Raspy vs the Google Photos editor
Published
The Google Photos editor is good and, if your photos are already backed up to Google, it is right there. That is its whole condition: the editor works on photos in your Google library, which means photos on Google's servers, in a Google account. Raspy works on a file, wherever it came from, and never sends it anywhere.
| Raspy | Google Photos | |
|---|---|---|
| Where editing happens | On your device, in the browser | On photos stored in your Google Photos library; edits sync to your account |
| Account | None | Google account required |
| Price | Free, no ads | Free with 15 GB shared across Google services; Google One from about $2 a month |
| Adjustments on the web | Exposure, brilliance, highlights, shadows, contrast, brightness, black point, saturation, vibrancy, warmth, tint, sharpness, definition, noise reduction, vignette | Brightness, contrast, white and black point, highlights, shadows, saturation, warmth, tint, skin tone, blue tone, pop, vignette, HDR effect; plus portrait light, blur, sky and colour pop tools |
| RAW | No | Converted to JPEG before editing on the web |
| Metadata in exports | Always removed | Location is dropped from shared links and albums by default, but a downloaded photo keeps its original location |
| Offline | Yes, installable | Web editor needs a connection; the phone apps edit locally |
Where Google Photos wins
If your library lives in Google Photos, editing there is zero friction: the photo is already open, the edit syncs to every device, and the original is kept so any change can be undone later. The editor has tools Raspy does not, including portrait light, background blur, sky adjustment, colour pop, and an HDR effect, and the phone apps add the Magic Editor tools. Skin tone and blue tone sliders are a nice touch for people photos.
Where Raspy wins
The photo that is not in Google Photos. A file someone emailed, a HEIC from an iPhone you do not want backed up to Google, a photo on a work laptop. Google Photos cannot edit it without uploading it to your library first. Raspy opens it from disk and never uploads it.
No account, no library. Raspy needs nothing and keeps nothing. Google Photos is an account and a library by design; that is the point of it, and it is also the thing some photos should not join.
Metadata on download. Google strips location from links and albums you share, which is sensible, but its help pages say a downloaded photo keeps the original location. Raspy's exports never carry location or any other EXIF, however you get them out.
The iPhone tools. Raspy's sliders are the iPhone set, including brilliance, definition, noise reduction and a straighten that fills the frame. Google's web editor has a different, partly overlapping set and its own sign conventions.
Which to use
Google Photos for the photos you already keep there. Raspy for the ones you do not, and for the edit you want done without a library, an account, or an upload.
Sources
Claims about the other product were checked against the pages below on 28 August 2026. Products change; if something here is out of date, the source is the place to confirm it.