head to head · open source
photocraft vs lightcraft
photocraft has 76,172 GitHub stars, 13,501 forks, 1,208 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lightcraft has 15,318 stars, 5,886 forks, 347 open issues and last shipped yesterday. photocraft leads on adoption by 397% (76,172 vs 15,318 stars). photocraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; lightcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. photocraft has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, lightcraft 38%. photocraft was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (art, rust), 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
| photocraft | lightcraft | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 15K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 5.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick photocraft if
- You weight community size — 76K 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 lightcraft if
- You want the lightcraft 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 lightcraft fits your workflow better
About photocraft
PhotoCraft Image editing; an open source, clean room reimplementation of Adobe Photoshop, rebuilt in pure Rust. Layers, masks, adjustment layers, layer styles, type, vectors, brushes and real PSD files, in a native app written entirely in Rust. Open source, offline, and yours. PhotoCraft on getartcraft.com · ArtCraft · All Crafting Apps A caption card with a drop shadow, live type, and Vibrance and Curves adjustment layers, with the Curves editor open. The Great Wave off Kanagawa , Katsushika Hokusai, c. 1831 [!NOTE] ArtCraft is a community of artists from all walks of life. Digital, generative, music, games…
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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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is photocraft or lightcraft more popular?
photocraft has 76,172 GitHub stars and lightcraft has 15,318. photocraft has the larger community by that measure.
Are photocraft and lightcraft free?
Both are open source. photocraft is licensed under Apache-2.0 and lightcraft under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between photocraft and lightcraft?
photocraft is written in Rust and lightcraft 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, photocraft or lightcraft?
Choose photocraft if you want the larger community (76,172 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose lightcraft if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.