10 Best Photo Editing Apps for Mac of 2026

Affinity takes first place because it answers the most common question about Mac photo editors: you can get a full layered, professional editor for nothing. Canva now offers Affinity free to individuals, and its download page says every tool in the Pixel, Vector and Layout studios, plus all export features, can be used with no restrictions or payment. For photo work, the Pixel tools list full RAW editing, tone mapping, lens correction, an inpainting brush, healing tools, dodge and burn, recordable macros for batch work, HDR merge and panorama stitching. It opens PSD, AI, PDF, SVG and IDML files, which matters if you share files with Photoshop users. The trade-offs: you need a Canva account to download it, Canva's Generative Fill and Generative Expand only work with a paid Canva premium plan, and because one app also handles vector design and page layout, the interface holds more than a photo-only editor. It runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. We compared documented features and published prices.

Pixelmator Pro is the best paid pick for most Mac users who do not want a subscription. Apple sells it on the Mac App Store for $49.99, and the listing covers both photo editing and design. On the photo side it supports RAW files from over 750 cameras, including compressed Fujifilm RAW, and offers machine learning tools that remove backgrounds, enhance photos and videos, increase resolution, remove noise and compression artifacts, and correct white balance. The Repair tool removes unwanted objects, and over 40 presets give quick cinematic, vintage and film looks. Color adjustment layers allow selective edits, and over 70 nondestructive effects can be combined. It opens and exports Photoshop files with layers and handles HDR images and video. The limits: it runs only on Mac, it has no catalog for managing tens of thousands of photos the way Lightroom does, and it needs macOS 12.0 or later. We compared documented features and published prices.

Adobe Lightroom is the strongest choice for photographers who shoot a lot and want one library on their Mac, phone and the web. The Mac App Store listing describes AI features such as Denoise, Super Resolution and one-click subject selection, an AI-powered Remove tool, adaptive presets and masking for selective edits, and AI search that finds photos without tagging. Edits on one device are applied everywhere else, you can keep images locally or in the cloud, and the same tools now edit video. Apple named it the 2024 Mac App of the Year. The cost is the catch: a Lightroom subscription is required after a 7-day trial, at $11.99 a month or $118.99 a year in the US App Store, and generative credit packs are sold on top, starting at $4.99 a month for 500 credits. It also needs macOS 14.0 or later, so older Macs are left out. We compared documented features and published prices.

Apple Photos is the right first stop for anyone who only needs to fix a few pictures, because it is already on every Mac. Apple's support pages describe editing tools for light and color plus filters, and with Apple Intelligence the macOS 27 user guide lists Clean Up, Reframe and Extend for removing objects and changing composition. With iCloud Photos turned on, a photo taken on an iPhone appears in Photos on the Mac automatically, and Optimize Mac Storage keeps full-resolution files in iCloud to save disk space. Memories builds collections of trips, people and pets with music and titles. The limits are clear: there are no layers, so composites and detailed retouching need another app, and Apple says Apple Intelligence features depend on device, region and language, with daily limits on some server-based features. Many people pair Photos with Pixelmator Pro or Darkroom, which work with the Photos library. We compared documented features and published prices.

Darkroom suits people who shoot mostly on iPhone and want the same editor on a Mac. Bergen Co.'s Mac App Store listing says it works directly with the Apple Photos library, so there is no importing or exporting, and it edits RAW and Apple ProRAW files at 16-bit color depth with non-destructive adjustments. AI tools handle depth-based edits and presets that analyze a photo, and it adds curves, selective color, masking, denoise and portrait retouching. Batch work is covered by copying edits across hundreds of photos and by flag and reject culling, and it also grades 4K video with LUT presets. The app is a free download; Darkroom+ opens every tool for $9.99 a month, $39.99 a year or $99.99 once, and the membership covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. It holds 4.7 stars from 7.7K ratings. It needs macOS 15.4 or later and has no layers. We compared documented features and published prices.

Luminar Neo is built around AI shortcuts. Skylum's Mac App Store listing names generative tools such as GenErase, GenExpand and GenSwap, scenery tools such as Sky AI replacement and Atmosphere AI fog and haze, and portrait tools including Skin AI, Face AI, Body AI and Bokeh AI. Enhance AI adjusts up to a dozen settings with a single slider, Upscale enlarges images up to 6X, and HDR Merge can batch up to 1,000 bracketed images, with panorama stitching and focus stacking also listed. Skylum says it supports over 1,000 cameras and works with layers. The Mac app needs macOS 12.0 or later. Skylum sells lifetime licenses for desktop, mobile and web alongside a subscription, but its pricing page showed local currency from our location, so we could not confirm a USD price, and a developer reply on the App Store says the trial is not available there. We compared documented features and published prices.

darktable is the best free answer for Mac users who shoot RAW and want something closer to Lightroom than a layer editor. Its site describes it as an open source digital lighttable and darkroom: a database-backed library with a zoomable lighttable for browsing and rating, plus a darkroom for developing RAW files with a flexible, stack-based, scene-referred approach. It is released under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later and has no paid tier. The install page lists version 5.6.2 with a macOS arm64 disk image. The limits matter on Mac: the bundles support macOS 13.5 and later, and the project says there are currently no official releases for Intel Macs. The scene-referred workflow also asks more of new users than Apple Photos or Pixelmator Pro. If you have an Apple silicon Mac and time to learn, it covers cataloging and RAW development at no cost. We compared documented features and published prices.

Capture One is aimed at professionals who shoot with the camera connected to the computer. Its pricing page leads with industry leading tethering, support for 550+ cameras, its color profiles and RAW conversion, and file management on the desktop Pro plan. The All in One plan adds iPad and iPhone apps, online collaboration tools, cloud shared settings, priority support and Content Credentials, and the Studio plan adds offline collaboration, multiple viewer screens, automated cropping and tool locks for high-volume client sets. A Pro license is also sold for photographers who do not need the newest updates. A free trial is offered. The page showed euro prices from our location, so we could not confirm US dollar pricing and marked it pending. For a hobbyist editing vacation photos this is more than needed, and the interface asks more of a beginner than Lightroom. We compared documented features and published prices.

DxO PhotoLab 10 is for photographers who care most about getting the cleanest possible file out of a RAW image. DxO's product page highlights Lens Sharpness Optimization tuned to your exact camera and lens combination, automatic correction of distortion, chromatic aberrations, vignetting and perspective, and noise reduction and detail recovery from its RAW processing. Intelligent masking targets subjects, depth, light and color, and grading tools adjust color, contrast, tone and atmosphere. For larger shoots it lists batch processing, automation and image management with non-destructive edits. Version 10.3 adds integration with Affinity, which pairs well with our top pick for layered work. It runs on Windows and macOS and is sold as a perpetual license with a free trial. DxO's shop did not load from our location, so the USD price is pending. There are no layers and no mobile version. We compared documented features and published prices.

GIMP is the long-standing free option for people who want a layer-based editor in the style of Photoshop. The project's site calls it the free and open source image editor and says it runs on GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows and other systems, with version 3.2.8 on the download page. It is free software, so you can change its source code and share your changes, and it targets graphic designers, photographers, illustrators and scientists. It handles layered retouching and compositing, which Apple Photos cannot do. It drops to last place here for Mac users because Affinity is now also free and offers RAW editing, macros and a more Mac-like interface, while GIMP has no photo library and no machine learning tools to match Pixelmator Pro or Lightroom. It remains a good choice if you want open source software with no account requirement. We compared documented features and published prices.