head to head · open source
sharp vs rembg
sharp has 32,817 GitHub stars, 1,447 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. rembg has 25,301 stars, 2,467 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sharp leads on adoption by 30% (32,817 vs 25,301 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; rembg is written in Python under MIT. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, rembg 10%. rembg 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 | rembg | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 25K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 2.5K |
| 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 rembg if
- You want the rembg feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and rembg 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 rembg
Rembg is a tool to remove image backgrounds. It can be used as a CLI, Python library, HTTP server, or Docker container. Sponsors PhotoRoom Remove Background API Fast and accurate background remover API If this project has helped you, please consider making a donation. Requirements bash pip install "rembg[gpu]" for library pip install "rembg[gpu,cli]" for library + cli bash pip install "rembg[rocm]" for library pip install "rembg[rocm,cli]" for library + cli shell rembg help shell rembg help shell curl s rembg i output.png shell rembg i path/to/input.png path/to/output.png shell rembg i path/to/input.png →…
read the full rembg overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or rembg more popular?
sharp has 32,817 GitHub stars and rembg has 25,301. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and rembg free?
Both are open source. sharp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rembg under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between sharp and rembg?
sharp is written in JavaScript and rembg 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 rembg?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,817 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rembg if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.