Adobe is the dominant force in the photo editing world. Lightroom remains a very popular editing tool for photographers, and that’s largely down to notoriety and by delivering a high-quality product. It’s not for everyone and many seek cheaper, better functioning software to edit photos. With that, I’m sharing the best Lightroom alternatives so you can say goodbye to Adobe.

Key Talking Points

• CaptureOne is the best alternative to Lightroom thanks to its powerful editing tools, easy to use UI and perpetual license option.

• Affinity Photo is the best alternative for advanced users who want a product that blends similar functionality of both Lightroom and Photoshop.

• Lightroom is still an excellent photo editing platform and it’s fine to stick with it if you’re okay with price increases and the subscription only model.

Why Choose a Lightroom Alternative?

There are several reasons photographers look for an alternative to Lightroom. Many don’t like the subscription model, preferring to pay a one off fee so they can own the software forever. Others are unhappy with Adobe’s price increases for monthly subscriptions.

There’s also the complex area of AI (artificial intelligence). Purists feel like Adobe is moving too far away from the fundamentals of image making. Not to mention the issue of Adobe potentially using authentic photographs to train MLM (machine learning models).

Not everyone rejects AI of course. I personally love the new remove tool feature baked into Lightroom. It makes removing distracting elements in an image quick and easy. But, I understand that it’s not for everyone.

Each of the Lightroom alternatives in this article will address at least one of the common pain points photographers have. Aside from fixing the issues, many users may find these alternatives are better products all round, and in some areas, they’re right. Let’s take a look.

Capture One: The Best Lightroom Alternative

I used CaptureOne for several years before returning to Lightroom. It’s an excellent photo editing tool that’s easy to use and gives you a lot of control over your edits. The standard adjustments like exposure, white balance, sharpening and the rest are all very responsive. You can tweak them, make improvements, without losing the authenticity of your photograph.

If you don't like to spend too much time on photo editing, CaptureOne has a bunch of presets you can choose from to speed up the process. They’re made for different styles of photography such as portrait photography, wedding photography and several more. Don’t be afraid to slap a portrait preset over some street photography though, there are no hard and fast rules here.

To give the user more control, you can create your own CaptureOne presets, just like you can with Lightroom presets. You’ll have to do the manual editing first, but simply save it and you can use the same formula on other images with just one click of a button.

File management is a big issue in the photography world and CaptureOne has done a good job of creating a file management system. You can add keywords to your images, like “travel photography” for example. Simply search the keyword and it will return results with images linked to that term.

The platform is a good option for professional photographers who work closely with clients. You can invite clients to an editing space within CaptureOne. Here you can show them your before and afters, guide them through your editing process and show multiple images at once. It’s a quick and intuitive way to gain client approval before hitting the export button.

CaptureOne tackles the subscription pain point. You can buy a perpetual license for $299 and it's yours to use forever. Keep in mind you won’t get access to future iterations of the software (unless you buy it), but you can overcome this by signing up for the subscription model instead. There’s also a separate mobile app you’ll need to subscribe to if you prefer editing on a tablet.

There’s little CaptureOne can’t do and it really does feel like the best Lightroom alternative for professional photographers and those tired of monthly payments. Good news is you can try the photo editing tool for free for 30 days.

Affinity Photo: The Best Lightroom Alternative for Advanced Users

Affinity Photo was once Apple’s app of the year. That's a pretty awesome achievement for an app that’s less than a decade old. It’s made huge strides in recent years and it’s a popular Lightroom alternative for photographers wanting more editing control, but who don’t want to switch to Photoshop.

The platform is superb at handling huge files. Those shooting in RAW can enjoy fast image loading and really responsive adjustments when using the editing tools. It has some cool features too, like the ability to colorize black and white photographs, for example.

On opening Affinity you’re going to be met with a user interface that’s more similar to Photoshop than it is Lightroom. Inexperienced photo editors may find this slightly overwhelming. The good news is Affinity Photo has plenty of video tutorials to help guide you through each feature.

They’re accessible for free via the YouTube channel and with a bit of time and practice you’ll be making professional looking photo edits. There’s also an extensive knowledge base which covers every feature. Each lesson comes in article format and is suitable for those who prefer to read rather than watch video content.

Those who transitioned from Adobe Photoshop to Affinity Photo don’t seem to regret the decision. One user on Reddit wrote, “The app is sooooo much better at handling memory [compared to Photoshop”. Another user said, “I often find Affinity Photo and Designer both do what I want more quickly and easily than the Adobe products do…”.

