darktable vs PictShare

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?
FeaturedarktablePictShare
CategoryPhoto ManagementPhoto Management
LicenseGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageCPHP
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM2,048 MB128 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, snapdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 12,904★ 945
First released20092014
ReplacesAdobe LightroomImgur

Why pick each one

Choose darktable if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Mature project with 12.9k GitHub stars
  • Written in C
darktable details

Choose PictShare if…

  • Simple and fast
  • No database required
PictShare details

Frequently asked questions

Is darktable or PictShare better?

Neither is universally better. darktable has the larger community, while PictShare is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are darktable and PictShare free and open-source?

Yes. darktable is licensed under GPL-3.0 and PictShare under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run darktable and PictShare with Docker?

darktable: check the project docs for container support. PictShare: yes.

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