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Photography · head to head

Facetune vs Photo Mechanic

Facetune logo

Facetune

Photography

Selfie and portrait retouching app from Lightricks, sold on a subscription with a short free trial

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Photo Mechanic logo

Photo Mechanic

Photography

Ingest and culling tool that browses camera files at card-reader speed

From
$139/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Facetune has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Facetune the free trial is short, commonly around 3 days, and automatically converts into a paid annual subscription unless the user proactively cancels beforehand, a pattern that has generated a consistent volume of complaints about unexpected charges.; Photo Mechanic it does not process RAW files at all, so it is bought in addition to an editor rather than instead of one, and the real cost is the Photo Mechanic licence plus a Lightroom subscription or a Capture One licence running alongside it.
  • They diverge on capability: Facetune covers Skin and blemish retouching, Photo Mechanic covers Ingest.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Facetune and Photo Mechanic actually diverge.

Attributes where Facetune and Photo Mechanic differ
AttributeFacetunePhoto Mechanic
Starting priceFree$139/one-time
Pricing modelFree download with a short free trial, most tools require a Facetune Pro subscription that auto-renews annuallyOne-time purchase
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, AndroidWindows, macOS

Identical on both: 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 Facetune

  • Skin and blemish retouching
  • Facial reshaping
  • Body contouring
  • Teeth whitening and eye enhancement
  • Background blur and replacement
  • One-tap auto-enhance

Only in Photo Mechanic

  • Ingest
  • Embedded preview browsing
  • IPTC Stationery Pad
  • Code replacements
  • Colour classes and star ratings
  • Live Ingest
  • FTP and web upload
  • Catalogue (Plus edition)

What people use each for

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

Facetune

  • Someone wanting quick, targeted retouching of a single selfie or portrait before posting to social medianot Photo Mechanic
  • A user comfortable cancelling a free trial through their phone app store settings before it converts to a paid annual chargenot Photo Mechanic
  • Someone who has decided to pay for the annual subscription and wants a broad set of face and body retouching tools in one appnot Photo Mechanic
  • A user who has used Photoleap or Videoleap from the same publisher and wants a consistent editing tool stylenot Photo Mechanic

Photo Mechanic

  • Filing selects from a match or press conference to a wire service within minutes of the final whistlenot Facetune
  • Culling a 4,000 frame wedding take down to a few hundred before any RAW processing startsnot Facetune
  • Captioning a shoot with structured IPTC fields that a picture desk or stock agency will accept without reworknot Facetune
  • Ingesting from several cards at once with automatic renaming and a simultaneous backup copy to a second drivenot Facetune

Where each one falls short

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

Facetune

  • The free trial is short, commonly around 3 days, and automatically converts into a paid annual subscription unless the user proactively cancels beforehand, a pattern that has generated a consistent volume of complaints about unexpected charges.
  • Cancellation must be done through the phone Apple App Store or Google Play subscription management screens rather than a clear button inside the app itself, adding friction specifically at the point users most want to stop paying.
  • Nearly all meaningful retouching functionality is locked behind the paid tier, so the free download is not a genuinely usable product on its own, only a gateway to the trial.
  • Heavy reliance on face and body reshaping tools has drawn broader criticism, common to this whole app category, over promoting unrealistic beauty standards, particularly among younger users.
  • Published subscription pricing has varied by region and promotional period, so the price a new user is quoted is not necessarily stable or consistent across markets.

Photo Mechanic

  • It does not process RAW files at all, so it is bought in addition to an editor rather than instead of one, and the real cost is the Photo Mechanic licence plus a Lightroom subscription or a Capture One licence running alongside it.
  • Because browsing uses the JPEG preview written by the camera, the image you judge reflects in-camera picture settings, and a frame culled as too dark may have been recoverable once the RAW reached the editor.
  • The catalogue in the Plus edition is a search index over folders, not a development history, so it will not replace a Lightroom catalogue for anyone who wants edits and metadata in one place.
  • The interface has changed little in a decade and uses its own conventions for dialogs and preferences, which makes onboarding a new assistant slower than it should be for a tool this narrow.
  • Major versions are chargeable upgrades on top of the original purchase, so the perpetual licence is not a one-off cost across a working career, and there is no upgrade path that spreads it monthly.
  • There is no mobile or tablet version and no client-facing gallery, so the delivery half of the workflow needs another product entirely.

