Alternative · FastRawViewer
A FastRawViewer
alternative.
Free, in a browser tab, and it develops what you keep. One thing FastRawViewer does better is worth knowing before you choose.
Rawnd runs on a desktop browser — it needs access to the folder your RAW files are in. Open this page on your computer.
No install · No account · Nothing uploaded
01 The short answer Before the table
What Rawnd does instead.
Rawnd is a free RAW viewer and culler that runs in a browser tab. It decodes the file itself rather than showing you the JPEG the camera embedded, rates frames from the keyboard, develops the ones you keep, and exports XMP sidecars — with nothing installed and nothing uploaded.
One difference matters more than the price, so it goes first. FastRawViewer's defining feature is a histogram built from the raw sensor data, before any rendering, which is the honest way to judge whether a highlight is actually gone. Rawnd's histogram is computed from the developed image on screen. Both decode the RAW; only one shows you the sensor's own numbers. If that is why you use FastRawViewer, keep using it.
02 Side by side FastRawViewer
The two, on the facts.
| Rawnd | FastRawViewer | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | About $24, paid once |
| What you install | Nothing — a browser tab | A desktop application |
| Runs on | Any desktop browser | macOS and Windows |
| Decodes the RAW itself | Yes | Yes |
| Histogram of the raw sensor data | No — of the developed image | Yes |
| Focus peaking and shadow boost | No | Yes |
| Culling from the keyboard | Yes | Yes |
| Develops the RAW | Yes — tone, colour, crop, masks | Exposure and white balance |
| Exports JPG | Yes | Yes |
| XMP sidecars | Yes | Yes |
| Photos leave your machine | Never | Never |
| Works offline | Yes, after the first visit | Yes |
LibRaw pricing checked in August 2026; it is discounted often.
03 Where each one wins Honestly
Where FastRawViewer wins
The histogram, which is the whole reason the program exists. It is drawn from the raw sensor values rather than from a rendered preview, so it tells you what the sensor actually recorded — and a highlight that looks blown in every other viewer may still be there. Rawnd does not do this: its histogram describes the image after developing. For judging exposure on a technical shoot, that is a real gap and not a small one.
Alongside it, the tools built on the same idea: focus peaking, shadow boost, an over- and under-exposure display, and RAW-based clipping warnings. Twenty-four dollars once for that is a fair price and there is no browser tab that replaces it.
Where Rawnd wins
It develops. FastRawViewer judges and sorts; taking a frame further means opening something else. Rawnd gives you exposure, the tone curve, colour, crop and masks in the same tab you culled in, and exports a JPG at the end — so a shoot can be finished rather than only triaged.
And it costs nothing and installs nothing, which matters more than it sounds. A licence on your desktop is no use on a borrowed laptop at a venue. A URL is.
04 Which one you want By what you do
Pick by the job, not the price.
| If this is you | Open this |
|---|---|
| You judge exposure from the raw data | FastRawViewer |
| You want focus peaking before you commit to a frame | FastRawViewer |
| You want to cull and finish in one place | Rawnd |
| You are on a machine you cannot install software on | Rawnd |
| You want to sort a shoot tonight without buying anything | Rawnd |
05 Questions Before you switch
Common questions
Does Rawnd show a real RAW histogram?
No. Rawnd's histogram is computed from the developed image you are looking at, with clipping indicators on both ends. FastRawViewer's is computed from the raw sensor values before rendering, which is a different and more technical measurement. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions.
Does Rawnd show the embedded JPEG preview like most viewers?
No — that is the shortcut this exists to avoid. The RAW is fully decoded on your machine, which is why you can pull a highlight back rather than discover the viewer never had the data.
Is Rawnd free the way FastRawViewer's trial is free?
No, it is free the way it sounds. Culling, comparing, developing and exporting one photograph at a time — sidecars included — stay free on any number of files. Pro, $6 a month or $69 once, adds batch work across a whole selection.
Which RAW formats does it read?
Fifteen: CR2, CR3, CRW, NEF, NRW, ARW, SRF, SR2, RAF, DNG, RW2, ORF, PEF, SRW and the generic RAW. A folder holding several of them opens as one strip.
Also compared:
Open a card. Nothing to install.
Ten seconds from now you are culling. Close the tab and your ratings are still here next time.
Rawnd runs on a desktop browser — it needs access to the folder your RAW files are in. Open this page on your computer.
No account · nothing uploaded · free to cull