head to head · open source
sharp vs OpenShot
sharp has 32,695 GitHub stars, 1,437 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenShot has 6,523 stars, 812 forks, 418 open issues and last shipped today. sharp leads on adoption by 401% (32,695 vs 6,523 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; OpenShot is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, OpenShot 12%. OpenShot 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
| sharp | OpenShot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 6.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 812 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick sharp if
- You weight community size — 33K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OpenShot if
- You want the OpenShot feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and OpenShot fits your workflow better
About sharp
sharp is a high performance Node.js image processing library that converts large images in common formats into smaller, web friendly JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF and AVIF files, and it is built for JavaScript developers who need fast, dependency light resizing inside Node.js, Deno or Bun applications.
read the full sharp overview →
About OpenShot
OpenShot Video Editor is a free, cross platform, open source video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows, built for hobbyists, educators, and small production teams who want timeline based editing and animation without a commercial subscription.
read the full OpenShot overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or OpenShot more popular?
sharp has 32,695 GitHub stars and OpenShot has 6,523. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and OpenShot free?
Both are open source. sharp is licensed under Apache-2.0, and OpenShot has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between sharp and OpenShot?
sharp is written in JavaScript and OpenShot 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, sharp or OpenShot?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,695 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenShot if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.