ChimpStackr vs TuFuse
ChimpStackr
github.comTuFuse
tawbaware.comSide by side
| Figure | ChimpStackr | TuFuse |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Focus Stacking Software | 8.4 (#4) | 7.0 (#23) |
| Downloads | The releases page lists Windows ZIP, macOS DMG, and Linux x86-64 AppImage downloads. | The page lists 32-bit and 64-bit TuFuse 1.60 downloads and TuFuse 1.50 as a previous version. |
| Integration | The README says example stacks were post-processed in darktable; it does not describe a software integration. | TuFuse is designed to work with PTAssembler, which provides a graphical interface and can align images before invoking TuFuse. |
| Purpose | ChimpStackr is an open-source application for focus stacking. | TuFuse combines the best-exposed and/or best-focused regions of multiple images into a composite image. |
Plans
In their own words
ChimpStackr
ChimpStackr is a free, open-source application for focus stacking, with graphical and headless command-line interfaces. It offers Laplacian Pyramid, Weighted Average, Depth Map, and Exposure Fusion methods. Automatic alignment supports translation, Euclidean rotation, similarity rotation and scale, and affine correction. Its 16-bit pipeline preserves bit depth from RAW input to output, and automatic cropping removes black edges caused by alignment shifts. Users can drag image files or folders into the app, compare input and output with a slider, and pause, resume, or cancel long-running stacks. Auto-tuning detects parameters from image resolution. Downloads are listed for Windows as a ZIP, macOS as a DMG, and Linux x86-64 as an AppImage; TIFF and PNG are listed output formats, and RAW files are supported. The project uses the GPL-3.0 license. Exposure Fusion is described for images with varying exposure or lighting, rather than focus stacking. Building from source requires Python 3.9–3.13, and builds can only be made for the current platform.