head to head · open source
sharp vs Kdenlive
sharp has 32,821 GitHub stars, 1,448 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Kdenlive has 6,043 stars, 557 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sharp leads on adoption by 443% (32,821 vs 6,043 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; Kdenlive is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Kdenlive 9%. Kdenlive 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 | Kdenlive | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 557 |
| 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 Kdenlive if
- You want the Kdenlive 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 Kdenlive 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 Kdenlive
Kdenlive Kdenlive is a powerful, free and open source video editor that brings professional grade video editing capabilities to everyone. Whether you're creating a simple family video or working on a complex project, Kdenlive provides the tools you need to bring your vision to life. For more information about Kdenlive's features, tutorials, and community, please visit our official website. There you can also find downloads for both stable releases and experimental daily builds for Kdenlive. Contributing to Kdenlive Kdenlive is a community driven project, and we welcome contributions from everyone! There are many…
read the full Kdenlive overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or Kdenlive more popular?
sharp has 32,821 GitHub stars and Kdenlive has 6,043. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and Kdenlive free?
Both are open source. sharp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Kdenlive under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between sharp and Kdenlive?
sharp is written in JavaScript and Kdenlive 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 Kdenlive?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,821 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Kdenlive if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.