Best Lightroom Plugins

If you are a professional or even an enthusiast photographer, chances are you use Lightroom to edit your RAW files into stunning photos. Lightroom is one of the most used RAW photo editors in the world because it offers a lot of features that make it easier to create stellar photos. 

However, if you feel like there are some things that could be added or improved in Lightroom and are wondering whether you should try a new photo editor, hold on for a moment. Lightroom plugins make it possible for you to add to the software’s functionality without the need to try out a completely new program. 

If you’re into the idea of trying them out, here are the best Lightroom plugins to supercharge your RAW editing software:

1. Luminar Plugin

If you want a Lightroom plugin that gives you more than 50 amazing-looking filters and other smart tools, then Luminar Flex is worth a try. With these AI-powered filters, you can edit your photos within Lightroom in no time. Luminar Flex can be bought for €69.

2. Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR’s Lightroom plugin is the best way to create spectacular HDR images with easy-to-use tools and a ton of features. You can use the various presets to get started and then dive into the manual controls for more detailed editing. Aurora HDR’s plugin can be yours for €99.

3. Photolemur

If you love working within Lightroom but miss the ability to use AI-enhanced automatic photo editing at times, then the $35 you’ll spend on Photolemur will be the best investment in your photo editing needs. The plugin uses algorithms to lock onto common issues with your photos and then fix them automatically. 

4. Focus Mask

If you have a large number of photos and can’t decide which one has the best focus, then using Focus Mask will help out a lot. This Lightroom plugin adds a red outline on the elements of your image that are in focus, helping you see clearly which images are well-focused and which aren’t. And the best part? Focus Mask is free to use!

5. Topaz Clean

For portrait photographers, it’s a long process to clean up imperfections of the skin. Topaz Clean is one of the best Lightroom plugins to help with this. It cleans up the surfaces in a photo, then makes the edges cleaner, and finally recovers the details. You can get Topaz Clean for $29.99. 

6. Topaz Lens Effects

For getting access to a number of different lens effects for getting some creative editing done, you can use Topaz Lens Effects for $79.99. While the price is high, you end up getting many lens effects like tilt-shift, motion blue, polarization, bokeh, and more. 

7. Snap Art

If you want to convert your photos into attractive digital paintings, then Snap Art can help you do that. It quickly and easily gives photos a painterly look in the style of one of many artists. Snap Art costs $149 which is a high number, but if you’re into this kind of editing then it’s definitely one of the best Lightroom plugins in its category.

8. The Fader

Having to deal with presets in Lightroom can be frustrating when you can’t reduce their intensity as you will. The Fader helps you do just that. It’s a Lightroom plugin that lets you move a slider to decide how strongly a preset should be applied. The Fader can be used for free and extra features can be unlocked for just $10. 

9. Film Stocks

For lovers of the vintage look, Film Stocks is the best Lightroom preset to get for $50. With this, you will over 300 stocks, including those for film, motion pictures, and photographic processes of the past. 

10. Light

With Light, you will be able to add light effects within Lightroom. The plugin provides nearly 2000 different light patterns that can be added to your photos. You can control the patterns as well, thanks to the use of masking and layers. Light can be bought for $50. 

11. Nik Collection

For a one-stop-solution for all kinds of creative effects, the Nik Collection for €69 is the best Lightroom plugin to get. With this, you get a collection of five different plugins that each contain large numbers of presets and tools to edit your photos quickly and easily. From color corrections and b&w editing to sharpening images, everything is possible with this Lightroom plugin collection.

12. Hypertyle

If you want to add different effects like texture, shadows, and erosion to your photos, then Hypertyle is one of the best Lightroom plugins to invest it. It gives you more than 1200 different effects to choose from and you can stack up to 20 of those onto your image if you want. Hypertyle can be purchased for $49.95. 

13. Perfectly Clear

This Lightroom plugin is designed to help you correct and enhance various aspects of your images quickly. Features like foliage enhancement, sky enhancement, intelligent sharpening, and light diffusion are what Perfectly Clear is famous for. You can add it to your Lightroom for $129. 

14. Imagenomic Portraiture 3

This is one of the best Lightroom plugins for portrait photographers who want to perform quick and easy skin retouching. The plugin costs $199.95 and comes with smoothing effects, tone control, and enhancement effects. 

15. PortraitPro Body

For those photographers who need to separate the model in their photo from the background, PortraitPro Body is perfect. It uses image recognition tools to quickly select your model from the photo. PortraitPro Body costs $39.95. 

16. Photomatix Pro

For $99, you can get your hands on Photomatix Pro which can be used as a Lightroom plugin to create very impressive HDR photos. Features like ghost removal, automatic bracketing, and automatic alignment make it a powerful and efficient HDR processor within Lightroom.

17. easyHDR Pro

If you want something cheaper than Photomatix Pro for creating HDRs within Lightroom, you can spend €35 on easyHDR Pro. It offers many of the same features as other HDr plugins and is easy to use at the same time. 