Pricing, plan by plan

Facetune

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Very limited basic editing tools
    • Most retouching features locked
    • Trial access to Pro tools for a short period, commonly around 3 days
  • Facetune Pro$47.99/year
    • Full access to retouching, reshaping and enhancement tools
    • Auto-renews annually unless cancelled before trial or renewal date
    • Cancellation handled through Apple App Store or Google Play subscription settings, not inside the app

Photo Mechanic

$139/one-time
  • Photo Mechanic$139/one-time
    • Perpetual licence for the current major version
    • Ingest, browsing, metadata and upload
    • Activation on two computers per licence
  • Photo Mechanic Plus$229/one-time
    • Everything in Photo Mechanic
    • Catalogue of local and offline drives
    • Search across media that is not connected

Which should you pick?

Choose Facetune if

  • You need skin and blemish retouching.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android.
  • You also want facial reshaping.
Facetune review

Choose Photo Mechanic if

  • You need ingest.
  • You work on Windows, macOS.
  • You also want embedded preview browsing.
Photo Mechanic review

Questions people ask

Is Facetune or Photo Mechanic better?
Neither clearly leads. Facetune starts at Free and Photo Mechanic at $139/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Facetune or Photo Mechanic?
Facetune has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Facetune and $139/one-time for Photo Mechanic.
Does Facetune or Photo Mechanic run on more platforms?
Facetune runs on iOS, Android. Photo Mechanic runs on Windows, macOS.
Can I use Facetune for free?
Yes. Facetune has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Photo Mechanic starts at $139/one-time.
What is Facetune best used for?
Facetune is most often used for someone wanting quick, targeted retouching of a single selfie or portrait before posting to social media, a user comfortable cancelling a free trial through their phone app store settings before it converts to a paid annual charge, someone who has decided to pay for the annual subscription and wants a broad set of face and body retouching tools in one app, a user who has used photoleap or videoleap from the same publisher and wants a consistent editing tool style. Of those, someone wanting quick, targeted retouching of a single selfie or portrait before posting to social media and a user comfortable cancelling a free trial through their phone app store settings before it converts to a paid annual charge are not what Photo Mechanic is typically brought in for.
What can Facetune do that Photo Mechanic cannot?
Facetune covers Skin and blemish retouching, Facial reshaping, Body contouring, Teeth whitening and eye enhancement. Photo Mechanic covers Ingest, Embedded preview browsing, IPTC Stationery Pad, Code replacements.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Facetune: Does Facetune have a free trial?

Yes, typically around 3 days, after which it automatically converts to a paid annual subscription unless cancelled beforehand.

Photo Mechanic: Can Photo Mechanic replace Lightroom?

No. It has no RAW development, no local adjustments and no print or book modules. It replaces the browsing and metadata part of Lightroom, and photographers keep the editor for everything else.

Facetune: How do I cancel a Facetune subscription?

Cancellation is done through the Apple App Store or Google Play subscription settings on your phone, not through a button inside the Facetune app itself.

Photo Mechanic: Why is it so much faster than an editor at the same task?

It displays the JPEG preview embedded in the RAW file by the camera instead of decoding the RAW itself. That is a real rendering shortcut, not an optimisation an editor could simply copy without changing what it shows you.

Facetune: Can I use Facetune without paying?

The free download offers very limited functionality; nearly all retouching tools require the paid Facetune Pro subscription after the trial ends.

Photo Mechanic: Is there a subscription?

No. The licence is a one-time purchase covering two computers. Moving to a new major version costs an upgrade fee.

Photo Mechanic: Do I need the Plus edition?

Only if you want to search archived work on drives that are unplugged. The base edition covers ingest, culling, captioning and delivery.

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