HawkView vs IrfanView
HawkView
hawkview.coIrfanView
irfanview.comSide by side
| Figure | HawkView | IrfanView |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $18/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Photo Viewer Software | 7.6 (#15) | 8.0 (#9) |
| Editing | It offers cropping, straightening, flipping and lossless 90-degree JPEG rotation, with edits held in memory until saved or discarded. | The feature list includes painting tools, effects, watermarking, IPTC editing, and multipage TIFF editing. |
| Formats | It supports around 40 image formats, including HEIC, AVIF, JPEG XL, camera RAW, PSD, SVG and animated formats. | The maker describes support for many file formats and offers plugins for formats including AVIF, PDF, SVG, WebP, and camera RAW. |
| Privacy | The app keeps images, edits and settings on the computer and has no accounts, sign-up, ads or tracking; update checks and anonymous crash reports are optional network uses. | The privacy policy states that IrfanView software does not collect or transmit users’ personal data or information. |
| Product | HawkView is a Windows image viewer for viewing, editing, converting and presenting images. | IrfanView is a fast, compact graphic viewer for Windows designed to be simple for beginners and powerful for professionals. |
| Support | Users can contact HawkView through its contact form or the listed support email. | The maker invites users to email bug reports and problems with supported formats, and provides a forum and FAQ. |
Plans
IrfanView
- Freeware for private, non-commercial usePrice not published
- Commercial license$18 a month
- FreewareFree
- Single commercial license$18, paid once
In their own words
HawkView
HawkView is a Windows image viewer for viewing, editing, converting, and presenting images. It supports around 40 formats, including HEIC, AVIF, JPEG XL, camera RAW, PSD, SVG, and animated formats. Its GPU-accelerated viewer streams visible areas of images up to 64 megapixels using 512-pixel tiling. Editing includes cropping, straightening, flipping, and lossless 90-degree JPEG rotation, with changes held in memory until saved or discarded. Slideshows provide 36 transitions, background music, and MP4 export at 720p, 1080p, or 4K. The app reads and edits more than 40 EXIF, IPTC, and XMP fields and displays geotagged photos on OpenStreetMap; locations can open in Google Maps. Images, edits, and settings remain on the computer, with no accounts, sign-up, ads, or tracking. Update checks and anonymous crash reports are optional network uses. HawkView supports 64-bit x64 Windows 10 and 11 and is distributed through the Microsoft Store, direct installer, or portable ZIP. Personal use is free; professional or commercial use requires a paid license.
IrfanView
IrfanView is a Windows graphic viewer with tools for viewing, editing, and processing images. It can convert and process files in batches, rotate and crop JPGs without loss, create slideshows, scan, print, and capture the screen. Editing features include painting tools, effects, watermarking, IPTC editing, and multipage TIFF editing. The maker describes support for many file formats, with plugins adding formats such as AVIF, PDF, SVG, WebP, and camera RAW. Other plugins add OCR, FTP transfer, video playback, Photoshop filters, and PDF support; some require additional software or files. A Shell Extension adds image actions to Windows Explorer and other file managers. IrfanView is listed for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, and 11, in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Private, non-commercial use is free. Commercial use requires a license; the listed single commercial license costs $18 as a one-time purchase and is perpetual. The maker’s privacy policy says the software does not collect or transmit personal data.