head to head · open source
sharp vs geemap
sharp has 32,732 GitHub stars, 1,441 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. geemap has 4,033 stars, 1,155 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. sharp leads on adoption by 712% (32,732 vs 4,033 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; geemap is written in Python under MIT. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, geemap 29%. geemap was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (image-processing), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | geemap | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 4.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-28 | 2026-09-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 geemap if
- You want the geemap feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and geemap fits your workflow better
About sharp
sharp is a high performance Node.js image processing library that converts large images in common formats into smaller, web friendly JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF and AVIF files, and it is built for JavaScript developers who need fast, dependency light resizing inside Node.js, Deno or Bun applications.
read the full sharp overview →
About geemap
geemap is an MIT licensed Python package that brings interactive geospatial analysis and visualization with Google Earth Engine into Jupyter based environments, and it is built for students, researchers, and existing Earth Engine users who want to explore satellite imagery with the Python ecosystem.
read the full geemap overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or geemap more popular?
sharp has 32,732 GitHub stars and geemap has 4,033. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and geemap free?
Both are open source. sharp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and geemap under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between sharp and geemap?
sharp is written in JavaScript and geemap 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, sharp or geemap?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,732 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose geemap if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.