head to head · open source
photocraft vs GIMP
photocraft has 76,172 GitHub stars, 13,501 forks, 1,208 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GIMP has 6,560 stars, 915 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. photocraft leads on adoption by 1,061% (76,172 vs 6,560 stars). photocraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; GIMP is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence. photocraft has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, GIMP 14%. GIMP 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 | GIMP | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 6.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 915 |
| 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 GIMP if
- You want the GIMP feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and GIMP 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 GIMP
GNU Image Manipulation Program 3.3 Development Branch This is an unstable development release in the GIMP 3.3 series. If you think you found a bug in this version, please make sure that it hasn't been reported earlier and report it! If you want to hack on GIMP, please read the file devel docs/README.md. For detailed installation instructions, see the file INSTALL. 1. Web Resources ================ GIMP's home page is at: Please be sure to visit this site for information, documentation, tutorials, news, etc. All things GIMP ish are available from there. The latest version of GIMP can be found at: We also have a…
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Frequently asked questions
Is photocraft or GIMP more popular?
photocraft has 76,172 GitHub stars and GIMP has 6,560. photocraft has the larger community by that measure.
Are photocraft and GIMP free?
Both are open source. photocraft is licensed under Apache-2.0, and GIMP has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between photocraft and GIMP?
photocraft is written in Rust and GIMP 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, photocraft or GIMP?
Choose photocraft if you want the larger community (76,172 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose GIMP if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.