dust review
A free, open-source terminal analyzer for ranking storage use across three operating systems.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
dust is an open-source command-line disk-space analyzer for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It is designed for terminal users who want a more visual alternative to du, with hierarchical output that shows how files and directories contribute to overall storage use. The tool focuses on files and folders rather than graphical application-size analysis, making it a practical fit for people who prefer ranked lists and shell-based workflows.
The published project details show a free tool with no paid tiers. Its main strength is the combination of ranked results and configurable scans: users can set recursion depth and result count, choose file-only or directory-only views, group results by file type, and report apparent size. Regex-based include and exclude filters help narrow scans, while same-filesystem restrictions keep the scan scope controlled. Hard links are not counted multiple times by default, which affects how storage totals are represented.
dust also supports JSON output, giving terminal-oriented workflows a structured format for scan results. It runs across Linux, macOS, and Windows, with documented installation paths for each platform. The trade-off is a narrow presentation model: it is a terminal utility rather than a graphical treemap application and does not provide an app-size view. Choose dust if ranked disk-usage output, filtering, and command-line control matter most. Choose another analyzer if you need graphical visualization or application-focused storage comparisons.
dust pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Hierarchical percentage bars make directory usage easy to scan
- Ranks large files and subdirectories with configurable result limits
- Supports regex filters, file-type grouping, and JSON output
- Where it doesn't
- Terminal-only workflow without a graphical treemap view
- No app-size view for comparing installed applications
- External-drive scanning is not explicitly documented
dust fact sheet, pricing and score →
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