head to head · open source
sharp vs Darktable
sharp has 32,817 GitHub stars, 1,447 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Darktable has 13,383 stars, 1,506 forks, 678 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sharp leads on adoption by 145% (32,817 vs 13,383 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; Darktable is written in C under GPL-3.0. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Darktable 11%. Darktable 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| sharp | Darktable | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 Darktable if
- You want the Darktable feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and Darktable 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 Darktable
darktable ========= darktable is an open source photography workflow application and non destructive raw developer a virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers. It manages your digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable lighttable and enables you to develop raw images, enhance them and export them to local or remote storage. darktable is not a free Adobe® Lightroom® replacement. Table of Contents 1. Documentation 2. Website 3. Requirements Supported platforms Hardware AI features (optional) 4. Installing Latest release Development snapshot 5. Updating from older versions 6…
read the full Darktable overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Photo & Video Editors projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Photo & Video Editors field.
Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or Darktable more popular?
sharp has 32,817 GitHub stars and Darktable has 13,383. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and Darktable free?
Both are open source. sharp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Darktable under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between sharp and Darktable?
sharp is written in JavaScript and Darktable 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, sharp or Darktable?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,817 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Darktable if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.