darktable vs Puter

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeaturedarktablePuter
CategoryPhoto ManagementFile Sync & Storage
LicenseGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageCTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM2,048 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, snapdocker
GitHub stars★ 12,904★ 43,003
First released20092026
ReplacesAdobe Lightroom

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 Puter if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 43k GitHub stars
  • Written in TypeScript
Puter details

Frequently asked questions

Is darktable or Puter better?

Neither is universally better. Puter has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are darktable and Puter free and open-source?

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

Can I run darktable and Puter with Docker?

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

Related comparisons