head to head · open source
photocraft vs NegPy
photocraft has 69,826 GitHub stars, 12,327 forks, 1,208 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NegPy has 1,089 stars, 99 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. photocraft leads on adoption by 6,312% (69,826 vs 1,089 stars). photocraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; NegPy is written in Python under GPL-3.0. photocraft has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, NegPy 9%. 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 | NegPy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 70K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-21 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 99 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick photocraft if
- You weight community size — 70K 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 NegPy if
- You want the NegPy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and NegPy 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 NegPy
NegPy NegPy turns scans of film negatives and slides into finished pictures. I wrote it because I wanted a tool made for film scans that does more than invert them. It models film and photographic paper, and adds the conveniences of a lab scanner. It is written in Python and runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. The User Guide covers every panel and control (the ⓘ on each panel opens it in the app). PIPELINE.md explains the math. Languages The desktop interface and panel guides support English, Simplified Chinese (简体中文), Japanese (日本語) and Korean (한국어). Choose a language in Preferences → Interface → Language , then…
read the full NegPy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is photocraft or NegPy more popular?
photocraft has 69,826 GitHub stars and NegPy has 1,089. photocraft has the larger community by that measure.
Are photocraft and NegPy free?
Both are open source. photocraft is licensed under Apache-2.0 and NegPy under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between photocraft and NegPy?
photocraft is written in Rust and NegPy 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, photocraft or NegPy?
Choose photocraft if you want the larger community (69,826 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose NegPy if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.