Affinity Photo may not be the best Lightroom alternative if you just want a basic editing tool to make light edits. If, however, you’re looking to improve your editing game and want to learn how to use advanced features, it’s certainly an option I recommend.

The software is available for macOS, Windows and iPad. It’s a cheap Lightroom alternative. You can get the desktop software for $69.99 and the iPad app for $18.49. It’s a one off payment and the software is yours to own forever.

Polarr: The Best Lightroom Alternative for Basic Users

Polarr is extremely user friendly. It strips away all the complexities found in some editing software and offers a tool that makes photo-editing easy and enjoyable. I have used it since my days of using a Chromebook. It helps me achieve the look I want thanks to its range of tools and rich filter library, which was ideal for my style of street photography at the time.

Most basic users should be okay with the free account. However, it’s not suitable for advanced users. You can’t export multiple images at once for example, which is a no go for those looking for a quick and smooth workflow. The free account also limits you to exposure adjustments and color coniting.

This will be fine for anyone who wants their images to have that SOOC (straight out of camera) feel, but not for those who want more control. Thankfully the Pro version is affordable, making it one of the best cheap Lightroom alternatives. Pro users can access the Curve tool, sharpening tool and FX tool, plus more.

RAW support is currently only available in BETA. So it’s mainly for JPEG shooters. Polarr is by no means on a par with many of the services in this article, but if you find most of them overkill then it’s a solid solution for basic users wanting to make quick and simple edits.

There’s no one off payment options. However, the Pro plan is only $7.99 per month making it much cheaper than almost every other subscription fee around. I say try the free version, if you like it you can bump up to a paid plan. If not, seek one of the alternatives in the article.

Best Free Lightroom Alternative

Those in need of a free Lightroom alternative have options. There are plenty out there, however below are the best two free photo editing tools. We chose them specifically because they support RAW file editing, making them potential Lightroom alternatives for professional photographers.

RawTherapee

RawTherapee is an open source software and free to use for all users. You can use it on macOS and Windows, it’s also available for Linux users. It’s actually much older than Lightroom, and has been available since 2005. The demand remains high for RawTherapee, highlighting how much of a quality product it is for photographers.

Feature wise it offers all your standard adjustment tools. Some stand out tools include hot/cold pixel correction and dark frame subtraction (useful forAstrophotography). There’s a user forum for people to support each with using the platform and to overcome any issues with the software.

Although it’s free, I found it opened my RAW files extremely quickly, and not once did I experience sluggish performance - this was on a MacBook Air M1 computer.

Darktable

Darktable is another open source photo editing software supporting RAW editing. It was created by photography enthusiasts and professionals as a means to edit photos without spending a penny.

It supports a range of file formats including NEF, CR2, RAF and more. You can export images in a range of formats too. TIFF, PNG, PPM and EXR are all available exports and there are other options too. File management is great with Darktable. Those switching from Lightroom will like the familiarity of staring images and adding tags. Darktable allows for color labels as well.

Should You Stick with Lightroom?

I get why people are moving away from Adobe products. It’s largely down to principle and wanting to feel valued as a photographer. Personally, I still enjoy using Lightroom, and as far as the product goes I believe it remains one of the best photo editing software in the space. I’m also one who welcomes the implementation of AI functionality.

If you enjoy using Lightroom and don’t have issues with its functionality, then stick with it. It’s become the cool thing to hate on Adobe, and I do understand why. But, if you don’t want to disrupt your editing workflow, then there’s little reason to jump on that bandwagon.

Singing off

Although I still support Lightroom. It would be inaccurate for me to label it the best. Sure it excels in areas, but the above Lightroom alternatives have their power plays too. Again, if you want the best switching experience, go with CaptureOne. It has all the professional features one would want and the user experience won’t be too much of a change from Lightroom.

What is your favorite Lightroom alternative? Is there software I should have included? How do you feel about Adobe’s approach to implementing AI? Let me know in the comments.

FAQs

Is there a free Lightroom equivalent?
The best free options are RawTherapee and Darktable. They’re totally free and built on open source. Both tools support RAW files and offer advanced editing functionality.

What happens to my photos if I cancel Lightroom?
If you cancel your Lightroom subscription you will no longer be able to access or use the platform. Those who agreed to a 12 month commitment may be asked to pay a 50% cancellation fee for the remaining months of the agreement.

Do pro photographers use Lightroom?
Yes, professional photographers use Lightroom. It’s powerful enough for a range of photography genres including portrait, landscape and editorial. Many photographers use Lightroom for the base of their edits and switch to Photshop for more advanced refinements of their images.

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