# Photomator

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Photomator and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a fast, near-native Lightroom alternative on Mac that covers everyday editing well, with the features and results most people need.

## Why people recommend it

- Native Mac and Photos integration (3 comments): "It integrates seamlessly with the Apple photo library." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48892637)) "seamless integrations with photo apps like Photomator" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46582439)) "Photomator is as close to native as you can get today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45983463))
- Fast and covers everyday needs (3 comments): "it has absolute minimum of what I typically would use, and it's all there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47770321)) "it's does exactly what I need, does it good and fast" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756295)) "She produces great results with Photomator." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48407720))
- Strong performance and features (2 comments): "the best solution (performance/features wise) I found is Photomator" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47761911)) "No other product can touch that, not DxO/affinity/Photomator" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50068894))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Photopea](https://hackerapproved.com/p/photopea.md): 84 recommend
- [Adobe Lightroom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/adobe-lightroom.md): 68 recommend
- [Pixelmator Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pixelmator-pro.md): 29 recommend
- [DaVinci Resolve Photo Editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/davinci-resolve-photo-editor.md): 23 recommend
- [PhotoCraft](https://hackerapproved.com/p/photocraft.md): 22 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Photomator", https://hackerapproved.com/p/photomator/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).