Lightroom-style photo editor for macOS with one-time payment?

[Vlad9696]

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for a photo editor for macOS that works similarly to Lightroom, but without a subscription — just a one-time purchase.

I’m not a pro photographer — I’m a dentist — and I mostly edit:

- dental clinical photos,
- portraits,
- and some macro photography (focus stacking would be a big plus, but not essential).

I usually use basic tools like:
- white balance,
- exposure,
- shadows/highlights,
- HSL,
- linear gradients,
- and local adjustments.

So far I’ve tried or considered:

- **Luminar Neo** – seems OK, but AI features expire after a year unless I renew.
- **Photomator** – good UX but quite expensive ($150) for my low-volume use.
- **Capture One** – too expensive for what I need.
- **Darktable** – great features but overwhelming and complex.
- **RawTherapee** – no linear gradient support.
- **Affinity / Pixelmator Pro** – great apps, but more like Photoshop.
- **ON1 Photo RAW** – looks promising, but I’m not sure about real-life performance.

Any suggestions? I’d love something simple, intuitive, affordable, and macOS-native.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[carboncocoa]

You might really like Nitro by Gentlemen Coders.
I've used Raw Power by them, which now seems to be the predecessor to Nitro, because it reminds me of our dearly departed Aperture.

Nitro® for macOS

gentlemencoders.com

It requires macOS Ventura or later and costs US$99 as a one-time purchase.

 

[davyandjane]

Photoscape X is free.

 

[Vlad9696]

You might really like Nitro by Gentlemen Coders.
I've used Raw Power by them, which now seems to be the predecessor to Nitro, because it reminds me of our dearly departed Aperture.

Nitro® for macOS

gentlemencoders.com

It requires macOS Ventura or later and costs US$99 as a one-time purchase.

Thanks, I actually hadn’t looked into Nitro yet — I’ll definitely check it out.


I remember Raw Power being mentioned a few times in forums, but I never tried it myself.


If Nitro really has that Aperture feel, it might be exactly what I’m after.





That said, I’ve honestly never heard anyone mention Nitro before — not in forums, not from other photographers I know.


Is it just not that popular yet? Are there enough tutorials available? And is the learning curve steep?





Also, what’s your take on ON1 Photo RAW these days?


Have you used it recently? I’ve seen very mixed reviews — some people love it, others complain about lag and a clunky interface.


Just curious if your experience matches any of that.

 

[bradman83]

DxO PhotoLab is a great option but it may be overkill for what you're looking for both feature-wise and price-wise. It regularly goes on sale for Black Friday but that's a ways off.

Luminar Neo is good but the developer has had some shady practices about forced upgrades and cutting off support.

Affinity Photo and Photomator (and its sibling Pixelmator) were both recently bought out by larger companies, by Canva and Apple respectively. That could change what long-term support looks like. That being said I have Affinity Photo and like it a lot. And it can be used as a plug-in module for Apple Photos, so you can keep your photos in the Photos app and do your edits in Affinity.