head to head · open source
OpenCut vs Darktable
OpenCut has 89,680 GitHub stars, 8,852 forks, 378 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Darktable has 13,088 stars, 1,434 forks, 678 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenCut leads on adoption by 585% (89,680 vs 13,088 stars). OpenCut is written in TypeScript under MIT; Darktable is written in C under GPL-3.0. OpenCut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Darktable 11%. Darktable 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
| OpenCut | Darktable | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-08-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenCut if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Darktable if
- You want the Darktable 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 Darktable fits your workflow better
About OpenCut
OpenCut is a free, MIT licensed video editor that runs in the browser and is being rebuilt to serve web, desktop, and mobile from a single codebase, aimed at creators who want an open source alternative to CapCut.
read the full OpenCut overview →
About Darktable
Darktable is an open source photography workflow application and non destructive raw developer. It acts as a virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers, and it lives in the open source photography ecosystem as a C project licensed under the GPL 3.0. It manages digital negatives in a database, lets a user view them through a zoomable lighttable, and supports raw development, enhancement, and export to local or remote storage.
read the full Darktable overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenCut or Darktable more popular?
OpenCut has 89,680 GitHub stars and Darktable has 13,088. OpenCut has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenCut and Darktable free?
Both are open source. OpenCut is licensed under MIT and Darktable under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenCut and Darktable?
OpenCut is written in TypeScript and Darktable 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, OpenCut or Darktable?
Choose OpenCut if you want the larger community (89,680 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Darktable if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.