head to head · open source
sharp vs better-shot
sharp has 32,817 GitHub stars, 1,447 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. better-shot has 2,431 stars, 148 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. sharp leads on adoption by 1,250% (32,817 vs 2,431 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; better-shot is written in Swift under a custom or non-standard licence. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, better-shot 6%. sharp 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 | better-shot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 148 |
| 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 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 sharp
sharp The typical use case for this high speed Node API module is to convert large images in common formats to smaller, web friendly JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF and AVIF images of varying dimensions. It can be used with all JavaScript runtimes that provide support for Node API v9, including Node.js ( = 20.9.0), Deno and Bun. Resizing an image is typically 4x 5x faster than using the quickest ImageMagick and GraphicsMagick settings due to its use of libvips. Colour spaces, embedded ICC profiles and alpha transparency channels are all handled correctly. Lanczos resampling ensures quality is not sacrificed for speed. As…
read the full sharp 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 sharp or better-shot more popular?
sharp has 32,817 GitHub stars and better-shot has 2,431. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and better-shot free?
Both are open source. sharp 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 sharp and better-shot?
sharp is written in JavaScript 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, sharp or better-shot?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,817 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.