What is Darktable used for?

Darktable is an open-source photography workflow application and non-destructive raw developer for managing, editing and exporting digital negatives. It is a good fit for developing raw photos on Linux and managing a large photo library.

Is Darktable open source?

Yes. Darktable is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at darktable-org/darktable and is written mainly in C.

Yes. Darktable is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Darktable?

Yes. Darktable can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Darktable an alternative to?

Darktable is an open-source alternative to Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, Luminar Neo and Photomator. Other open-source alternatives to Adobe Lightroom include RawTherapee.

Is Darktable actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Darktable was on 2 October 2026. The project has 13k stars on GitHub.

Darktable: open-source alternative to Adobe Lightroom

About Darktable

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.

Key features

Non-destructive raw image development
Lighttable view for managing digital negatives
Darkroom module for editing and enhancing photos
Export to local or remote storage
Lua API for scripting and extensions
Optional AI-assisted features

Good fit for

→Developing raw photos on Linux
→Managing a large photo library

Built with: C
Tags: photography; raw-editor; photo-management; image-editing; lua; cross-platform; desktop-app

Darktable: questions and answers

What is Darktable used for?: Darktable is an open-source photography workflow application and non-destructive raw developer for managing, editing and exporting digital negatives. It is a good fit for developing raw photos on Linux and managing a large photo library.
Is Darktable open source?: Yes. Darktable is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at darktable-org/darktable and is written mainly in C.
Is Darktable free?: Yes. Darktable is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Darktable?: Yes. Darktable can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Darktable an alternative to?: Darktable is an open-source alternative to Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, Luminar Neo and Photomator. Other open-source alternatives to Adobe Lightroom include RawTherapee.
Is Darktable actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Darktable was on 2 October 2026. The project has 13k stars on GitHub.