GraphicsMagick vs ImageMagick
GraphicsMagick
graphicsmagick.org
ImageMagick
imagemagick.orgSide by side
| Figure | GraphicsMagick | ImageMagick |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Batch Photo Processing Software | 8.7 (#6) | 8.7 (#7) |
| Spec score · Image Converter Software | 8.8 (#7) | 8.7 (#8) |
| Perl API | PerlMagick is an object-oriented Perl interface for reading, modifying, and writing images or image sequences, and is installed with GraphicsMagick on Unix. | PerlMagick is an object-oriented Perl interface that reads, manipulates, and writes images or image sequences. |
| Platforms | The project says it runs on Unix and Unix-like systems including Linux, Windows 10 and later, and MacOS-X. | The maker says ImageMagick can be used on Linux, Windows, and macOS. |
| Programming APIs | Official programming interfaces cover C core, C Wand, C++, Lua, Perl, PHP, Python, Tcl/Tk, Ruby, Go, Node.js, Redis, .NET, and Windows COM, with some maintained by third parties. | The project provides native C interfaces, Magick++, PerlMagick, and bindings or wrappers for languages including PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, and .NET. |
| Self-hosting | Source and binaries are downloadable from SourceForge, and the source can be cloned from Mercurial repositories for local builds and private modifications. | The software can be built from source and installed locally on Linux, macOS, Windows, and other Unix-like systems. |
| What it does | GraphicsMagick is a portable image-processing toolkit for converting, editing, compositing, rendering, comparing, and describing images. | ImageMagick is a free, open-source suite for creating, editing, composing, converting, and inspecting raster images. |
Plans
In their own words
GraphicsMagick
GraphicsMagick is free image-processing software with command-line tools, programming interfaces, and graphical interfaces for image conversion, editing, and 2D vector rendering. It can resize, rotate, sharpen, reduce colors, apply effects, compare and composite images, create montages and GIF animations, and draw shapes or text. It reads, writes, and manipulates images in more than 92 major formats, including AVIF, GIF, HEIC, JPEG, JPEG-2000, JXL, PNG, PDF, TIFF, and WebP. The software also supports very large images, including gigapixel-size files. OpenMP multi-threading can scale CPU-bound processing across processor cores when built with a compatible compiler. Interfaces include C, C++, Lua, Perl, PHP, Python, Tcl, Ruby, Windows .NET, and Windows COM, alongside the command line. Some format support relies on external components, such as Ghostscript for PDF and PostScript or dcraw for camera RAW formats. GraphicsMagick is distributed under an MIT-style license for open-source, proprietary, or GPLed applications. The project lists version 1.3.48, released July 23, 2026, as current and recommends updating because significant issues are addressed in almost every release.
ImageMagick
ImageMagick is a free, open-source suite for creating, editing, composing, converting, and manipulating digital images. It reads more than 100 major image formats, including JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and Ultra HDR. Its tools cover animation, color management, rendering, resizing, rotation, cropping, compositing, and effects. Command-line tools support scripts and automated image-processing pipelines, while APIs let developers incorporate its image-processing capabilities into applications. The project identifies Magick.NET as a .NET wrapper. ImageMagick supports Windows, macOS, Linux, API, and self-hosted use. Linux users should note that the provided AppImage is the sole pre-built binary; other distribution builds or custom compile options require building from source. The software is open by default, so its maker advises configuring a local security policy before use. Policy options range from open to websafe and can limit memory, disk space, image sequence length, and processing time. Commercial use is permitted; redistribution requires attribution and a copy of the license.