darktable vs PhotoPad
darktable
darktable.orgPhotoPad
nchsoftware.comSide by side
| Figure | darktable | PhotoPad |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 9 |
| Spec score · Photo Editing Software | 8.8 (#16) | 9.3 (#6) |
| AI features | AI features are opt-in and disabled by default; they support tasks including object masking, denoising, and upscaling. | The maker lists AI-assisted super-resolution resizing, object removal, background removal, and colorizing black-and-white photos. |
| Editing | Editing is non-destructive and leaves original images unchanged. | Features include cropping, rotating, resizing, retouching, color and exposure adjustments, and blur and sharpening tools. |
| Formats | It imports standard, raw, and high dynamic range formats, including JPEG, CR2, NEF, HDR, PFM, and RAF. | The site lists JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF and BMP support plus other popular formats. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| RAW photo support | Yes | Yes |
| Support | The project directs users to the Pixls.us forum for help and GitHub Issues for bug reports and feature requests. | NCH offers email support; telephone and live chat support are listed for customers with Platinum support. |
| What it does | darktable manages digital negatives in a database, provides a zoomable lighttable, and develops and enhances raw images. | PhotoPad edits and enhances digital photographs and other images. |
Plans
PhotoPad
- Pro Edition Annual PlanPrice not published
- Home Edition Annual PlanPrice not published
- Pro Edition Quarterly PlanPrice not published
- FreeFree
- Free editionFree
- PhotoPad Photo Editor Pro Edition Quarterly Plan$9.99 a month
- PhotoPad Photo Editor Home Edition Annual Plan$34.99 a year
- PhotoPad Photo Editor Pro Edition Annual Plan$39.95 a year
- Pro LicensePrice not published
In their own words
darktable
darktable is a free photography workflow application for organizing digital negatives and developing raw images. It stores images in a database and provides a zoomable lighttable, while its editing leaves original files unchanged. It imports standard, raw and high dynamic range formats such as JPEG, CR2, NEF, HDR, PFM and RAF. Color tools include automatic display-profile detection on most systems and built-in ICC profiles for sRGB, Adobe RGB, XYZ and linear RGB. Many operations can use OpenCL GPU acceleration, and tethered shooting with live view is supported for some camera brands. Exports include disk storage, email attachments, Piwigo webalbums and HTML-based galleries; many aspects can also be scripted in Lua. Optional AI tools cover object masking, denoising and upscaling, but the Flatpak release does not include them as of September 2026. Downloads are available for Windows, macOS and Linux/Unix options. macOS bundles require version 13.5 or later. The project notes that the learning curve can be steep.
PhotoPad
PhotoPad edits and enhances digital photos and images, with tools for cropping, rotating, resizing, retouching, and adjusting color and exposure. Blur and sharpening controls complement its non-destructive editing: users can undo, reorder, or change effects in a layers list. It can also make collages, photo mosaics, calendars, greeting cards, and photo montages. The maker lists AI-assisted super-resolution resizing, object and background removal, and colorizing black-and-white photos. PhotoPad supports RAW editing and formats including JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, and BMP; HDR/exposure blending is also listed. A project can contain up to eight images, and panorama types include wide. Edited pictures can be uploaded directly to Twitter, Flickr, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive. It is listed for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, Windows, and as an extension. The free edition costs nothing and is limited to non-commercial use; no signup is required. Desktop requirements are Windows 7 to 11 or macOS 10.5 or later.