Open-source VSCO alternatives

darktable is an open-source photography application that works as a virtual lighttable and darkroom. It keeps digital negatives in a database, lets you browse them in a zoomable lighttable view, and provides a darkroom where raw images are developed and enhanced without altering the original files.

Edited images can be exported to local or remote storage. The project runs on Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Windows 10 and later, and Apple Silicon Macs on macOS 14 and later, and it includes optional AI features. A Lua API is documented separately, and extensions can be obtained from the community. The README is explicit that darktable is not meant to be a free copy of Adobe Lightroom.

The software is written in C and licensed under GPL-3.0. The user manual, Lua documentation and website each live in their own repositories, and the main README covers requirements, building from source, using test or stable versions, and common questions such as camera and lens detection.

Pixelfed is photo sharing software that takes part in the fediverse. It lets people share casual shots and creative photography with an audience without algorithmic barriers, and because it speaks ActivityPub it can interact with other federated platforms.

Pixelfed is built with PHP and Laravel. The README lists officially supported databases as MySQL 9 or newer and MariaDB 11 or newer, with PostgreSQL 14 or newer supported on a best-effort basis but not recommended. As of September 2026 the maintainers recommend running instances with Docker Compose, while non-Docker installs remain supported. A YunoHost package exists, and some unofficial cloud providers offer hosting.

The project is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and publishes documentation on its own site, with Matrix for chat. It has a firm policy against contributions that are substantially generated by generative AI, including code, documentation, translations and issues.