DxO PhotoLab
Hacker ApprovedRanked 7 of 12 photo editors by recommenders
Recommended for strong color, exposure and denoising, plus a pleasant editing experience. Main caveat: no Linux version, and some find its advanced editing tools limited.
Recommended for strong color, exposure and denoising, plus a pleasant editing experience. Main caveat: no Linux version, and some find its advanced editing tools limited.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Preferred over other editors
“my preference for DxO PhotoLab (which isn't Linux compatible.)”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” “No other product can touch that, not DxO/affinity/Photomator”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Where is all the new, good software?” “I'm still solidly on Lightroom Classic + DxO Photo Lab”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “Darktable” - Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop”
- Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”
Enjoyable to use, great results
“I get the most joy out of using PhotoLab for editing.”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop” “Fun to use, and I love the results!”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “I Quit Editing Photos” “I love, love, love DxO PhotoLab”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
No Linux support
“my preference for DxO PhotoLab (which isn't Linux compatible.)”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” “some good gpu acceleration, but no Linux”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor” “I've had no luck getting either Capture One or DxO PhotoLab running on Linux”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “Darktable”
Other photo editors people recommend
The four most recommended other photo editors, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photopea | 84 | 13 | 87% | 11 | 6 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Affinity Photo | 81 | 41 | 66% | 11 | — | — |
| Adobe Lightroom | 68 | 75 | 48% | 10 | 17 yrs6 owners | — |
| Pixelmator Pro | 29 | 9 | 76% | 10 | — | Approved |
| DxO PhotoLabThis page | 12 | 4 | 75% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
18 of the 20 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“feel nicer and more gentle to use than Lightroom or even DxO PhotoLab”
“No other product can touch that, not DxO/affinity/Photomator”
“I particularly like the tone curve handling, FilmPack integration, etc.”
“I'm still solidly on Lightroom Classic + DxO Photo Lab”
“I've had no luck getting either Capture One or DxO PhotoLab running on Linux”
“migrated from Affinity to DxO Photolab (expensive!)”
“absolutely none of them do. I can't use these.”
“Those are just the ones I personally have installed.”
“my preferred RAW editor (DxO) doesn't handle Android's DNG files”
“features that help me get that job done quicker than anything else”
“I really like DxO for color & exposure, as well as denoise, but I've gotten supremely frustrated at it's lack of more sophisticated editing functionality”
“I bought DxO PhotoLab for $235 and color grade with it all the time”
“does not have a subscription model”
“some good gpu acceleration, but no Linux”
“Fun to use, and I love the results!”
“my preference for DxO PhotoLab (which isn't Linux compatible.)”
“I love, love, love DxO PhotoLab”
“I get the most joy out of using PhotoLab for editing.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.