head to head · open source
Audacity vs Darktable
Audacity has 18,465 GitHub stars, 2,671 forks, 1,781 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Darktable has 13,088 stars, 1,434 forks, 678 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Audacity leads on adoption by 41% (18,465 vs 13,088 stars). Audacity is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; Darktable is written in C under GPL-3.0. Audacity has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Darktable 11%. Darktable was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Audacity | Darktable | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 13K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Audacity if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Darktable if
- You want the Darktable feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and Darktable fits your workflow better
About Audacity
Audacity is an open source audio editor and recorder written in C++ and distributed under free software terms. It lives in the open source desktop audio editing ecosystem, where it provides a multi track interface for recording and editing audio on Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. The README describes the project as an easy to use audio tool, and the repository contains both the Audacity 3.x line and the in progress Audacity 4 line.
read the full Audacity overview →
About Darktable
Darktable is an open source photography workflow application and non destructive raw developer. It acts as a virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers, and it lives in the open source photography ecosystem as a C project licensed under the GPL 3.0. It manages digital negatives in a database, lets a user view them through a zoomable lighttable, and supports raw development, enhancement, and export to local or remote storage.
read the full Darktable overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Audacity or Darktable more popular?
Audacity has 18,465 GitHub stars and Darktable has 13,088. Audacity has the larger community by that measure.
Are Audacity and Darktable free?
Both are open source. Audacity has no licence declared in this registry, and Darktable is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Audacity and Darktable?
Audacity is written in C++ and Darktable in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Audacity or Darktable?
Choose Audacity if you want the larger community (18,465 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Darktable if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.