The Best Adobe Lightroom AlternativesTop Photo Managers & Raw Photo Editors like Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom is described as 'Powerful photo editing and organizing with cloud backup, available on multiple devices including mobile, web, and desktop' and is a very popular Photo Manager in the photos & graphics category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Adobe Lightroom for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android apps. The best Adobe Lightroom alternative is darktable, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Adobe Lightroom are RawTherapee, digiKam, Capture One and Sly.
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Adobe Lightroom alternatives are mainly Photo Editors, but if you're looking for Raw Photo Editorss or Photo Managers you can filter on that. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Adobe Lightroom.- Photo Manager
- Paid • Proprietary
- 65 darktable alternatives
Open source non-destructive RAW editor and virtual darkroom with zoomable lighttable, database-driven organization, HDR and EXR support, floating-point workflow, batch exporting, and advanced editing for photography and scientific imaging across platforms.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Comments about darktable as an Alternative to Adobe Lightroom
Comment summary: Darktable is praised for being faster and potentially more powerful than Lightroom, offering similar features including improved denoise capabilities. However, some users note a significant drawback in its lack of robust photo organization functions, a key feature of Lightroom. Despite this, as a free open-source solution, darktable remains a strong contender as a Lightroom alternative, especially for those prioritizing cost and development features.Top Positive CommentMost Recent CommentRomanThe general approach, workflow and selection of tools for RAW development is a close match to Lightroom, but it's free and works on Linux
boludeFOSS and does everything Lightroom does
- 55 RawTherapee alternatives
Raw photo processing software with advanced control over demosaicing. Ideal for newcomers, semi-professionals, and professionals. Supports HDR DNGs, JPGs, and TIFFs, with in-house enhancements for some camera models. Open-source, lacks digital asset management.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- Flatpak
Comments about RawTherapee as an Alternative to Adobe Lightroom
MercuryHeroFairly advanced control over RAW processing including demosaicing algorithm, gamma curves, etc. Supports its own profiles and presets.
- 97 digiKam alternatives
digiKam is an advanced digital photo management tool that simplifies importing and organizing photos into albums. It supports various formats including RAW, features tagging, metadata management, duplicate finder, photo editing, sharing, GPS data handling, and has cross-platform compatibility.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE Plasma
- Flathub
- Qt
Comments about digiKam as an Alternative to Adobe Lightroom
Most Recent CommentDatabase functionality - Lots of other pieces of software mentioned are good at RAW processing but few, if any, have a good, structured back-end to organise photos.
digiKam is good at organizing photos but has nothing to edit or adjust photos and RAW files. It only covers half of the features of Lightroom
digiKam is a photo management while lightroom is a raw photo editor, they have nothing in common
- 53 Capture One alternatives
Capture One is a leading raw converter and workflow software which enables photographers to reduce the time and effort required to deliver astounding ready-to-use images with excellent color and detail.
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
Denmark
EU
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- iPhone
- iPad
Top Capture One Features
Comments about Capture One as an Alternative to Adobe Lightroom
Top Positive CommentSame professional RAW editing results. Perpetual license option.
Most Recent CommentDalsPhotographyQuite pricey, but very capable. Excellent for tethering in studio photography. Heavy on mac older machines, and builds catalogs as LR does which overtime can become a huge file catalog. NOT an easy importing option. To my personal opinion that is what really bothers most compared to other available programs. It's easy to work with but different in many aspects to LR. Many tutorials online and a good post sale service, much better than Adobe's in general.
Gev XSpeed edit feature
Uncrop ability (some wide-angle lens has hidden crop)
Overexposing areas (e.g. bright color LED-lights) looks nicer in C1
More customizable interface
- 33 Sly alternatives
Sly is a user-friendly, offline image editor requiring no expertise; adjust brightness, contrast, apply effects, and export in JPEG or PNG formats with control over metadata.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
- International
Platforms
- Mac
- Linux
- Android
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Online
- 136 Polarr alternatives
From advanced image filters to professional local adjustments, Polarr Photo Editor is the most versatile and powerful online photo editor in the web.
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Polarr Features
Comments about Polarr as an Alternative to Adobe Lightroom
Very flexible and can handle bulk applications of filters, fixes and adjustments. Cross-platform, even on the web when you can't install it on a local machine.
- 75 Luminar Neo alternatives
Advanced RAW photo editing software equipped with AI-driven features like GenErase, GenExpand, and GenSwap. Enhances portraits and landscapes using Sky AI and Atmosphere AI. Compatible with Adobe and Apple products, supports multiple formats, and offers panorama stitching, noise reduction, and more.
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- iPhone
- iPad
- Apple Photos
- Adobe Photoshop
- visionOS
- Adobe Lightroom
Top Luminar Neo Features
Comments about Luminar Neo as an Alternative to Adobe Lightroom
BJSkylum's business model is to overpromise and under-deliver. Learned that the hard way. Maybe they'll actually enable GPU processing before the next decade.
It's slow on my old Mac, but it's «easy to understand»!
Complete Raw processing suite. Best free open source solution