head to head · open source
lightcraft vs google-images-download
lightcraft has 15,318 GitHub stars, 5,886 forks, 347 open issues and last shipped yesterday. google-images-download has 8,702 stars, 2,081 forks, 66 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. lightcraft leads on adoption by 76% (15,318 vs 8,702 stars). lightcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; google-images-download is written in Python under MIT. lightcraft has attracted 38% as many forks as stars, google-images-download 24%. lightcraft 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
| lightcraft | google-images-download | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 8.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-05-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lightcraft if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick google-images-download if
- You want the google-images-download feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and google-images-download fits your workflow better
About lightcraft
LightCraft Your photos. Your pixels. Your machine. English · 简体中文 Photo library and raw development; an open source, clean room reimplementation of Adobe Lightroom, rebuilt in pure Rust. Native on macOS, Windows and Linux. In the browser via WebAssembly. Drivable end to end by AI agents over MCP. LightCraft on getartcraft.com · ArtCraft · All Crafting Apps Ansel Adams, "The Tetons and the Snake River" (1942). Public domain, U.S. National Archives. Developed in LightCraft. [!NOTE] ArtCraft is a community of artists from all walks of life. Digital, generative, music, games — if you make things, you're one of…
read the full lightcraft overview →
About google-images-download
Google Images Download Python Script for 'searching' and 'downloading' hundreds of images from Google to the local hard drive! Documentation ============= Documentation Homepage Installation Input arguments Examples and Code Samples Requirements ============ Chrome/Chromium browser is required for this tool to work. Google Images now requires JavaScript execution, so Selenium with Chrome is mandatory for all downloads. Installation: Linux : apt get install chromium browser or apt get install google chrome stable macOS : brew install cask google chrome Windows : Download from The tool will automatically download…
read the full google-images-download overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lightcraft or google-images-download more popular?
lightcraft has 15,318 GitHub stars and google-images-download has 8,702. lightcraft has the larger community by that measure.
Are lightcraft and google-images-download free?
Both are open source. lightcraft is licensed under Apache-2.0 and google-images-download under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lightcraft and google-images-download?
lightcraft is written in Rust and google-images-download in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, lightcraft or google-images-download?
Choose lightcraft if you want the larger community (15,318 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose google-images-download if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.