RawTherapee

What hackers pick instead

• DarktableRecommended as a free, powerful RAW photo editor with deep editing controls and reliable results; critics say its steep learning curve and clumsy UI make it hard to use.77recommend
• Capture OneFast raw editor with strong Fuji and Sony colour and a workflow many prefer; praised for a buy-once licence option. Caveats: subscription pricing shifts and no Linux version.33recommend
• Fujifilm X RAW STUDIOFree no-install browser app that uses the camera's own processor to apply Fujifilm film recipes to RAW files, though camera connection can fail and profile edits are slow.9recommend

Every quote

The 33 most detailed of 42 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Mostly it came down to interface, learning curve, enjoying using the software vs. struggling to get photos to look awesome.

   Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”

2. it's dedicated tool for photo processing and if you are just correcting, not editing it's probably better one too

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Where Are the Vibecoded Photoshops?”

3. Denoising is a weak part of RT, but I find with proper lighting it is rarely needed

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Fujifilm X RAW STUDIO webapp clone”

4. I'm a long time user of raw therapee, that i found both awesome and complex.

   Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Darktable”

5. as an amateur photographer I have found that RawTherapee covers all my needs

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Attack of the Vibe Coded Photoshop Clones”

6. RawTherapee feels better, but it still feels weird compared to Lightroom.

   Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “An open-source, clean-room reimplementation of Microsoft Word in pure Rust”

7. I can also recommend Raw Therapee as an open source raw editor.

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Darktable”

8. I found more usable than Darktable for reasons I don't recall

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Darktable”

9. No need to pay Adobe and no need to ditch editing completely.

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “I Quit Editing Photos”

10. RawTherapee ends up being better editor for mr

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor”

11. It works well provided your needs are simple.

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “I Quit Editing Photos”

12. it gets the job done for all of my needs

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”

13. Both are excellent alternatives to LR.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor”

14. The denoising is nowhere near as good

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Fujifilm X RAW STUDIO webapp clone”

15. RawTherapee for RAW editing

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor”

16. And, no, DarkTable, or RAW Therappe are not equivalent to Lightroom or Capture One.

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Windhawk Windows classic theme mod for Windows 11”

17. it wasn't intuitive enough and i had to tweak a lot

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor”

18. Alternatives like Rawtherpee are very intimidating.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor”

19. They're mostly /fine/ but it's one of the weaker software categories in FOSS-alternatives IMO.

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it”

20. featuring a treasure trove of knowledge in the form of its companion RawPedia

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Fujifilm X RAW STUDIO webapp clone”

21. Even the aforementioned RawTherapee ... is more pleasant to use for me.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve 21”

22. I agree that it's a lot better than Darktable and RawTherapee

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Darktable”

23. For photos you can use digikam + darktable/rawtherapee.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too”

24. not DxO/affinity/Photomator/Darktable/RAWtherapy

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Where is all the new, good software?”

25. awesome RawTherapee and DarkTable software

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Goodbye, Apple Photos”

26. works more reliably with no such issues

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve 21”

27. use darktable or rawtherapee

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Photo GIMP – A Patch for GIMP 3 for Photoshop Users”

28. No tools on Linux (RawTherapee, Darktable, RapidRAW) render their colors correctly no matter how you mess with the sliders

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve 21”

29. Darktable / Rawtherapee are a long way from what I'm after

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve 21”

30. any hope for Foveon X3Fs support outside of RawTherapee?

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Fujifilm X RAW STUDIO webapp clone”

31. I tried rt, but it was really slow.

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “I Quit Editing Photos”

32. Unpractical to use professionally.

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “DaVinci Resolve 21”

33. Very far from there, honestly

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows”