AKVIS HDRFactory vs ColorForge

AKVIS HDRFactory is paid HDR software for Windows, macOS and Linux. It provides both listed HDR merge modes, multiple tone-mapping controls, RAW-file support and batch processing for groups of images. Finished HDR images can be saved as TIFF, BMP, JPEG, WEBP or PNG files. The product has no free plan but includes a 10-day trial. Home Plugin and Home Standalone each cost $69 as a one-time purchase for a lifetime license covering two computers and non-commercial use. Home Deluxe costs $99, paid once with the same lifetime, two-computer and non-commercial terms. Business costs $154, paid once for a lifetime license covering two computers, with commercial use allowed. AKVIS was founded in 2004. The editions differ by format, feature grouping and permitted use, while every listed plan specifies the same computer count and lifetime term.

ColorForge is a browser-based RAW and HDR photo editor that processes images on the device. It supports camera RAW files including CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, RAF, ORF and RW2, with controls for exposure, tone curves, HSL adjustments, LUTs and presets. For HDR images, it can combine bracketed exposures, including RAW brackets, using GPU processing. Exports are available at full native sensor resolution as JPEG, PNG or TIFF, without watermarks; HDR output also includes 16-bit TIFF. ColorForge says photos stay local and are not uploaded to its servers. Editing, RAW decoding, HDR merging and exporting do not require an account. After the web app loads into the browser cache, it can continue working offline. It supports Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, and the maker lists Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, iOS and Android availability. ColorForge is free: free, with no installation required. Presets are stored in an account database when signed in, or local browser storage when signed out.