Photomator
Shares rank 10 of 12 photo editors by recommenders
Recommended as a fast, near-native Lightroom alternative on Mac that covers everyday editing well, with the features and results most people need.
Recommended as a fast, near-native Lightroom alternative on Mac that covers everyday editing well, with the features and results most people need.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not 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 doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 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
Native Mac and Photos integration
“It integrates seamlessly with the Apple photo library.”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “An Infuriating Goodbye to Photoshop” “seamless integrations with photo apps like Photomator”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “The struggle of resizing windows on macOS Tahoe” “Photomator is as close to native as you can get today”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “How two photographers transformed RAW photo support on Mac” Fast and covers everyday needs
“it has absolute minimum of what I typically would use, and it's all there”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor” “it's does exactly what I need, does it good and fast”
Comment from 25 Jan 2026 in “A Lament for Aperture” “She produces great results with Photomator.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “DaVinci Resolve 21” Strong performance and features
“the best solution (performance/features wise) I found is Photomator”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor” “No other product can touch that, not DxO/affinity/Photomator”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Where is all the new, good software?”
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 |
| PhotomatorThis page | 7 | 2 | 78% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
13 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“No other product can touch that, not DxO/affinity/Photomator”
“It integrates seamlessly with the Apple photo library.”
“She produces great results with Photomator.”
“does Photomator tick these boxes?”
“it has absolute minimum of what I typically would use, and it's all there”
“the best solution (performance/features wise) I found is Photomator”
“it's does exactly what I need, does it good and fast”
“Photomator's asset management features are basically what Photos provides”
“before it went subscription model”
“Not included in the Creator Studio is the Lightroom alternative Photomator”
“seamless integrations with photo apps like Photomator”
“Works fine for me as a enthusiasts, but unlikely to work for a professional”
“Photomator is as close to native as you can get today”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.