head to head · open source
Darktable vs GIMP
Darktable has 13,383 GitHub stars, 1,506 forks, 678 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GIMP has 6,560 stars, 915 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Darktable leads on adoption by 104% (13,383 vs 6,560 stars). Darktable is written in C under GPL-3.0; GIMP is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence. Darktable has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, GIMP 14%. GIMP 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
| Darktable | GIMP | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 13K | ★ 6.6K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | C | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 915 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Darktable if
- You weight community size — 13K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick GIMP if
- You want the GIMP feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and GIMP fits your workflow better
About Darktable
darktable ========= darktable is an open source photography workflow application and non destructive raw developer a virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers. It manages your digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable lighttable and enables you to develop raw images, enhance them and export them to local or remote storage. darktable is not a free Adobe® Lightroom® replacement. Table of Contents 1. Documentation 2. Website 3. Requirements Supported platforms Hardware AI features (optional) 4. Installing Latest release Development snapshot 5. Updating from older versions 6…
read the full Darktable overview →
About GIMP
GNU Image Manipulation Program 3.3 Development Branch This is an unstable development release in the GIMP 3.3 series. If you think you found a bug in this version, please make sure that it hasn't been reported earlier and report it! If you want to hack on GIMP, please read the file devel docs/README.md. For detailed installation instructions, see the file INSTALL. 1. Web Resources ================ GIMP's home page is at: Please be sure to visit this site for information, documentation, tutorials, news, etc. All things GIMP ish are available from there. The latest version of GIMP can be found at: We also have a…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Darktable or GIMP more popular?
Darktable has 13,383 GitHub stars and GIMP has 6,560. Darktable has the larger community by that measure.
Are Darktable and GIMP free?
Both are open source. Darktable is licensed under GPL-3.0, and GIMP has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Darktable and GIMP?
Darktable is written in C and GIMP 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, Darktable or GIMP?
Choose Darktable if you want the larger community (13,383 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose GIMP if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.