Photography · pricing
darktable pricing
darktable publishes a single tier. Below is what it costs, what it covers, and how that compares with the photography tools listed alongside it.
As of 28 August 2026, darktable pricing is free. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- Free
- Tiers
- 1
- Free tier
- Yes
darktable plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 3 | Entry tier |
Where darktable stops being free
Free, Free
- Full RAW editing and lighttable features
- Open-source under GNU GPL v3
- No account or subscription required
No paid tier on record
darktable lists a free tier and no priced tier above it in the record we hold.
What the product covers
The full darktable feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
core
- Non-destructive RAW editing
- Virtual lighttable
- Wide camera RAW support
- Color management and modules
integration
- Tethered shooting
People bring darktable in for processing raw photos without paying for a subscription editor, organizing and cataloging large personal photo libraries, tethered shooting directly into an editing workflow, applying non-destructive edits that preserve the original raw file. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to darktable are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Photography
Too few photography tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| darktable (this page) | Free | free | - | |
| Aftershoot | On request | Per module per month, unlimited images | - | vs darktable |
| Google Photos | Free | Free tier plus paid storage add-on | - | vs darktable |
| Facetune | Free | Free download with a short free trial, most tools require a Facetune Pro subscription that auto-renews annually | - | vs darktable |
| Lensa | Free | Free download with a short free trial, Magic Avatars and most tools require payment | - | vs darktable |
| Imagen AI | On request | Per image, with annual volume tiers | - | vs darktable |
| Narrative Select | On request | Per user per month, tiered by editing depth | - | vs darktable |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the darktable badges page.
Before you pay for darktable
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: a single tier at Free. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
darktable runs on windows, mac, linux, and is published by darktable project. The full record is on the darktable review, and the rest of the category is under best photography tools.
darktable pricing questions
- How much does darktable cost?
- darktable publishes a single tier, Free, at Free.
- Does darktable have a free plan?
- Yes. The Free tier costs nothing and covers full raw editing and lighttable features, open-source under gnu gpl v3, no account or subscription required.
- Which photography tools can I use without paying?
- 3 of the 8 photography tools listed alongside darktable have a free tier: Google Photos, Facetune, Lensa.
- What am I actually paying for with darktable?
- The record lists 5 features across 2 areas: core, integration. In practice it is brought in for processing raw photos without paying for a subscription editor, organizing and cataloging large personal photo libraries, tethered shooting directly into an editing workflow.
- Does darktable charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 1 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these darktable prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare darktable against before paying?
- The closest photography tools in this directory are Aftershoot, Google Photos, Facetune, Lensa. Each has a side-by-side comparison with darktable covering price, platforms and features.