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Aurora HDR is no longer updated. Here's what to use instead.
Skylum has stopped updating Aurora HDR, and Skylum itself now points Aurora users toward the HDR Merge extension inside Luminar Neo. If you're still running Aurora, it will likely keep working for now, but treat it as a dead end rather than buying it as if it were a current product — here are the realistic paths forward.
Aurora HDR was, for several years, one of the more recognizable names in dedicated HDR software, known for a distinctive, often dramatic tone-mapped look and a set of AI-driven adjustment tools. Skylum has since discontinued active development on it in favor of consolidating its HDR features into Luminar Neo, its current all-in-one editor. That leaves Aurora HDR customers in a familiar spot: the software they own hasn't necessarily stopped working today, but it isn't receiving updates, bug fixes, or compatibility work for new camera raw formats or new macOS/Windows releases going forward — which is exactly the kind of situation that eventually breaks on some future OS update with no fix coming.
| MergeHDR | Luminar Neo (HDR Merge extension) | |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship to Aurora HDR | No relation — a separate app built around Photos-library detection | Skylum's official successor; the extension is described as carrying Aurora's merge features forward |
| Platforms | Mac, iPhone, iPad (Universal Purchase) | Mac and Windows desktop |
| Finding your brackets | Automatic — detects AEB sets already in your Photos library | Manual — you select the exposures to merge yourself |
| Exposures per merge | Standard AEB sets (typically 3–7 frames) | Up to 10 exposures per Skylum's stated limit |
| Single-image AI HDR look | Not offered — MergeHDR only merges real bracketed exposures | Yes, in addition to true multi-exposure merging |
| Full photo editor included | No — MergeHDR is merge-and-export only | Yes — Luminar Neo is a complete editor beyond the HDR extension |
| Pricing model | Free to try, then $19.99 once or $9.99/year | Subscription-leaning; one-time options exist but the core push is subscription |
| Processing | On-device, no uploads | Local processing on the desktop app |
Who should use which
Choose Luminar Neo's HDR Merge extension if you want the closest like-for-like continuation of Aurora HDR's own look and toolset, need to merge more than seven exposures in a single pass, or want a single-image AI HDR effect in addition to real multi-exposure merging. It's also the better fit if you want a complete editor — masking, layers, the works — bundled with the merge feature rather than a separate lightweight app.
Choose MergeHDR if your brackets come from an iPhone, a mirrorless camera, or a drone and end up sitting in your Apple Photos library, and you'd rather they were found and offered for merging automatically instead of gathered and imported by hand into another program. It also fits if you specifically want an iPhone or iPad app — Luminar Neo is desktop-only — or if MergeHDR being free to try — with unlimited at $19.99 once or $9.99/year — and on-device processing matter more to you than a deeper editing toolset.
Other established options worth knowing about: Lightroom Classic's built-in HDR merge (see our full comparison) is a strong, subscription-based choice if you already live in a Lightroom catalog; Photomatix Pro (see our comparison) remains the batch-processing workhorse for real estate at a one-time price; and the free, open-source HDRMerge produces an extended-range DNG at zero cost for anyone comfortable with a more manual, technical workflow.
The verdict
Don't keep building a workflow around Aurora HDR — an unsupported app is a liability, not a bargain, no matter how good the results once looked. If you specifically want what Aurora did — a dramatic, AI-assisted HDR look with more than seven exposures and a full editor around it — Luminar Neo's HDR Merge extension is the honest, official next step, and we'd rather point you there directly than pretend MergeHDR replaces it feature-for-feature. If what you actually valued about a merge tool was getting your brackets turned into finished photos with the least friction possible, and those brackets already sit in your Photos library, MergeHDR is built for exactly that instead.
Let MergeHDR find your brackets.
MergeHDR watches your photo library, detects your exposure brackets automatically, and offers the merge — on-device, no uploads.