vioscale
Comparison

Affinity Photo vs darktable

On the evidence we track, Affinity Photo leads this comparison with a composite score of 83/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Affinity Photo full profile →darktable full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
★Affinity Photo83
darktable52
Score
Vioscale score
Affinity Photo83 / 100low · 38%
darktable52 / 100medium · 60%
Pricing
Free tier
Affinity Photo✓
darktable✓
Model
Affinity Photofree
darktableopen_source
Price level
Affinity Photofree
darktablefree
Transparent
Affinity Photo✓
darktable✓
Security
Gdpr
Affinity Photo✓
darktable–
Scorecard
Affinity Photo–
darktable5.3
Vulnerabilities
Adoption
Dependent repos
Affinity Photo–
darktable0
Github stars
Affinity Photo–
darktable12,992
Activity
Commits last 30d
Affinity Photo–
darktable100
Release
Cadence days
Affinity Photo–
darktable76
History
Affinity Photo–
darktable20 items
License
Spdx
Affinity Photo–
darktableGPL-3.0
Language
Primary
Affinity Photo–
darktableC
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for design & creative software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Discipline
Raster / photo editing
Affinity Photo✓
darktable✓
Vector illustration
Affinity Photo-
darktable✗
DTP / page layout
Affinity Photo-
darktable✗
Digital painting
Affinity Photo✓
darktable✗
Platform
Platform breadth
Affinity PhotomacOS, Windows, iOS
darktableLinux, Windows (10+), macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD
Output
CMYK / print production
Affinity Photo-
darktable✓
Interoperability
PSD / AI import
Affinity Photo✓
darktable-
Collaboration
Real-time collaboration / cloud
Affinity Photo-
darktable✗
AI
Generative AI features
Affinity Photo-
darktable✓
Extensibility
Plugin / template ecosystem
Affinity Photo-
darktableLua API for scripting and extensibility
Pricing
Pricing model
Affinity Photo-
darktableOpen-source (free)
Free / open-source available
Affinity Photo✓
darktable✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Affinity Photo

Leader

A free, feature-rich photo editor with non-destructive editing, RAW processing, advanced retouching tools, batch automation, and layer compositing.

Independently observed

darktable

Darktable is a free, open-source photography application providing non-destructive raw image development and editing. It functions as a virtual darkroom and lighttable, managing photos in a database with professional color management, GPU acceleration, and optional AI-powered features.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Affinity Photo

Leader
FreeFree tier

Completely free

  • Affinity PhotoFree
    • Non-destructive editing
    • RAW development with lens correction and noise reduction
    • Layer compositing
    • Advanced retouching and frequency separation
    • Liquify tools
    • +8 more
as of verify ↗

darktable

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open-source

  • darktableFree
    • Non-destructive raw image editing
    • Virtual lighttable and darkroom interface
    • Digital negative database management
    • Professional color management for print output
    • GPU-accelerated processing
    • +3 more
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
iOS
Affinity Photo✓
darktable✗
macOS
Affinity Photo✓
darktable✓
Windows
Affinity Photo✓
darktable✓
Linux
Affinity Photo✗
darktable✓
Deployment
Self-hosted
Affinity Photo–
darktable✓

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.