Hugin vs PTGui

Hugin is a free, open-source toolchain for stitching overlapping photographs into panoramas, including immersive panoramic images. Its automated Assistant can assemble multi-row photos, while control points support perspective correction. The tutorials also address lens calibration, blend masks, and exposure fusion. Hugin uses Enblend to blend seams and Enfuse to combine bracketed exposures. It supports RAW input, HDR or exposure blending, control-point editing, and batch stitching, and is listed for both panorama types. Hugin runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Windows downloads include a 64-bit installer; 32-bit support is limited to versions through Hugin 2017.0. The listed Mac bundle targets macOS 10.9 and newer but does not run on newer arm64 Macs. Linux users can use distribution package managers, Flatpak, or AppImage builds. The project offers a manual, tutorials, FAQs, and the PanoTools wiki, with discussion on its mailing list and bug reports through Launchpad. It is free to use, modify, and share.

PTGui stitches photographs into panoramic images, including spherical panoramas that cover 360° × 180°. It can detect overlap between photos and join multiple rows, including images made with fisheye lenses. Manual stitching, a live preview, and a perspective editor provide additional control. On supported hardware, OpenCL can accelerate stitching with the GPU. PTGui accepts JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and camera RAW source images; listed output formats include JPEG, TIFF, Photoshop, and DNG. The Pro edition adds HDR stitching, masking, viewpoint correction, exposure fusion, and a patch tool. PTGui runs on Linux, macOS 10.15 or later, and Windows 10 build 18362 or later. It processes photos, projects, and templates on the user's computer and primarily works offline; HTTPS is used for optional update checks, license activation, and opt-in crash reports. The fully functional trial has no time limit, but exported panoramas carry a visible watermark. Personal licenses include one year of upgrades. Technical support is through a public forum, not email or telephone.