Is PhotoMonk really free?

Yes, PhotoMonk is 100% free forever. No subscription, no credit card required, no sign-up needed.

What RAW formats does PhotoMonk support?

PhotoMonk supports all major RAW formats including CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, RAF, ORF, RW2, and more.

How does PhotoMonk compare to Adobe Lightroom?

PhotoMonk offers similar RAW processing capabilities and professional presets as Lightroom, but completely free. Save $120/year compared to Lightroom subscription.

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Stories from PhotoMonk

How we build, why we build, and the thinking behind a photo editor that refuses to charge you a subscription.

Technical·7 min read·March 26, 2026

Your Browser Can Decode a 25MB RAW File. Here's How.

Most people think of browsers as document viewers. They haven't caught up with what the modern browser actually is: a full application runtime that can do things desktop software could barely manage a decade ago.

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Workflow·4 min read·March 26, 2026

The Best Photo Editor Is the One You'll Actually Open

The photos that don't get edited aren't edited because of the software. They're unedited because opening the software requires more activation energy than the moment is worth. That's a design problem, not a discipline problem.

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Thinking·4 min read·March 26, 2026

What $120 a Year Actually Buys You (And What It Doesn't)

No opinion here. Just the math on what a photo editing subscription costs over time, what you get for it, and what the alternatives actually are.

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Origin Story·6 min read·March 26, 2026

We Built a Photo Editor in a Weekend — and Kept Going

It started as a weekend hack. We just wanted a simple way to edit photos without worrying about a subscription we couldn't justify. Turns out, building that was more fun than we expected.

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Privacy·5 min read·March 26, 2026

Your Photos Leave Your Device Every Time You Edit Online. Ours Don't.

Most photo editors that run in a browser silently upload your images to a server before you ever see a single slider. We think that's worth knowing about.

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