AlbumRescue vs Photos Takeout, PowerPhotos, Photo Library Export and osxphotos
By Kayabyte · Last updated 3 November 2026
Short answer: for a healthy library that is your System Photo Library, Photo Library Export, PowerPhotos, Photos Takeout and osxphotos all serve well, and several can fetch iCloud originals, which AlbumRescue can’t. AlbumRescue is for a library you can’t or don’t want to open in Photos: on a drive, damaged or in a Time Machine backup. We make AlbumRescue; the other columns come from each product’s own pages, read on 3 November 2026, and we haven’t tested them ourselves. Check their sites before you buy.
| AlbumRescue | Photo Library Export | PowerPhotos | Photos Takeout | osxphotos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Mac app, direct download | Mac App Store app | Mac app, direct download | Mac App Store app | Command-line tool and Python package |
| Price | USD 34 once, 2 Macs | Free up to 100 items per launch; in-app purchases USD 0.99 and 3.99 | USD 39.95, 2 machines | Free download; USD 49.99 once or 8.99 a month | Free, MIT licence |
| Free limit | Scan, lists, compare, 10 photos saved | 100 per launch | 20 per batch, merge preview only | See listing | None |
| Which library | Any it can read, by path; never opens it in Photos | System library; the developer says standard APIs can’t reach another | Several libraries, including on external drives | Its page notes an alert when the source isn’t the System Photo Library | Any by path with --library |
| Albums as folders | Yes | Yes, one folder per album | Yes, a folder hierarchy | Yes, by album | Yes, {folder_album} |
| XMP sidecars | Yes | Yes, also JSON | Yes, since version 3.2 | Not mentioned on its page | Yes |
| Originals held in iCloud | Can’t get them; says which | Downloads them through PhotoKit | Its notes describe exports with Optimize Mac Storage on | Says it exports full-resolution from iCloud | See its documentation |
| Edited versions | Not exported | Yes, optional | See its documentation | See listing | Yes |
| Writes into a library | Never | Never changes your library, per its page | Yes, it can merge and copy between libraries | Not its purpose | Has import features, per its page |
| Time Machine copy with no database | Reads the journals | Not mentioned | Notes from 2021 mention recognising a library restored from Time Machine | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
| Damaged library | Reads what it can | Not mentioned | Notes mention corrupted iPhoto and Aperture libraries | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
| Needs Terminal | No | No | No | No | Yes |
“Not mentioned” means we did not find it on the pages we read, not that it can’t be done.
Pick another tool when
- Your library opens in Photos and is your System Photo Library: Photo Library Export is the cheapest of these, with album folders and XMP sidecars, and it fetches iCloud originals.
- You want albums to end up in a library: merge or copy between libraries with PowerPhotos. AlbumRescue never writes into Photos. PowerPhotos’ own limits page says face names don’t carry over between libraries.
- You want edited versions: Photo Library Export and osxphotos both offer them. AlbumRescue doesn’t.
- You’re comfortable in Terminal: osxphotos is free and the most capable, and it’s the one we’d check first.
- You want it to keep exporting new photos: Photos Takeout lists incremental exports. AlbumRescue is built for one rescue.
Pick AlbumRescue when
- Photos won’t open the library, or the repair tool failed.
- The library is in a Time Machine backup and you want to see what it holds before restoring.
- You want to compare an old copy with today’s library, without changing either.
- You don’t want to make an old library your System Photo Library, and you don’t want to use Terminal.
Limits: no writing into Photos, no originals that aren’t in the copy, no edits, no People names from journals, no shared albums, no iPhoto libraries. And before you pay anything, read our Time Machine and repair guides: Photos itself may be able to do the job for free.
What we could and could not verify
- Photo Library Export (App Store, checked 3 November 2026): version 4.7, macOS 15 or later. The listing shows the two in-app purchases as a one-time purchase and a yearly subscription, without saying clearly which price is which.
- PowerPhotos (product page, licensing, release notes, checked 3 November 2026): version 3.4.9, macOS 15 or later.
- Photos Takeout (App Store, checked 3 November 2026): version 5.00, updated for macOS 27. Reviews we read on 2 November 2026 complained that it could only export the active system library and failed for a library on an external drive. Its page doesn’t state this as a limit, and we couldn’t confirm whether it’s still true for 5.00.
- osxphotos (GitHub, checked 3 November 2026): lists macOS 27.0 and 26.0 to 26.7 as supported, says Tahoe had limited testing, and says it can’t read shared albums on macOS 26.x. It reads the Photos database, and a Time Machine copy had no database in our tests, so we’d expect it to need the library restored and opened first. We haven’t tried that.
- AlbumRescue: details and limits are on its page.
Questions
Which is the best way to export a healthy Photos library with albums? For most people, a tool that works through Photos: Photo Library Export is the cheapest we found, and PowerPhotos does more. osxphotos is free if Terminal is fine.
Can any of these read a Photos library in a Time Machine backup? AlbumRescue reads the journals in the backup. We did not find this claimed on the other products’ pages, and we haven’t tested them.
Can these tools get photos from iCloud? Photo Library Export and Photos Takeout say they fetch full-resolution originals from iCloud. AlbumRescue can’t.
Is there a free alternative to PowerPhotos? For export, osxphotos is free but runs in Terminal. For opening several libraries, Photos itself can switch between them when you hold Option.
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Apple, Mac, macOS, iCloud and Time Machine are trademarks of Apple Inc. Photos Takeout, PowerPhotos, Photo Library Export and osxphotos belong to their owners. AlbumRescue is made by Kayabyte and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.