head to head · open source
Graphite vs vectorcraft
Graphite has 27,531 GitHub stars, 1,284 forks, 562 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. vectorcraft has 6,960 stars, 3,087 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Graphite leads on adoption by 296% (27,531 vs 6,960 stars). Graphite is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; vectorcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Graphite has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, vectorcraft 44%. vectorcraft was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (art), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Graphite | vectorcraft | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 7.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-10 | 2026-10-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Graphite if
- You weight community size — 28K 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 vectorcraft if
- You want the vectorcraft feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and vectorcraft fits your workflow better
About Graphite
Graphite is a browser based, open source procedural vector editor and 2D content creation application built with Rust. It operates entirely client side with no signup required and runs directly at editor.graphite.art. As an alpha stage project, it combines layer based compositing with a node based procedural graphics engine, evolving beyond traditional vector editing into a generalized graphics toolbox.
read the full Graphite overview →
About vectorcraft
VectorCraft is an open source, clean room reimplementation of Adobe Illustrator written in pure Rust, aimed at illustrators and designers who want the Illustrator workflow without a proprietary licence.
read the full vectorcraft overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Graphite or vectorcraft more popular?
Graphite has 27,531 GitHub stars and vectorcraft has 6,960. Graphite has the larger community by that measure.
Are Graphite and vectorcraft free?
Both are open source. Graphite is licensed under Apache-2.0 and vectorcraft under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Graphite and vectorcraft?
Graphite is written in Rust and vectorcraft in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Graphite or vectorcraft?
Choose Graphite if you want the larger community (27,531 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose vectorcraft if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.