head to head · open source
libvips vs TagStudio
libvips has 11,656 GitHub stars, 797 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. TagStudio has 7,200 stars, 467 forks, 280 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. libvips leads on adoption by 62% (11,656 vs 7,200 stars). libvips is written in C under LGPL-2.1; TagStudio is written in Python under GPL-3.0. libvips has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, TagStudio 6%. libvips 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| libvips | TagStudio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 7.2K |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 797 | ⑂ 467 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick libvips if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick TagStudio if
- You want the TagStudio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and TagStudio fits your workflow better
About libvips
libvips is a demand driven, horizontally threaded image processing library in C, licensed LGPL 2.1 or later, for developers who need to resize, convert and analyse large images quickly without exhausting memory.
read the full libvips overview →
About TagStudio
TagStudio is a free, open source (GPL 3.0) photo and file management application written in Python that organizes an existing media collection with a tag based system rather than importing, moving, or duplicating files.
read the full TagStudio overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Photo & Video Editors projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Photo & Video Editors field.
Frequently asked questions
Is libvips or TagStudio more popular?
libvips has 11,656 GitHub stars and TagStudio has 7,200. libvips has the larger community by that measure.
Are libvips and TagStudio free?
Both are open source. libvips is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and TagStudio under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between libvips and TagStudio?
libvips is written in C and TagStudio 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, libvips or TagStudio?
Choose libvips if you want the larger community (11,656 stars) or its LGPL-2.1 licence terms. Choose TagStudio if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.