FastStone Image Viewer vs FastRawViewer

FastStone Image Viewer9.1Visit FFastRawViewer7.7Visit

Higher score FastStone Image Viewer #2 in Photo Viewer Software 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit FastStone

vs

F FastRawViewer #10 in Photo Viewer Software 7.7/10 30-day trial Free trial✓ 4 of 5 features Visit FastRawViewer

• FastStone Image Viewer fits best

  Windows users wanting a free all-round viewer

• FastRawViewer fits best

  RAW-focused photographers on Windows or macOS

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Side by side

Feature	FastStone Image Viewer 9.1/10 Visit ↗	FFastRawViewer 7.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.1	7.7
Ranking	#2 in Photo Viewer Software	#10 in Photo Viewer Software
Best for	Windows users wanting a free all-round viewer	RAW-focused photographers on Windows or macOS
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	—	—
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	30 days
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	Windows	Windows, macOS
Support	Email, Docs	Community, Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Enterprise	Solo, Small business
Features FastStone Image Viewer 5/5 · FastRawViewer 4/5
RAW image support	✓	✓
Side-by-side compare	✓	✓
Contact sheets	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Color management	✓	✓
Metadata viewer	✓	✓
Specs
Supported platforms	Windows	Windows, macOS
Our review
Pros	Supports camera RAW formats and EXIF metadata viewing Compares up to four images and creates configurable contact sheets Adds batch conversion, renaming, scanning, editing, slideshows, and portability	Direct RAW rendering with histograms and exposure statistics Ratings, labels, filtering, and XMP metadata editing ICC color management with multi-window viewing
Cons	Commercial use requires a paid lifetime license Available for Windows rather than multiple desktop platforms Its broad toolset may be more than casual viewers need	Paid product with no free plan Desktop-only support for Windows and macOS No built-in AI features
Our verdict	FastStone Image Viewer is a Windows desktop application for browsing, viewing, organizing, comparing, editing, converting, and presenting digital images. It suits Windows users who want more than a basic viewer, particularly photographers… Read the review →	FastRawViewer is a desktop photo viewer for photographers who need to review and cull RAW files before editing. It renders RAW data directly rather than relying only on embedded JPEG previews, while also supporting JPEG, TIFF, and PNG… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• FastStone Image Viewer — where it wins

  • Supports camera RAW formats and EXIF metadata viewing
  • Compares up to four images and creates configurable contact sheets
  • Adds batch conversion, renaming, scanning, editing, slideshows, and portability

  Where it doesn't

  • Commercial use requires a paid lifetime license
  • Available for Windows rather than multiple desktop platforms
  • Its broad toolset may be more than casual viewers need

• FastRawViewer — where it wins

  • Direct RAW rendering with histograms and exposure statistics
  • Ratings, labels, filtering, and XMP metadata editing
  • ICC color management with multi-window viewing

  Where it doesn't

  • Paid product with no free plan
  • Desktop-only support for Windows and macOS
  • No built-in AI features

• FastStone Image Viewer9.1/10 · Free plan

  A free Windows viewer with RAW support, comparison, batch tools, editing, and scanning.

  Visit FastStoneFull verdict →
• FFastRawViewer7.7/10 · 30-day trial

  A focused desktop viewer for inspecting, sorting, and comparing RAW files.

  Visit FastRawViewerFull verdict →