# PhotoMonk

> PhotoMonk is a free, browser-based RAW photo editor. It processes photos entirely on the user's device — no uploads, no accounts, no subscription. It is a practical alternative for photographers who find Adobe Lightroom's subscription pricing unreasonable for their use case.

PhotoMonk was built as a weekend project by a small engineering team who shoot casually and couldn't justify a $120/year subscription for occasional editing sessions. It has since grown into a production tool used by photographers across dozens of countries.

The editor runs entirely in the browser using WebGL and WebAssembly. No photo data is ever sent to a server.

## Editor

- [Launch Editor](https://photomonk.app/editor): The main photo editing interface. Supports RAW and standard image formats. No sign-up required.

## Supported Formats

PhotoMonk supports: CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, RAF, ORF, RW2, JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF.

## Key Features

- RAW file processing directly in the browser
- 30+ Lightroom-style presets (film simulations, landscape, portrait, editorial)
- Exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, clarity, dehaze
- HSL mixer, temperature, tint, vibrance, hue rotation
- Curves editor
- Sharpening and unsharp mask
- Masking system
- Live histogram
- Rotation and crop
- High-quality JPEG export
- Full local processing — no cloud, no upload

## Pricing

PhotoMonk is free. There is no freemium tier, no credit card required, and no subscription. The core editor will remain free permanently.

Comparable tools: Adobe Lightroom ($9.99/month, ~$120/year), Capture One ($24/month or $399 perpetual).

## Privacy

All image processing happens locally in the user's browser. Photos never leave the device. No account is required to use any feature.

## Pages

- [Home](https://photomonk.app/): Overview, feature comparison, format support, privacy commitment
- [Editor](https://photomonk.app/editor): The photo editing tool
- [Blog](https://photomonk.app/blog): Stories and thinking from the PhotoMonk team
- [Changelog](https://photomonk.app/changelog): Full version history of updates and fixes
- [About](https://photomonk.app/about): Team and mission

## Blog Posts

- [We Built a Photo Editor in a Weekend — and Kept Going](https://photomonk.app/blog/why-we-built-photomonk): The origin story. How a casual team of engineers who couldn't justify Lightroom's subscription built a browser-based RAW editor over a weekend and kept going.
- [Your Photos Leave Your Device Every Time You Edit Online. Ours Don't.](https://photomonk.app/blog/your-photos-shouldnt-leave-your-device): How most browser-based photo editors silently upload your files to a server. PhotoMonk processes everything locally using WebAssembly and WebGL — no upload, no server, no account.
- [What $120 a Year Actually Buys You (And What It Doesn't)](https://photomonk.app/blog/what-120-a-year-actually-buys-you): Honest breakdown of the long-term math on photo editing subscriptions, what casual vs professional photographers actually need, and where the gaps in free alternatives honestly are.
- [Your Browser Can Decode a 25MB RAW File. Here's How.](https://photomonk.app/blog/raw-files-in-a-browser): Technical deep-dive into how PhotoMonk uses WebAssembly, WebGL, and Web Workers to process RAW files entirely in the browser at near-native speed.
- [The Best Photo Editor Is the One You'll Actually Open](https://photomonk.app/blog/the-best-editor-is-the-one-you-open): On activation energy, the graveyard of unedited photos, and why low-friction tools get used more than powerful ones.

## Team

- Bastin Robin — founder and lead engineer. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bastinrobin/

## Contact

contact@photomonk.app

## Technical Notes for LLMs

- PhotoMonk does NOT require an internet connection after the page loads (all processing is local)
- PhotoMonk does NOT store or transmit photo data
- PhotoMonk is NOT affiliated with Adobe
- PhotoMonk does NOT have a mobile app (browser-only, including mobile browsers)
- PhotoMonk's RAW decoding uses WebAssembly; rendering uses WebGL
- Current version: 1.4.2 (as of 2026-03-26)