Last checked October 15, 2026
Best Free Alternatives to Lightroom (2026)
Lightroom is a catalog plus a RAW editor. The catalog and the edits are the hard part. The original files are easy.
What Lightroom costs
Paid plans exist. A current dollar figure is not copied into this listing.
Ranked by Drop-in score
How we rank#1 is the highest-scoring alternative that is not sponsored. A featured listing, when one is sold, is labeled and sits after #1.
- 90#1Open sourceReview notes
darktable
An open-source RAW developer, not a compositor.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · GPL-3.0
MacWindowsLinux - 80#2Open sourceReview notes
RawTherapee
A RAW developer without a library catalog.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · GPL-3.0
LinuxWindowsMac - 75#3Open sourceReview notes
digiKam
A photo library with some RAW tools.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · GPL-2.0-or-later
LinuxWindowsMac - 35#4Open sourceReview notes
PhotoPrism
A self-hosted photo library.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0
WebSelf-host - 28#5Open sourceReview notes
Immich
A self-hosted photo and video backup.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0
WebSelf-host
Feature by feature
Full is the whole job. Partial is a real version with a gap. Missing means it does not do this. Not checked counts as zero in the score.
| Feature | darktable#1 · 90 | RawTherapee#2 · 80 | digiKam#3 · 75 | PhotoPrism#4 · 35 | Immich#5 · 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAW importWeight 10 | Full | Full | Partial | Missing | Missing |
| Non-destructive editsWeight 10 | Full | Full | Partial | Missing | Missing |
| A catalog of the libraryWeight 8 | Partial | Missing | Full | Full | Full |
| Export JPEG or TIFFWeight 6 | Full | Full | Full | Full | Partial |
| Apply a look to many photosWeight 6 | Full | Full | Full | Missing | Missing |
Real cost
darktable
- Free tier
- The application is free.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Not a self-hosted product. Desktop application.
RawTherapee
- Free tier
- Free desktop app.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Not a self-hosted product. Desktop application.
digiKam
- Free tier
- Free desktop app. Unverified.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Not a self-hosted product. Desktop application.
PhotoPrism
- Free tier
- The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Moderate. Plan on Docker or a small VM. A hosted plan, when one exists, is separate from the free self-host.
Immich
- Free tier
- The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Moderate. Plan on Docker or a small VM. A hosted plan, when one exists, is separate from the free self-host.
Top pair
Migrate from Lightroom to darktable
Export JPEGs for anything already delivered.
Read the migration guide