Luttiecolor.io shut down: what to use instead
color.io went offline on 31 december 2025 and apple later bought the company. what happened, what pro users kept, and the film emulation tools that replace it.
color.io, the browser film emulation and colour grading app, went offline on 31 december 2025. it had more than 200,000 users. if you were one of them, this is what happened and what you can use now.
what happened to color.io
color.io was built and run by one person, jonathan ochmann. in late 2025 he announced he was closing it to join another company, writing that "after 10+ years of running everything alone, i've reached a point where i need to grow in ways that aren't possible as a solo builder" (macrumors). he was clear that the product wasn't failing.
the web app closed on 31 december 2025, and accounts and cloud data were deleted with it (cined).
the company he joined turned out to be apple. a filing under the eu's digital markets act, reported in may 2026, showed apple had acquired color.io in january. apple hasn't said what it plans to do with it. reports have guessed at final cut pro or pixelmator pro, but that's speculation.
what color.io users kept, and lost
- kept: pro subscribers have an offline desktop version, with no end date announced.
- kept: presets, if you exported them from the web app before it closed.
- lost: the browser app itself. there's nothing to open in a tab any more.
- lost: projects. there was no full project export, and cloud data is gone.
- lost: a way in. if you didn't already have pro, you can't get color.io now.
with its founder at apple, the desktop app isn't expected to get new cameras, stocks or fixes.
what to use instead
color.io did four things people relied on: film emulation built on maths instead of fixed luts, raw development, colour matching, and lut export. nothing replaces it exactly. here's what covers each need. prices were checked on each maker's site on 27 september 2026.
| tool | runs in | film emulation | price |
|---|---|---|---|
| luttie | any browser | film engine: negative, then print or scan | free to grade · pro $21.99/month |
| dehancer online | browser, photos only | dehancer's film profiles | free for 3 photos a day |
| spektrafilm ofx | davinci resolve | spectral simulation, 35 film profiles | free |
| filmconvert nitrate | editing app plugin | camera-matched film stocks | from $119, one-time |
| filmbox | resolve, premiere, final cut and others | high-end motion picture emulation | from $69/year |
if you want it in a browser: luttie
this is our tool, so read it as a pitch. luttie is the closest to how color.io worked: you open a tab, drop in a photo or a frame from a clip, and grade.
- a film engine, not a fixed lut. light goes through a colour negative, then a print stage or a scan. the stocks are luttie's own, inspired by kodak vision3 500t and 250d, portra 400, ektar 100 and fuji eterna, with two print stocks. they're modelled on published curves and haven't been measured against real film.
- photos and video. luttie grades both.
- it reads camera log: sony s-log3, canon c-log3, nikon n-log, apple log, apple log 2 and dji d-log.
- lut export, so the look goes into resolve, premiere, final cut, capcut desktop or photoshop as a
.cube.
what it doesn't have: color.io's visionlog colour space, its particular film stocks, or as many of them. luttie has five negatives.
what's free and what's pro: grading with the film engine is free, and a free account exports watermarked images. lut export, clean full-length video export, raw files, colour match and film effects (grain, halation, bloom) are part of luttie pro: $12 for a 7-day pass, $21.99/month, or $109 once. there's no subscription you have to keep to hold on to your work.
you can try every stock on your own photo in the free film simulator, or go straight to film emulation in the browser.
if you only need the odd photo: dehancer online
dehancer online is dehancer's browser version. it's free for up to three photos a day and doesn't do video.
if you grade in resolve: spektrafilm ofx
spektrafilm ofx is a free openfx plugin that simulates film photochemistry, with 35 film profiles. it's the deepest free option, and it needs davinci resolve.
if you want a plugin you buy once: filmconvert nitrate
filmconvert nitrate is a one-time purchase from $119.
the full comparison of these, with every price, is in dehancer alternatives.
moving a look across
if you have the color.io desktop app and it can still export a .cube lut, you can carry a look with you: export it, then load it anywhere that reads luts. in luttie you can drop a .cube into the creative panel as a custom lut, which is free, and keep grading on top of it.
summary
- color.io's web app closed on 31 december 2025. apple acquired the company in january 2026
- pro subscribers kept an offline desktop app; nobody new can sign up
- for film emulation in a browser, on photos and video: luttie
- for a free plugin in resolve: spektrafilm ofx
- for occasional photos: dehancer online's free tier