head to head · open source
OBS Studio vs ShareX
OBS Studio has 78,841 GitHub stars, 11,037 forks, 1,148 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ShareX has 40,589 stars, 4,023 forks, 646 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OBS Studio leads on adoption by 94% (78,841 vs 40,589 stars). OBS Studio is written in C under GPL-2.0; ShareX is written in C# under GPL-3.0. OBS Studio has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, ShareX 10%. ShareX 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
| OBS Studio | ShareX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 41K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 4.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OBS Studio if
- You weight community size — 79K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ShareX if
- You want the ShareX 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 ShareX fits your workflow better
About OBS Studio
OBS Studio =================================== .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Build Status GitHub Actions :target: .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Translation Project Progress :target: .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Discord Server :target: What is OBS Studio? OBS Studio is software designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content, efficiently. It's distributed under the GNU General Public License v2 (or any later version) see the accompanying COPYING file for more details. Quick Links Website: Help/Documentation/Guides: Forums: Build Instructions: Developer/API Documentation…
read the full OBS Studio overview →
About ShareX
Screen capture, file sharing and productivity tool For further information please check our website ShareX Free Screen Capture, Screenshot, File Sharing and Productivity Tool ShareX is a free and open source screenshot tool, screen recorder, file sharing tool and productivity application for Windows. It is designed for users who need fast screen capture, powerful screenshot editing, automated sharing, custom upload destinations and practical utilities in one lightweight desktop app. With ShareX, you can capture any area of your screen, record video or GIFs, annotate screenshots, upload files, copy shareable…
read the full ShareX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OBS Studio or ShareX more popular?
OBS Studio has 78,841 GitHub stars and ShareX has 40,589. OBS Studio has the larger community by that measure.
Are OBS Studio and ShareX free?
Both are open source. OBS Studio is licensed under GPL-2.0 and ShareX under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OBS Studio and ShareX?
OBS Studio is written in C and ShareX 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, OBS Studio or ShareX?
Choose OBS Studio if you want the larger community (78,841 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose ShareX if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.