# Alternatives to RawTherapee

Open source RAW with deep controls.

RawTherapee ranks #8 of 8 in RAW photo editors, with an Alt Score of 60. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free from Free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/rawtherapee/
Category: RAW photo editors

## Where RawTherapee stands out

- **Open source** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Photographers who shoot in RAW, from enthusiasts wanting to learn digital imaging fundamentals to professionals needing precise control over image quality, on Linux, macOS, or Windows.
- **What you get**: A free, open-source RAW processor with non-destructive, 32-bit floating-point editing. It includes best-in-class demosaicing algorithms, pixel-shift compositing with ghost masking, dark frame subtraction, and detailed tools for color, tone, and detail correction. All edits are reversible and applied on top of the original RAW data.
- **How it works**: You import RAW files from your camera, apply a stack of non-destructive adjustments (exposure, color, detail, noise reduction, etc.) through its tool panels, then export the processed image to a standard format like JPEG or TIFF.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Capture One](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/capture-one.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 2 | [Darktable](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/darktable.md) | 91 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [ON1 Photo RAW](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/on1-photo-raw.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 4 | [ACDSee](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/acdsee.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 5 | [DxO PhotoLab](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/dxo-photolab.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 6 | [Lightroom](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lightroom.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 7 | [digiKam](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/digikam.md) | 64 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| RAW photo editors checklist | RawTherapee | Capture One | Darktable | ON1 Photo RAW | ACDSee | DxO PhotoLab |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | Free | One-time | One-time | One-time |
| Starts at | Free | $18.00/month | Free | $99.99 | $39.95 | €149.99 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS |
| RAW format coverage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Non-destructive editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lens corrections | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI denoising | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Local adjustments (masks) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tethered shooting | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No |
| Catalog / library management | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| One-time purchase option | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Plugins | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for RawTherapee. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://rawtherapee.com/downloads/5.12/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “AppImage Linux 64-bit Windows 64-bit macOS Source Code”
- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Beep6581/RawTherapee/dev/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Beep6581/RawTherapee/dev/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “RawTherapee is a powerful, cross-platform raw photo processing program, released as libre software under the GNU General Public License Version 3”
- **Starts at**: Free — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Beep6581/RawTherapee/dev/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “RawTherapee is a powerful, cross-platform raw photo processing program, released as libre software under the GNU General Public License Version 3”
- **Status**: active — <https://api.github.com/repos/Beep6581/RawTherapee> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: pushed_at": "2026-07-04T22:06:26Z"" — Commits within the last week; v5.12 released 2025-05-28.
- **RAW format coverage**: Yes — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Features> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Supports most raw formats, as well as floating-point HDR images in the DNG format. Also supports JPEG, TIFF and PNG.”
- **Non-destructive editing**: Yes — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Features> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Lossless editing - all adjustments are stored in PP3 sidecar files.”
- **Lens corrections**: Yes — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Features> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Profiled lens correction (vignetting, distortion, chromatic aberration) using Lensfun or Adobe Lens Correction Profiles (LCP).”
- **AI denoising**: No — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Noise_Reduction> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Classical signal-processing denoise; no AI/ML denoiser documented.
  - Quote: “The Noise Reduction tool is best at dealing with photon shot noise (Gaussian and Poisson noise) and film grain, and some sensor read noise.”
- **Local adjustments (masks)**: Yes — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Local_Adjustments> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Each RT-spot can be considered as an object with several event fields. There are about 640 such fields consisting of cursors, curves, combo-boxes, check-boxes, drop-down menus, masks, etc.”
- **Tethered shooting**: No — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Features> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: No tethered-capture feature: a full-text search of RawPedia for 'tether' returns zero results, and the Features page lists no capture/tethering capability.
  - Quote: “Supports most raw formats, as well as floating-point HDR images in the DNG format.”
- **Catalog / library management**: Partial — <https://github.com/Beep6581/RawTherapee> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Has a File Browser for reviewing/rating/tagging/batch-editing, but README states it lacks full DAM.
  - Quote: “will probably lack some peripheral features such as Digital Asset Management, printing, uploading, etc.”
- **One-time purchase option**: No — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Features> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Free OSS; no paid tier or one-time purchase.
  - Quote: “Open-source, cross-platform.”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Features> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Open-source, cross-platform.”
- **Plugins**: No — <https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/GIMP_Plugin> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: RawTherapee acts AS a plugin for GIMP; it does not host a third-party plugin architecture of its own.
  - Quote: “You can open raw images in GIMP using RawTherapee as a plugin.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/