head to head · open source
photocraft vs better-shot
photocraft has 76,172 GitHub stars, 13,501 forks, 1,208 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. better-shot has 2,431 stars, 148 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. photocraft leads on adoption by 3,033% (76,172 vs 2,431 stars). photocraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; better-shot is written in Swift under a custom or non-standard licence. photocraft has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, better-shot 6%. photocraft 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
| photocraft | better-shot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 148 |
| 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 better-shot if
- You want the better-shot feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and better-shot 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…
read the full photocraft overview →
About better-shot
BetterShot One app for the whole screen. Screenshots, screen recording, and a video editor, native on macOS. An open source alternative to CleanShot X and Loom with no subscription, no account, and no telemetry. Nothing leaves your Mac unless you share it, and shares go to storage you own. Features Screenshots: region, fullscreen, and window capture with macOS's native selector. OCR text extraction and hex color picker included. Screenshot saving: Copy is clipboard only for every capture mode and in the editor. Screenshots stay in private working storage until you choose Save or Export; editor Save also works…
read the full better-shot overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is photocraft or better-shot more popular?
photocraft has 76,172 GitHub stars and better-shot has 2,431. photocraft has the larger community by that measure.
Are photocraft and better-shot free?
Both are open source. photocraft is licensed under Apache-2.0, and better-shot has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between photocraft and better-shot?
photocraft is written in Rust and better-shot in Swift. 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 better-shot?
Choose photocraft if you want the larger community (76,172 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose better-shot if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.