darktable vs Ente Photos
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
darktable
Open-source photography workflow and RAW developer
VS
Ente Photos
End-to-end encrypted photo storage and backup
| Feature | darktable | Ente Photos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Dart |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, snap | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,904 | ★ 28,201 |
| First released | 2009 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Adobe Lightroom | Google Photos, iCloud Photos |
Why pick each one
Choose darktable if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 12.9k GitHub stars
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is darktable or Ente Photos better?
Neither is universally better. Ente Photos has the larger community, while darktable is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are darktable and Ente Photos free and open-source?
Yes. darktable is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Ente Photos under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run darktable and Ente Photos with Docker?
darktable: check the project docs for container support. Ente Photos: yes.