Retoucan learns your editing style from your own catalogs and edits new shoots on your computer. No subscription, no account, and the code is open source.
Aftershoot and Retoucan both run on your own computer, so the difference isn't privacy. It's scope and price. Aftershoot is a paid subscription that covers culling, editing, retouching and client galleries. Retoucan does one part of that, the first-pass edit in Lightroom Classic, for free.
If you already cull in Lightroom, by hand or with Lightroom's built-in Assisted Culling, Retoucan picks up from there. It reads your flags, stars and labels, learns from photos you've already edited, and writes ordinary Lightroom settings and AI masks back into the catalog.
| Retoucan | Aftershoot | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Paid subscription |
| Where editing happens | Your computer | Your computer |
| Account needed | No | Yes |
| Open source | Yes (MIT) | No |
| Learns from your past edits | Yes, from any edited catalog | Yes |
| Looks | Your Lightroom presets and profiles, plus ten film looks | Aftershoot profiles and your own |
| AI masks | Subject, background, skin, teeth, eyes, sky | Retouching on its Retouch plan |
| Culling | Use Lightroom's Assisted Culling; Retoucan reads the picks | Yes |
| Client galleries | No | Yes |
| Maturity | Early, actively developed | Established commercial product |
Compared October 2026. Check aftershoot.com for Aftershoot's current plans and features.
Aftershoot is the better fit if you want culling, editing, retouching and galleries in one app with support behind it.
Retoucan fits if you cull in Lightroom already and only want the editing pass, would rather not add another subscription, or want a tool whose code you can read and change.
If you like Aftershoot's culling but not paying for its editing, you can keep a culling plan and let Retoucan do the edit. As long as your selections reach Lightroom Classic as flags, stars or color labels, Retoucan can filter by them and edit only those photos.
For AI editing in Lightroom Classic, Retoucan is a free, open-source alternative to Aftershoot. It learns your style from catalogs you've edited and edits new shoots on your own computer. For culling, it pairs with Lightroom's Assisted Culling.
Retoucan pairs with Lightroom Classic's built-in Assisted Culling instead. Let Lightroom flag your keepers (or cull by hand), and Retoucan reads those picks and edits them. Together they cover culling and editing for free.
Yes, both process on your computer. Retoucan also skips the account and subscription, and its code is open source.
Aftershoot is a mature product with culling, editing, retouching and galleries. Retoucan does the editing step only, and learns from your own edited catalogs, so results depend on how much of your work it can learn from. Try a test batch on your next shoot; one click undoes it.
Yes, as long as your Aftershoot selections reach Lightroom Classic as flags, stars or color labels. Retoucan filters by those and edits only the photos you kept.
Yes. Retoucan runs on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows, with Lightroom Classic 13.3 or later.
Comparing all three? Read Imagen AI vs Aftershoot vs Retoucan.