Coming from Lightroom or Capture One.

Where Rawtonic stands against the better of the two today, honestly, then what comes with you and where things are.

Where Rawtonic stands today

Rawtonic’s rule is to match or beat the better of Lightroom Classic and Capture One in every tool. It does not yet, everywhere. In short, from our side-by-side tests (development builds shortly before alpha.4) and the measurements of alpha.6 and alpha.7 (the numbers, and what each covers, are below):

What works today

  • Auto white balance finds the colour of the light more accurately than Camera Raw’s Auto on our test set.
  • Importing a card with a backup copy is faster than in Lightroom and Capture One: 200 RAW+JPEG pairs in about 10 s (Lightroom 11.5 s, Capture One 23.7 s on the same laptop).
  • Sliders keep following your hand while a batch export runs.
  • Merging an HDR bracket is faster than in Lightroom.
  • Photos moved or renamed outside the program are found again, with their ratings.
  • A tethered shot is on screen as quickly as in Capture One on the Sony α7 III, α7 IV and Fujifilm X-H2S.
  • Auto straighten usually gets the horizon closer than Lightroom.

Not there yet

  • Stepping through a shoot has not been compared with Lightroom and Capture One by real key presses since it was reworked in alpha.6. In scripted runs the next photo shows after about 90 ms and is fully developed after about 0.2 s; stepping faster than about every 0.6 s, the camera’s own JPEG shows within about 20 ms and the developed photo follows after about 0.4 s.
  • A batch export took about twice as long as in Lightroom or Capture One when they were last compared (alpha.4). It has become faster since (on a Mac mini, about 25 s instead of about 41 s for the same export), but has not been compared with them again.
  • The very first AI subject mask after installing still waits for its model if you click within about 15 s of opening Develop. A click 25 s in took 1.5–3.3 s (Lightroom’s first use: 7.9 s); after that it takes under a second.
  • AI Denoise is slower than Lightroom’s and its result is a little less accurate.
  • With a Fujifilm GFX 50R, tethered shots arrive a little later than in Capture One.
  • Auto straighten’s rare misses are a little larger than Lightroom’s.
  • A project’s photos cannot be moved to another drive one by one yet; move the whole folder instead.
The measurements behind this

These are the measurements behind the lists above, worse results included. Unless noted: one MacBook Pro (Apple M5 Pro), the same files in all three programs, Lightroom Classic 15.6 and Capture One 16.6, measured between 10 and 24 October 2026. Rawtonic was a development build of each day, before alpha.4; the rows culling, slider during export and typed value used commit 20c8c71d. Rows measured again since say so: import with the alpha.6 code (Rawtonic only, on the same laptop and card), culling and batch export with alpha.6 and alpha.7 on a Mac mini (Apple M4 Pro), where Lightroom and Capture One were not measured. Changes after alpha.7 are not measured here. Where one program was not measured, the verdict compares only with the other. Times come from screen recordings at 60 frames a second, so they are known to about one frame (0.017 s): they show when the screen changed, not the full delay from hand to eye.

