head to head · open source
Darktable vs Krita
Darktable has 13,383 GitHub stars, 1,506 forks, 678 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Krita has 10,680 stars, 898 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Darktable leads on adoption by 25% (13,383 vs 10,680 stars). Darktable is written in C under GPL-3.0; Krita is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Darktable has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Krita 8%. 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
| Darktable | Krita | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 13K | ★ 11K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 898 |
| 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 Krita if
- You want the Krita 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 Krita 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 Krita
Note: Nightly builds are not covered by this table atm Krita is a free and open source digital painting application. It is for artists who want to create professional work from start to end. Krita is used by comic book artists, illustrators, concept artists, matte and texture painters and in the digital VFX industry. If you are reading this on GitHub, be aware that this is just a mirror. Our real code repository is provided by KDE: Repository Status For branch: master User Manual Development Notes and Build Instructions Please follow the online documentation. Other developer guides, notes and wiki: Apidox: Bugs…
read the full Krita overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Darktable or Krita more popular?
Darktable has 13,383 GitHub stars and Krita has 10,680. Darktable has the larger community by that measure.
Are Darktable and Krita free?
Both are open source. Darktable is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Krita under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Darktable and Krita?
Darktable is written in C and Krita 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 Krita?
Choose Darktable if you want the larger community (13,383 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Krita if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.