Adobe Lightroom vs ART
Adobe Lightroom
adobe.com
ART
artraweditor.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | Adobe Lightroom | ART |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 1 |
| Spec score · Photo Editing Software | 9.3 (#4) | 8.2 (#58) |
| Spec score · RAW Photo Processing Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.4 (#6) |
| Batch editing | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Masking tools | Yes | Yes |
| Platform | multi-platform | multi-platform |
| Purpose | Lightroom is a cloud-based service for creating, editing, organizing, storing, and sharing photos across devices. | ART is a cross-platform raw image processor derived from RawTherapee, designed for a simpler interface while retaining its processing power and quality. |
| RAW photo support | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Adobe Lightroom
- Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachersPrice not published
- Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachersPriced on request
- Lightroom for teamsPriced on request
- Lightroom for teamsPrice not published
- Creative Cloud Pro for teamsPrice not published
- Creative Cloud Pro for teamsPriced on request
- Lightroom$11.99 a year
- Photography$19.99 a year
- Creative Cloud ProPrice not published
In their own words
Adobe Lightroom
Lightroom is Adobe’s cloud-based service for creating, editing, organizing, storing, and sharing photos across devices. Its photo libraries are searchable, and the editing toolkit includes RAW support, batch editing, masking, AI retouching, AI Lens Blur, Adaptive Presets, portrait Quick Actions, and sensor Dust Removal. Generative Remove uses Adobe Firefly to remove distractions, while Assisted Culling helps sort photos by image quality and group similar shots. Generative upscale with Topaz Gigapixel can enlarge images by up to 4x. Users can collaborate in shared albums, post to social network apps, or share with the Lightroom community. Lightroom is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows, with a free mobile app and premium features available as an upgrade. Adobe offers a free plan and a 7-day trial; billing begins when the trial ends, with a further 14-day refund period described. Named plans include Lightroom, Photography, and Creative Cloud Pro, as well as student, teacher, and team options.
ART
ART is a free, open-source RAW image processor for Linux, macOS and Windows. Derived from RawTherapee, it aims for a simpler interface while retaining processing power and quality. Its editing capabilities include layers, batch editing and local adjustments using drawn or parametric masks. It handles metadata and can optionally read and write XMP sidecar files. A plugin system supports custom input and output formats, including true HDR output. For color work, ART supports ACES CLF LUTs through OpenColorIO and CTL scripts through the ACES CTL interpreter. It also includes automatic perspective correction adapted from darktable. User commands can connect external programs; documented AI masking and denoising workflows rely on separate open-source tools, and the project says full AI-tool integration is unlikely in the foreseeable future. ART is licensed under GPL version 3 and comes without a warranty. Stable binaries are linked from GitHub releases, with additional builds listed for Windows, openSUSE, Arch Linux and notarized macOS. Questions and bug reports can be directed to its GitHub issue tracker or discussion board.