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Photography · head to head

Google Photos vs RawTherapee

Google Photos logo

Google Photos

Photography

Google's photo backup and organisation app, now billed against shared Google account storage

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
RawTherapee logo

RawTherapee

Photography

Open source raw developer with selectable demosaicing algorithms and floating point processing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Google Photos unlimited free storage ended in June 2021, so an active phone photographer will hit the 15GB shared cap and be pushed into a paid Google One subscription within a year or two.; RawTherapee there is no catalogue, only a folder browser, so any library management, keywording or search has to happen in a separate application.
  • They diverge on capability: Google Photos covers Automatic backup, RawTherapee covers Selectable demosaicing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Google Photos and RawTherapee actually diverge.

Attributes where Google Photos and RawTherapee differ
AttributeGoogle PhotosRawTherapee
Pricing modelFree tier plus paid storage add-onOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebLinux, Windows, macOS

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Photography).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Google Photos

  • Automatic backup
  • Face grouping
  • Search
  • Shared albums
  • Magic Eraser and editing
  • Storage saver conversion

Only in RawTherapee

  • Selectable demosaicing
  • Floating point pipeline
  • Local adjustments
  • Wavelet levels
  • Processing profiles
  • Colour management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Google Photos

  • A household wanting automatic phone photo backup without plugging into a computernot RawTherapee
  • Someone who wants to search old photos by what is in them rather than by filename or foldernot RawTherapee
  • A family sharing a running album of a child or event across several phonesnot RawTherapee
  • A person switching phones who wants photo history to follow them regardless of device brandnot RawTherapee

RawTherapee

  • Difficult raw files where the demosaicing algorithm visibly changes the result, such as fine fabric, foliage or architectural detailnot Google Photos
  • Archive and restoration work where a free tool with strict colour management is preferable to a subscriptionnot Google Photos
  • Photographers who want to understand and control each processing stage rather than accept a vendor renderingnot Google Photos
  • Producing a high quality sixteen bit TIFF to hand to GIMP or another editor for compositingnot Google Photos

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Google Photos

  • Unlimited free storage ended in June 2021, so an active phone photographer will hit the 15GB shared cap and be pushed into a paid Google One subscription within a year or two.
  • The 15GB quota is shared with Gmail and Drive, so a full inbox can push someone into a storage warning that looks like a photos problem but is not.
  • Face grouping and search rely on Google scanning image content, which is a real privacy consideration for people uneasy with a US company indexing personal photos.
  • Pixel phones get extra editing features such as Magic Eraser variants that other Android and iOS users do not, so the experience is not equal across devices.
  • Downgrading storage or cancelling Google One after exceeding 15GB puts the account into a grace period and eventually restricts new uploads and can affect other Google services sharing the quota.

RawTherapee

  • There is no catalogue, only a folder browser, so any library management, keywording or search has to happen in a separate application.
  • The default rendering is deliberately neutral and looks flat next to the camera JPEG, which means every user has to build their own processing profiles before the tool is pleasant to use.
  • Support for new camera models and for Fujifilm X-Trans sensors arrives later than in commercial converters because it depends on volunteer work and upstream library updates.
  • The interface presents several hundred controls across many tabs with little guidance about which ones interact, and the learning curve is measured in weeks rather than hours.
  • Batch export is slow compared with commercial converters and there is no GPU acceleration, so processing a large wedding shoot ties up the machine for a long time.

Pricing, plan by plan

Google Photos

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 15GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos
    • Original quality uploads always counted
    • No storage cap on device, only on the account
  • Google One 100GB$1.99/month
    • 100GB shared storage
    • Extended by-family sharing with up to 5 others
  • Google One 2TB$9.99/month
    • 2TB shared storage
    • Additional Google One perks such as VPN in some regions

RawTherapee

Free
  • RawTherapeeFree
    • GPL licensed with no seat limit
    • All processing features included
    • Documentation and support through RawPedia and the community forum

Which should you pick?

Choose Google Photos if

  • You need automatic backup.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want face grouping.
Google Photos review

Choose RawTherapee if

  • You need selectable demosaicing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want floating point pipeline.
RawTherapee review

Questions people ask

Is Google Photos or RawTherapee better?
Neither clearly leads. Google Photos starts at Free and RawTherapee at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Google Photos or RawTherapee?
Google Photos starts at Free and RawTherapee at Free.
Does Google Photos or RawTherapee run on more platforms?
Google Photos runs on iOS, Android, Web. RawTherapee runs on Linux, Windows, macOS.
Can I use Google Photos for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Google Photos best used for?
Google Photos is most often used for a household wanting automatic phone photo backup without plugging into a computer, someone who wants to search old photos by what is in them rather than by filename or folder, a family sharing a running album of a child or event across several phones, a person switching phones who wants photo history to follow them regardless of device brand. Of those, a household wanting automatic phone photo backup without plugging into a computer and someone who wants to search old photos by what is in them rather than by filename or folder are not what RawTherapee is typically brought in for.
What can Google Photos do that RawTherapee cannot?
Google Photos covers Automatic backup, Face grouping, Search, Shared albums. RawTherapee covers Selectable demosaicing, Floating point pipeline, Local adjustments, Wavelet levels.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Google Photos: Is Google Photos still free?

The app is free to use but storage is not unlimited. All uploads count against the 15GB shared with Gmail and Drive, and more storage requires a paid Google One plan.

RawTherapee: Does RawTherapee support Fujifilm X-Trans files?

Yes, but support arrived later than in commercial converters and results on fine detail still trail Capture One and Adobe on some bodies.

Google Photos: What happened to the old unlimited backup?

Google ended unlimited free storage for photos on 1 June 2021. Photos uploaded before that date in compressed quality are not retroactively counted.

RawTherapee: Can it replace Lightroom entirely?

It replaces the develop side. It does not replace the catalogue, so you will need digiKam, darktable or something similar alongside it.

Google Photos: Can I avoid Google One by using another cloud service instead?

Yes. Apple Photos with iCloud, Amazon Photos or a self-hosted option can substitute, though switching means re-uploading or exporting your existing library.

RawTherapee: Are my edits stored in the raw file?

No. Edits are written to sidecar profile files next to the raw, so originals are untouched and profiles can be copied between images.

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