes | Yes (File Types view) |
| File age / attribute / size / depth reports | Yes (15 report types) | No |
| Temporary file identification | Yes | No |
| Find empty folders | Yes | No |
| Export & Reporting | ||
| HTML export | Yes | No |
| Excel export | Yes | No |
| PDF export | Yes | No |
| CSV export | Yes | Yes |
| XML export | Yes | No |
| Customizable export templates | Yes | No |
| Search & Filtering | ||
| Advanced multi-criteria search | Yes | Yes |
| Search with regex support | Yes | Yes |
| File operations from search results | Yes (move, copy, delete, archive) | Delete only |
| Scan filtering / exclusion rules | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling & Automation | ||
| Built-in task scheduling | Yes | No |
| Automated email report delivery | Yes | No |
| Command-line interface | Yes | Yes |
| Snapshots & Trends | ||
| File system snapshots | Yes | No |
| Snapshot comparison (point-in-time) | Yes | No |
| Storage trend analysis | Yes | No |
| Performance & Scanning | ||
| Multi-threaded scanning | Yes | Yes |
| NTFS MFT scanning | No | Yes |
| Configurable thread pool / I/O priority | Yes | No |
| Real-time results during scan | Yes | No |
| File system change monitoring | No | Yes |
| Network / UNC path support | Yes | Yes (no MFT on network) |
| MTP device scanning (phones, cameras) | No | Yes |
| File Management | ||
| Delete files / folders | Yes | Yes |
| Move / copy files | Yes | Yes (drag and drop) |
| Archive (zip) with AES-256 encryption | Yes | No |
| Rename files in-place | No | Yes |
| UI & Platform | ||
| Dark mode | Yes | Yes |
| Ribbon-style UI | Yes | No (classic menu) |
| Multiple color themes | Yes | No |
| Explorer context menu integration | No | Yes |
| Portable mode (no installation) | No | Yes |
| File preview integration (Seer / QuickLook) | No | Yes |
| Modern Windows support (10/11, Server 2022/2025) | Yes | Yes |
WHERE WIZTREE SHINES
WizTree's standout feature is its NTFS MFT scanning engine. By reading the Master File Table directly rather than traversing the file system through Windows APIs, it can enumerate files on local NTFS drives in seconds rather than minutes. This makes it exceptionally fast for quick, one-off checks of local drive usage. It also offers useful extras like file system change monitoring (detecting file deletions in real time), MTP device scanning for phones and cameras, and a portable mode that runs without installation. Its search syntax is flexible, supporting wildcards, size/date operators, and regular expressions.
It's worth noting that WizTree's MFT speed advantage applies only to local NTFS drives scanned with administrator privileges. When scanning network shares, non-NTFS drives, or running without admin rights, WizTree falls back to standard file enumeration — the same approach other tools use.
WHERE FOLDERSIZES GOES FURTHER
FolderSizes is designed for users who need deeper analysis, professional reporting, and ongoing storage management — not just a quick look at what's using space. Key areas where it offers substantially more capability:
Multiple Visualization Options
WizTree provides treemap visualization only. FolderSizes offers four distinct chart types — sunburst, treemap, bar, and pie — each with interactive drill-down, multiple color schemes, and data highlighting by file attributes, dates, or custom rules. Different visualizations reveal different patterns in your data; a sunburst chart makes hierarchical depth immediately visible in ways a treemap cannot.
Comprehensive File Reporting
FolderSizes includes 15 distinct file report types covering largest files, oldest files, newest files, temporary files, duplicates, file types, categories, attributes, owners, sizes, names, ages, and folder depths. WizTree provides a flat file list sorted by size and a file types view, but does not offer dedicated reports for file owners, ages, attributes, or other metadata dimensions.
Professional Export Formats
WizTree exports to CSV only. FolderSizes can export to HTML, Excel, PDF, CSV, and XML with customizable templates — making it straightforward to produce reports for management, audits, or documentation. XML exports also serve as the foundation for snapshot comparison and trend analysis.
Scheduling, Snapshots & Trend Analysis
For IT professionals managing storage over time, FolderSizes provides built-in task scheduling, file system snapshots with point-in-time comparison, and a trend analyzer for tracking storage growth by folder, owner, or file type. Reports can be automatically emailed on a schedule. WizTree does not offer built-in scheduling, snapshots, trend analysis, or email delivery.
File Owner & Security Analysis
FolderSizes can report on NTFS file ownership, showing which users or departments are consuming the most storage. This is valuable for chargeback modeling, policy enforcement, and identifying orphaned data. WizTree does not include file owner reporting.
DEVELOPMENT & SUPPORT
FolderSizes
- Developer: Key Metric Software (Michigan, USA)
- Active since: 2003 (continuously maintained)
- Update frequency: Multiple releases per year
- Support: Professional technical support
- License: Free edition available; Pro edition for advanced features
- Platforms: Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Windows Server 2025, 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012 R2
WizTree
- Developer: Antibody Software (Tauranga, New Zealand)
- Active since: Actively maintained with regular updates
- Update frequency: Multiple releases per year
- Support: Priority support for paid users; community otherwise
- License: Free for personal use; commercial use from $25
- Platforms: Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003+
WHICH SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
WizTree is an excellent choice if your primary need is quickly seeing what's consuming space on a local drive. Its MFT scanning is genuinely fast, and it's free for personal use. If you want a lightweight tool for quick disk cleanups, it does that job very well.
FolderSizes is the better choice when you need to go beyond a quick scan — when you need multiple visualization types, detailed file reports across 15 different dimensions, professional export formats, scheduled automated reporting, storage trend analysis, or file owner tracking. These capabilities make it particularly well-suited for IT professionals, system administrators, and organizations that need to understand and manage storage across multiple systems 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.
Learn more about specific capabilities in our File Reports FAQ and File Search FAQ.
Also evaluating WinDirStat? See our FolderSizes vs WinDirStat comparison.