TaskRawtonicLightroom ClassicCapture OneVerdictWhat the measurement covers
Auto white balance, angular error from the measured light1.88°3.78° (Camera Raw’s Auto)not scoredBetter than Camera Raw270 scenes of the Cube++ dataset with a grey card measured in each, mean error of the light each program found; one camera family (Canon 550D/600D). Lightroom was not measured directly: the figure is Camera Raw’s Auto, which Lightroom uses. Capture One’s Auto cannot be converted to this error; on another 272 scenes its result was the least neutral of the three by grey-card colour, a different measure. Not a test of taste: Rawtonic keeps part of warm light warm on purpose, so the balance it applies is 3.52° from neutral on average.
Dragging a slider while a batch export runs42–58 updates per drag, last ≤ 0.05 s after release40–47, last ≤ 0.31 s11–18, last 2.1 sBetterExposure dragged for 1.2 s during each program’s own batch export.
HDR merge, time4–6 sabout 19 snot measuredFaster than LightroomA real hand-held five-frame bracket (public, CC BY-SA), measured 10 October 2026. Speed only: image quality of the merges is not part of this verdict.
Finding moved and renamed filesmoves verified, ratings keptlost the ratings of 5 filesnot measuredBetterSynchronize Folder on one folder of 12 files changed outside both programs.
Typed slider value on screenwithin about one framewithin two frames1–12 frames (0.02–0.21 s)EqualTime from the moment the test script sent Return to the first recorded frame with the changed photo, four or five values each. The recording cannot resolve less than one frame (0.017 s); two of Rawtonic’s five changes were too small for it to detect.
Tethered shot on screen1.1–1.5 s; GFX 50R 2.4 snot measured1.2–1.6 s; GFX 50R 2.1 sEqual, GFX 50R worseMedian from the shutter request to the photo in view, Sony α7 III and α7 IV, Fujifilm X-H2S and GFX 50R, macOS.
Import 200 RAW+JPEG with backup and renamingabout 10 s (9.6 s); 27.0 s before alpha.611.5 s23.7 sFasterUntil all files are in place, from an exFAT card image of the same 200 pairs (6.6 GB) on the same laptop. Rawtonic’s figure is the alpha.6 code (commit c0e70de1, 25 October), two runs with the card remounted before each, timed from the app’s own record; Lightroom and Capture One were timed from screen recordings on 24 October. A metadata preset in the import dialog adds about 1–2 s.
Auto straighten, errormedian 0.06°, 90 % within 0.46°0.18°, 0.42°not measuredMixed51 test photos: a better typical result, slightly worse worst cases.
Next photo while cullingalpha.4: 0.51 s; since alpha.6 about 0.09 s first pixels, about 0.2 s developed0.35 s0.10 sNot compared againAlpha.4 test: rate and step on, 20 photos at fit, median, from a screen recording; Rawtonic showed the developed photo, the others a preview first. Since alpha.6 Rawtonic shows the camera’s own JPEG until the developed photo is in. Its new figures are scripted key events on a Mac mini, 120 public RAWs, medians from the app’s own log, not from the screen; stepping faster than about every 0.6 s the camera’s JPEG shows within about 20 ms and the developed photo after about 0.43 s. A comparison with Lightroom and Capture One by real key presses is not done yet.
Export two recipes of 20 RAWs (38 files)17 s (alpha.4)8 s9 sWorse when compared2048 px JPEG with watermark and full-size 16-bit TIFF, until the last file is written. Since then, on a Mac mini (Apple M4 Pro), 27 public RAWs to a 2048 px JPEG and a full-size 16-bit TIFF from the Library took about 41 s before alpha.6, 37–38 s with alpha.6 and about 25 s with alpha.7, each change measured against the build before it, not in one run; Lightroom and Capture One have not been measured again.
AI subject mask, very first usealpha.4: 13.7 s; since alpha.6 1.5–3.3 s7.9 snot measuredMixedFirst use after installing, model loading included; later uses take under a second. Since alpha.6 Rawtonic prepares the model in the background in Develop: 1.5–3.3 s is a click 25 s after the first photo opened (four runs, same laptop); a click within about 15 s still waits for part of the loading.
AI denoise, 24 MPabout 10 s, error 2.216.5 s, error 1.69not comparedWorseTime per photo, and lightness error at the same remaining noise. Lightroom’s figure is Camera Raw’s Denoise.
Moving a shoot to another drivea project’s photos cannot leave its folder yet: move the whole foldermoves and keeps working, 2.1 snot measuredWorse26 RAW+JPEG pairs to an external drive. Moving a whole folder, or a catalog’s photos, works and is verified byte for byte.

Still being measured: culling by real key presses and batch export against Lightroom and Capture One since alpha.6, colour noise reduction at every setting and ISO, sharpening of fine low-contrast detail at high settings, chromatic aberration on a few cameras, and Capture One’s side of several rows. Each release’s notes say what changed. Numbers are the maintainers’ own measurements on their own and on public test files; we use the other programs only to observe their results, never their profiles, presets or looks.

What comes with you

Same job, Rawtonic’s name

LightroomCapture OneRawtonic
CatalogCatalogCatalog
—SessionProject (one folder with Capture, Selects, Output and Trash)
Survey viewViewer with several variants selectedMulti view, N
Export presetProcess recipeExport recipe
MaskingLayersLayers, each with its masks
PresetsStylesStyles & presets
Synchronize FolderSynchronizeSynchronize Folder
Previous ImportRecent ImportsPrevious Import

Shortcuts

Cursor tools follow Capture One’s keys; views follow Lightroom’s where they exist. Every shortcut can be changed in Preferences → Controls. On Linux, Ctrl replaces ⌘.

KeyDoesKeyDoes
0–5Rating⌘JMove to Selects
NMulti view of the selected photos⇧NLock zoom across them
YBefore/After split\Show the original
JClipping warning⇧SSoft proof
CCropR / ⇧RStraighten / Auto straighten
B / EBrush / EraseL / TLinear / radial mask
QHeal and clone spotsWWhite balance picker
MMask overlayHSolo the selected layer
⇧⌘C / ⇧⌘VCopy / paste adjustments⇧⌘SSync settings
F6FilmstripTabHide the side panels
⌘KFire a tethered cameraFFull screen