head to head · open source
sharp vs vidcutter
sharp has 32,787 GitHub stars, 1,446 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. vidcutter has 1,996 stars, 153 forks, 298 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. sharp leads on adoption by 1,543% (32,787 vs 1,996 stars). sharp is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; vidcutter is written in Python under GPL-3.0. sharp has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, vidcutter 8%. sharp 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 | vidcutter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-23 | 2026-10-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 153 |
| 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 vidcutter if
- You want the vidcutter 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 vidcutter 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 vidcutter
flatpak (Linux) or via the terminal: snap (Linux) or via the terminal: Arch Linux (incl. Manjaro/etc.) Users can install the stable version directly from the Arch Linux community repo packages or via AUR for the development version. LATEST STABLE RELEASE: $ sudo pacman S vidcutter Using an AUR helper like yay (replace yay with any other AUR helper): LATEST DEVELOPMENT RELEASE: $ yay S vidcutter git Ubuntu (incl. Mint/Debian/KDE Neon/etc.) Users can install the latest release via: ppa:ozmartian/apps The following set of commands will get you up and running: $ sudo add apt repository ppa:ozmartian/apps $ sudo apt…
read the full vidcutter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is sharp or vidcutter more popular?
sharp has 32,787 GitHub stars and vidcutter has 1,996. sharp has the larger community by that measure.
Are sharp and vidcutter free?
Both are open source. sharp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and vidcutter under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between sharp and vidcutter?
sharp is written in JavaScript and vidcutter 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 vidcutter?
Choose sharp if you want the larger community (32,787 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose vidcutter if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.