head to head · open source
sharp vs Krita
sharp has 32,817 GitHub stars, 1,447 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Krita has 10,680 stars, 898 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sharp leads on adoption by 207% (32,817 vs 10,680 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; Krita is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Krita 8%. Krita 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 | Krita | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 898 |
| 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 Krita if
- You want the Krita 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 Krita 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…
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About Krita
Note: Nightly builds are not covered by this table atm Krita is a free and open source digital painting application. It is for artists who want to create professional work from start to end. Krita is used by comic book artists, illustrators, concept artists, matte and texture painters and in the digital VFX industry. If you are reading this on GitHub, be aware that this is just a mirror. Our real code repository is provided by KDE: Repository Status For branch: master User Manual Development Notes and Build Instructions Please follow the online documentation. Other developer guides, notes and wiki: Apidox: Bugs…
read the full Krita overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or Krita more popular?
sharp has 32,817 GitHub stars and Krita has 10,680. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and Krita free?
Both are open source. sharp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Krita under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between sharp and Krita?
sharp is written in JavaScript and Krita 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 Krita?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,817 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Krita if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.