head to head · open source
sharp vs NegPy
sharp has 32,779 GitHub stars, 1,444 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. NegPy has 1,089 stars, 99 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. sharp leads on adoption by 2,910% (32,779 vs 1,089 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; NegPy is written in Python under GPL-3.0. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, NegPy 9%. NegPy 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 | NegPy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-20 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 99 |
| 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 NegPy if
- You want the NegPy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and NegPy 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 NegPy
NegPy NegPy turns scans of film negatives and slides into finished pictures. I wrote it because I wanted a tool made for film scans that does more than invert them. It models film and photographic paper, and adds the conveniences of a lab scanner. It is written in Python and runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. The User Guide covers every panel and control (the ⓘ on each panel opens it in the app). PIPELINE.md explains the math. Languages The desktop interface and panel guides support English, Simplified Chinese (简体中文), Japanese (日本語) and Korean (한국어). Choose a language in Preferences → Interface → Language , then…
read the full NegPy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or NegPy more popular?
sharp has 32,779 GitHub stars and NegPy has 1,089. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and NegPy free?
Both are open source. sharp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and NegPy under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between sharp and NegPy?
sharp is written in JavaScript and NegPy 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 NegPy?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,779 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose NegPy if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.