head to head · open source
filepond vs Darktable
filepond has 16,393 GitHub stars, 848 forks, 142 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Darktable has 13,106 stars, 1,434 forks, 678 open issues and last shipped today. filepond leads on adoption by 25% (16,393 vs 13,106 stars). filepond is written in JavaScript under MIT; Darktable is written in C under GPL-3.0. filepond has attracted 5% 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
| filepond | Darktable | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 848 | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick filepond if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- 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 filepond
FilePond is an MIT licensed JavaScript file upload library for front end developers who need drag and drop, clipboard paste, API driven uploads, and automatic image optimization in one dependency.
read the full filepond 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 filepond or Darktable more popular?
filepond has 16,393 GitHub stars and Darktable has 13,106. filepond has the larger community by that measure.
Are filepond and Darktable free?
Both are open source. filepond is licensed under MIT and Darktable under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between filepond and Darktable?
filepond is written in JavaScript 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, filepond or Darktable?
Choose filepond if you want the larger community (16,393 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Darktable if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.