18. LR/Enfuse

For blending different photos with different exposures into one HDR image, you can also use LR/Enfuse. It is not as powerful as other Lightroom plugins that allow for HDR processing but it is completely free to use. 

19. Excire Search Pro

To search through countless photos in your Lightroom catalog, you can install Excire Search Pro. It provides a search engine that works locally on your machine and doesn’t take up a lot of space either. There’s a keyword transfer feature as well that lets you quickly search for the image you want. The Lightroom plugin can be purchased for €99. 

20. LR Backup

To automate backups and compress existing ones to save time and space, use LR Backup. This plugin offers a better backup solution to you when compared to Lightroom’s own backup tool. You can unlock the complete functionality of LR Backup by making a custom donation. 

21. Geoencoding Plug-In

In order to embed your photos with the location information, the free Geoencoding Plug-In for Lightroom is a great option to use. It’ll make it possible for people to know where you took your photo. 

21. Crop for iPad and Other Devices

This Lightroom plugin is great for when you need to crop your photos into the size suitable for various devices like smartphones, tablets, TVs, and more. You can start using it for free and then donate a small amount to register it forever. 

22. Bulk Develop Settings

Another free plugin, Bulk Develop Settings will allow you to use settings related to noise control automatically. You can adjust various settings like noise reductions, contrast, clarity and more based on the camera model a certain photo is taken with, the ISO that is used, and the exposure of the photo.

23. Teekesselchen

Having to manually deal with duplicate photos can be quite tiresome. This is one of the best Lightroom plugins to help you find duplicate images automatically and it’s also free to use. 

24. Photo Caption Filler

With this Lightroom plugin, you’ll be able to add captions to photos in an easy way. The plugin makes use of the metadata of photos to make it easy to add date, camera model, lens and more information like this. You can get this plugin for $5. 

25. HashtagIA for Lightroom

Adding multiple hashtags to your photos is not a fun experience to undertake which is why HashtagIA for Lightroom is the best Lightroom plugin to do it for you. It uses AI to add relevant hashtags to your photos automatically. However, you will have to make a payment every time you use the plugin. 

26. Evlaa

If you want to share your photos with someone without leaving Lightroom, then you can use Evlaa for €6 per month. It allows clients to rate and comment on your photos too so that it’s easier and quicker for you to work. You can also create an online gallery and sell your photos directly through Evlaa.

27. LR/Gmail

Having the ability to email photos back and forth from within the Lightroom interface is what LR/Gmail is all about. It makes the process of collaborating with multiple people much more convenient, and it does it for free. However, if you want to send multiple images at a time, then you have to make a donation. 

28. LR/Instagram

For all the Instagrammers out there, LR/Instagram makes it possible to post your images to Instagram directly from Lightroom. You can crop photos, add hashtags, and then post them to your feed. This is one of the best Lightroom plugins that make life a lot easier and it costs $10. 

29. pCloud Plugin

This Lightroom plugin enables you to upload your photos from Lightroom to the pCloud online storage. Using this online storage, you can then share your images to different websites. The plugin is free to use. 

30. Photo Upload

Photo Upload comes in various flavors, each for $15 and each offering a way to upload your images from Lightroom to a different website. Some of these websites include Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Gmail, Amazon Drive, and more. 

31. SmugMug

Having the ability to share photos directly to an online portfolio like SmugMug is great for those trying to build their profession in photography. This plugin helps you do just that. You can connect your SmugMug account with Lightroom for free and publish images directly to your portfolio. 

32. JPEG Optimizer

To share your photos with others, JPEG Optimizer is the best Lightroom plugin if you want a strong balance between quality and size. It shrinks your photos based on the optimal viewing experience and helps you share files more efficiently. It’s a free plugin to use. 

33. Darkroom Notebook

Darkroom Notebook is for those of you who like to add more information to their photos. You can add information about the gear used, film type, chemicals for developing, toning, paper, and more. The plugin can be used for free. 

34. Keyboard Tamer

Keyboard Tamer is the best Lightroom plugin for mapping different tools and controls within Lightroom to different keys on your keyboard. It requires a donation to be used fully but is well worth the price you’ll pay as it makes the process of accessing various tools very easy and convenient. 

35. Blow Up

Sometimes you might want to enlarge your photos in order to print them on bigger paper sizes while keeping their sharpness and quality intact. Blow Up helps you do that. The results produced are very impressive as well. You can use Blow Up for $79. 

36. LR Timelapse

As far as Lightroom plugins for adding functionality to the program go, LR Timelapse is one of the best ones out there. It allows you to create stellar time-lapses using various tools like keyframes, grading, and more. You can get this plugin for €120. 

And with that, we conclude our list of the 40+ best Lightroom plugins you should look out for in 2024. All of these extend the functionality of the RAW photo editor in one way or the other. Depending on what kind of photography you practice and what kind of functionality you miss within Lightroom, we’re sure you can find something very useful for your personal workflow. So, give them a try and see how they transform your Lightroom workflow with ease!