darktable vs Sigal

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?
FeaturedarktableSigal
CategoryPhoto ManagementPhoto Management
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageCJavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM2,048 MB128 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, snapbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 12,904★ 942
First released20092012
ReplacesAdobe LightroomFlickr

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 Sigal if…

  • Very lightweight
  • Easy to host
Sigal details

Frequently asked questions

Is darktable or Sigal better?

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

Are darktable and Sigal free and open-source?

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

Can I run darktable and Sigal with Docker?

darktable: check the project docs for container support. Sigal: check the project docs for container support.

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