Capture One
Capture One is a professional raw photo editor from Denmark's Capture One A/S, used widely in studio and commercial photography. It runs on Mac, Windows and iPad, with strong color tools, custom camera profiles, tethered shooting and support for over 550 cameras.
#27 in Image & Design ToolsPhoto EditorsNo free plan
Who it's for
Best for
Studio and commercial photographers who shoot tethered
Photographers who care most about raw color
Not for
Casual photographers who cannot justify paying premium subscription fees
Beginners who want a simple raw editor without a steep learning curve
Free planNo
Pro$18.90/moBilled annually
All in One$25.90/moBilled annually
Features
Color editor and camera profiles
Fine-tune individual colors and skin tones, using custom profiles made for each camera.
Industry-leading tethering
Shoot with the camera connected and see and adjust images live on screen.
Supports 550+ cameras
Opens raw files from over 550 camera models with tailored processing.
Layers and local adjustments
Apply edits to just part of a photo using adjustment layers and masks.
iPad and iPhone app
The All in One plan adds Capture One on iPad and iPhone, synced with the desktop.
What users say
Pros
- Imports and previews are much faster with far lower memory use than Lightroom.
- RAW conversion shows noticeably less noise than Lightroom on Canon CR3 files.
- Culling is built in, so a separate app like Bridge isn't needed.
- Masking is flexible enough that nearly every photo can be finished without Photoshop.
- The Color Editor corrects skin colour casts that Lightroom leaves alone.
- Educational discounts significantly reduce the annual subscription cost.
Cons
- AI colour matching fell short of what was expected.
- Usability offers little noticeable improvement over Lightroom.
A selection of the review sources we used:
Summarized from public user reviews and community discussions. View details
Global Traffic Rank
Top 1M
Alternatives
Rank#27 in category#1 in category#5 in category#13 in category
Free planNoYesYesYes
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