head to head · open source
sharp vs GIMP
sharp has 32,695 GitHub stars, 1,437 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GIMP has 6,437 stars, 890 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sharp leads on adoption by 408% (32,695 vs 6,437 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; GIMP is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence. sharp has attracted 4% 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
| sharp | GIMP | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 6.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 890 |
| 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 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 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 GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free, open source raster image editor aimed at photographers, designers, and illustrators who need professional grade editing tools without a commercial licence, and it is positioned in this registry as the open alternative to Adobe Photoshop.
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Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or GIMP more popular?
sharp has 32,695 GitHub stars and GIMP has 6,437. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and GIMP free?
Both are open source. sharp 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 sharp and GIMP?
sharp is written in JavaScript 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, sharp or GIMP?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,695 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.