What are the best Adobe Lightroom alternatives in 2020?

    Adobe Lightroom is described as 'Create incredible photos anywhere with all-new Lightroom CC and 1 TB of cloud storage. Get powerful editing features on any device in a new, easy-to-use interface' and is a well-known app in the Photos & Graphics category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Adobe Lightroom for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iPad and iPhone. The best alternative is darktable, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Adobe Lightroom are RawTherapee (Free, Open Source), digiKam (Free, Open Source), Affinity Photo (Paid) and Capture One (Paid).

    The list of alternatives was last updated Dec 30, 2020
    Adobe Lightroom info, screenshots & reviewsAlternatives to Adobe Lightroom
    • 87 alternatives

    • darktable

      darktable is a virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers: it manages your digital negatives in a database and lets you view them through a zoomable lighttable. View 44 alternatives to darktable
      Almost everyone thinks darktable is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Free • Open Source
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • Linux
      • BSD
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      darktable vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
       all • positive • negative      relevance • date
      Complete Raw processing suite. Best free open source solution
      Top positive comment  over 4 years ago

      Powerful RAW processor with options that not even Lightroom has.
      Top positive comment  almost 3 years ago

      Darktable lacks any photo organization capabilities. They consider this a feature and state you should organize them on disk outside the app. This is a pretty dumb idea since inside the ap, you can't organize, and outside the app you can't see the changes. Any comparison to Lightroom in this case is silly. 1/2 the (organize & develop) capability is gone.
      Top negative comment  over 4 years ago

      Far more powerful and with a bit of practice and reading, Lightroom would be a thing of the past. It is under active development. The unofficial facebook group can provide you with the best help and some very wonderful photo enthusiasts
      Positive comment • 4 months ago

      Well thought RAW-Suite with every Feature Lightroom has.
      Positive comment • 8 months ago

      Lacking photo organisation abilities of Lightroom
      Negative comment • almost 4 years ago

      ehshi The best alternative for Lightroom as a professional photographer.
      Positive comment • almost 4 years ago

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      7 of 9 comments

    • RawTherapee

      RawTherapee is a free RAW converter and digital photo processing software. All changes can be applied and batch processed at a convenient time. View 41 alternatives to RawTherapee
      Almost everyone thinks RawTherapee is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Free • Open Source
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • Linux
      • BSD
      • PortableApps.com
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      RawTherapee vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
      MercuryHero Fairly advanced control over RAW processing including demosaicing algorithm, gamma curves, etc. Supports its own profiles and presets.
      Positive comment • over 2 years ago

    • digiKam

      Professional digital photo management software to organize, tag, compare and process photo collections. View 68 alternatives to digiKam
      Almost everyone thinks digiKam is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Free • Open Source
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • Linux
      • BSD
      • KDE
      • Qt
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      digiKam vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
      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
      Negative comment • over 1 year ago

      Database 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.
      Positive comment • over 3 years ago

      digiKam is a photo management while lightroom is a raw photo editor, they have nothing in common
      Negative comment • over 3 years ago

    • Affinity Photo

      Professional image editing software for Windows, Mac, and iPad. View 79 alternatives to Affinity Photo
      This alternative is disputed. Affinity Photo is still a legitimate alternative to Adobe Lightroom, but it might have issues that some users think are important.
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • iPad
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      Affinity Photo vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
      User8391496 graphics editor, no organization capabilities
      Negative comment • over 3 years ago

      Affinity Photo is an alternative to Photoshop, not Lightroom. Affinity Photo can't do batch editing of photos right now.
      Negative comment • over 2 years ago

    • Capture One

      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. View 45 alternatives to Capture One
      Almost everyone thinks Capture One is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Mac
      • Windows
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      Capture One vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
      Same professional RAW editing results. Perpetual license option.
      Positive comment • over 3 years ago

      If you ever used the Express version for Sony Alpha, Nikon or Fujifilm, there will be no difference with the UI. However, if you want to open RAW photos from other camera brands (such as Canon, Panasonic Lumix etc.), you must buy the Pro version, and thankfully there's a perpetual license option.
      Positive comment • 10 months ago

      scruffyburger Advanced RAW editing features. Layer support, Advanced color management. Fast processing. Perpetual licensing option. Catalog or session options for dealing with photos.
      Positive comment • over 2 years ago

      Limited (but still good) free edition for Sony and Fujifilm cameras.
      Positive comment • over 1 year ago

    • Polarr

      From advanced image filters to professional local adjustments, Polarr Photo Editor is the most versatile and powerful online photo editor in the web. View 139 alternatives to Polarr
      Most users think Polarr is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Freemium • Proprietary
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • Online
      • Android
      • iPhone
      • Chrome OS
      • Windows S
      • Android Tablet
      • iPad
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      Polarr vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
      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.
      Positive comment • over 1 year ago

    • ACDSee Photo Studio

      ACDSee is a complex, multi-purpose application that serves for viewing, organizing and editing digital photos. View 143 alternatives to ACDSee Photo Studio
      Most users think ACDSee Photo Studio is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • iPhone
      • iPad
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    • Snapseed

      Snapseed is a photo enhancement and sharing app with a powerful suite of imaging filters and tools for anyone, anywhere to transform any image into an extraordinary photo. View 39 alternatives to Snapseed
      Most users think Snapseed is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Free • Proprietary
      • Android
      • iPhone
      • Android Tablet
      • iPad
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      Snapseed vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
      Snapseed is an image editor, not organizer.
      Negative comment • over 1 year ago

      Really good tool, but make sure you don't push the adjustments too far, or it'll ruin the photo.
      Positive comment • over 1 year ago

      Simple ui and light weight than lightroom
      Positive comment • over 2 years ago

      It's only for smartphones and tablets.
      Negative comment • over 2 years ago

    • Apple Photos

      Photos is a digital photograph manipulation application developed by Apple, intended to be less complex than its predecessor iPhoto . View 52 alternatives to Apple Photos
      Almost everyone thinks Apple Photos is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Free • Proprietary
      • Mac
      • Online
      • iPhone
      • iPad
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      Apple Photos vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
      jamiegray Improved editing tools, thanks to the merging of Apple Aperture and Apple Photos. Nice to sync between all devices. Certainly not as robust as Lightroom, but very convenient.
      Positive comment • 9 months ago

      Insufficient editing toolset, clumsy facial recognition, requires iCloud subscription for some features.
      Negative comment • about 3 years ago

      No adjustment brushes in Photo
      Negative comment • over 5 years ago

      Is a ridiculous app. You can't filter between landscape and portrait! Unusable.
      Negative comment • about 4 years ago

    • Luminar

      New powerful photo editing station packed with over 300 useful tools and versatile features. View 42 alternatives to Luminar
      Almost everyone thinks Luminar is a great alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
      • Freemium • Proprietary
      • Mac
      • Windows
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      Luminar vs Adobe Lightroom
      pros, cons and recent comments
      It's slow on my old Mac, but it's «easy to understand»!
      Positive comment • 10 months ago

    Showing 10 of 87 alternatives