| Photomatix Pro | Photomatix Essentials | |
|---|---|---|
| Application Type | Standalone + Lightroom Plugin |
Standalone |
| Merge to HDR | ✓ | ✓ |
| Maximum number of bracketed photos per set | Unlimited | 5 |
| HDR "Look" with a Single Photo | ✓ | ✓ |
| Native RAW support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Details Enhancer HDR style (Tone Mapping) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Contrast Optimizer HDR style (Tone Mapping) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tone Balancer HDR style (Tone Mapping) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tone Compressor HDR style (Tone Mapping) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fusion/Natural HDR style (Exposure Fusion) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fusion/Interior HDR style (Exposure Fusion) | ✓ | - |
| Exposure Fusion from a single RAW file | ✓ | - |
| Advanced HDR settings | ✓ | - |
| Individual color adjustments | ✓ | - |
| Brush Tool | ✓ | - |
| Blend with original and source exposures | ✓ | - |
| Finishing (Sharpening & Contrast) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Crop Tool | ✓ | ✓ |
| Straightening Tool | ✓ | - |
| Undo HDR adjustments | ✓ | ✓ |
| Saving & loading custom presets | ✓ | ✓ |
| Thumbnails of built-in presets | ✓ | ✓ |
| Thumbnails of custom presets | ✓ | - |
| Favorite presets | ✓ | - |
| Preset thumbnails display options (larger size & 2 columns) | ✓ | - |
| Histogram | ✓ | - |
| Noise reduction | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic alignment of hand-held photos | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic ghost removal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Selective ghost removal tool | ✓ | - |
| Chromatic Aberrations reduction | ✓ | - |
| Automatic lens correction of RAW files | ✓ | - |
| Batch Bracketed Photos | ✓ | - |
| Batch Single Photos | ✓ | - |
| Opens & saves in 32-bit HDR image formats | ✓ | - |
| Color managed workflow | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integration with Lightroom | ✓ | - |
You can also compare Photomatix Pro and Essentials visually through their videos.
Note: If you buy a license of Photomatix Essentials, you can later upgrade to Photomatix Pro for the US$60 price difference between both products.