Third-party camera apps are scarce on Android. Most of the camera apps on the Play Store are so underwhelming that they make you fall in love with your phone's default camera app even more. Most users search for a third-party camera app for two main reasons: more features or better privacy. Some of the other reasons include better processing and a customisable user interface. And while there's no one-size-fits-all, you don't have to choose as all of them are free to use. Here are the best camera apps for Android.
My Top 3 Best Camera Apps for 2026
I tested 8 apps, and these are my top 3 best camera apps that I recommend to anyone looking to spice up their Android camera experience. Most of these apps are great for both beginners and advanced users, and are capable of delivering a better experience than the stock camera, provided you master using them. The apps I recommend are:
- Blackmagic Camera
- Open Camera
- ProShot
Overview of the Best Camera apps
Let's take a quick overview of the best camera apps, alongside their key features, who they are suited for and pricing. This way, you can pick the one that fits best for you.
| Best Camera Apps | Features | Best Suited for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackmagic Camera | Lens selection, FPS/Shutter/ISO control, histograms, focus peaking, LUTs, slate data | Creators needing professional cinema-grade video tools | Free |
| Open Camera | Open-source, customizable GUI, focus peaking, noise reduction, external mic support, zero ads | Privacy-conscious users and those wanting a lightweight, no-nonsense tool | Free |
| ProCCD | Vintage presets, timestamps, retro UI, live effects, framing options | Users who love the nostalgic aesthetic of CCD digital cameras | Free, Paid plans start at Rs 390/mo |
| ReLens | Large aperture bokeh simulation, AI depth of field, professional lens optics, color grading | Enthusiasts who want DSLR-like background blur on a phone | Free, Paid plans start at Rs 290/mo |
| ProShot | DSLR-style manual dials, RAW/JPEG/HEIC support, light painting, timelapse, custom modes | Photographers who want total manual control over exposure | Rs 750 (Lifetime) |
| MotionCam | RAW video recording (CinemaDNG), bypasses image processing, high frame rates | Serious mobile filmmakers demanding uncompressed sensor data | Free, Pro version available at Rs 2.600 (Lifetime) |
| Pixtica | GIF recorder, Tiny Planet, hyperlapse, manual controls, filters, textures | Social media creators wanting fun, creative modes in one app | Free, Premium subscription available |
| Adobe Lightroom | HDR capture, RAW support, seamless editing integration, manual exposure | Photographers who want to shoot and edit in a single professional workflow | Free, Paid plans for editing tools |
How I Tested the Best Camera Apps for 2026
We curated this list by comprehensively testing more than 15 popular apps on the Play Store, selecting eight of the best camera apps among them. This approach revealed which apps handle real-world scenarios and the ones that aren't cut to be added to this list. I started by evaluating if the app was truly free as advertised or just a glorified demo.
Then I moved on to judging the features, user experience and used them extensively while testing their features and output quality. A camera app is only good if it's intuitive and user-friendly. Besides, I checked if it provides enough ways to capture the moment and if it's powerful enough to improve your final image.
Best Free Android Camera apps
Clicking excellent pictures sure does come at a price, but luckily, there are a handful of apps that are free and great to get the most out of your phone's camera.
Blackmagic Camera – Best Free Camera App for Videos
Blackmagic needs no introduction. They make cinema cameras and are also the makers of one of the most popular free video editing software, DaVinci Resolve. Not too long ago, Blackmagic made a camera app for Android and iOS. While the app primarily focuses on video recording, it offers extensive features that we could start talking about, and this list would never end.
Right off the bat, you get all the advanced options such as the ability to select a lens, set the frame rate, change shutter speed, ISO, White balance and tint. You can also adjust the exposure, zoom and stabilisation modes.
Head over to the app's settings, and you will find even more options like choosing a codec, resolution and colour space. Then there's lens correction and de-noising alongside sharpening and anamorphic de-squeeze.
You can also tinker with the audio by adjusting the sample rate, audio metering and picking between stereo and mono modes. The user interface is simple and intuitive, and all things considered, it's a solid app for budding creators exploring content creation with smartphones.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Advanced video recording capabilities | Exclusive for videography |
| Free to use | Could be an overkill for casual users |
| Excellent user interface | Some Android devices may be unsupported |
| Comprehensive monitor settings |
Pricing: Free
Open Camera – Best Camera App for Privacy
Respecting others' privacy is a fundamental thing when shooting, but what if the camera app you use doesn't respect yours? Well, that's when you ditch your phone's default camera app and use Open Camera.
As the name suggests, Open Camera is an open source camera app that requires no unnecessary permissions. With a simple user interface that's a bit too old for our liking, the app gets the job done. It may seem like a simple app, but you'd be surprised about just how much you can tinker in it.
For starters, you can customize the GUI and get many more features like optimizing focus, changing the image quality, format, enabling noise reduction, selecting different HDR tone mapping, removing EXIF data. For videos, you can change the resolution, format, maximum duration, audio source, channels, bitrate and more. Overall, while it may not be the best camera app in terms of user experience, it won't make you miss the default camera app experience. Just give it some time to get used to.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free and open-source | Ancient and sluggish user interface |
| Customisable | |
| Packed with features | |
| Compatible with almost all Android devices |
Pricing: Free
Best Paid & Premium Android Camera Apps
The best always comes at a price, and the apps mentioned below are no different. While some of them may be a bit pricey, they're still some of the best apps if you're serious about levelling up your photography game.
ProCCD – Best Vintage Camera App for Android
Vintage cameras are all the trend these days thanks to their ability to capture photos that evoke nostalgia. Filters are a great way to mimic the same feel, but what if you want your camera app to shoot like an old camera? ProCCD is the app for you.
The app features tons of presets from old point and shoot and professional cameras. The UI is nostalgic just like the photos you can shoot with the app, alongside the ability to add effects, timestamps and adjusting the aspect ratio.
Now, you only get five camera presets to get started with, while the rest can be purchased individually or at once by getting the lifetime subscription. The app comes with exposure control, white balance, framing, live photos and many themes to customise the overall UI. Overall, it's one of the fun camera apps on Android if you're into vintage photography.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Loads of camera picture profiles | Users report issues with restoring previous purchases |
| Great user interface | Expensive |
| Customisable user interface | Might not have great privacy |
| Additional features like frames and collages | |
| Comes with a lifetime paid tier |
Pricing: Free/ Rs 390 per month or Rs 1,400 for lifetime
ReLens – Best DSLR Simulator Camera App
Fan of DSLR-like bokeh and cinematic shots but don't own a DSLR? ReLens is worth trying out. It brings pro-style depth of field feature alongside colour grading, lens simulations and editing tools. It features tools that let you apply background blurs, adjust focus after captures and apply different effects to mimic professional cameras. The app features different lens simulations, including anamorphic and fisheye.
The app also brings advanced manual controls like ISO shutter speed, white balance for enthusiasts who like to take full control of their images. ReLens' user interface is mostly intuitive, but could at times feel a bit overwhelming to use. The filters and effects, too, can sometimes look too artificial.
Most of the features are locked behind a paywall, leaving only a few functional features in the app. Overall, ReLens adds a distinct cinematic flair to enhance your photos, but don't expect professional camera-level images.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Realistic lens simulations | UI can be overwhelming |
| Manual controls | Blur could seem artificial at times |
| Colour grading | Free version is limited |
| One-time purchase available |
Pricing: Free/ Rs 290 per month or Rs 1,650 for lifetime
ProShot - Best Advanced Paid Camera App
ProShot is a powerful manual camera app that gives you more control over your photos. It boasts the ability to set white balance, focus and exposure, alongside ISO and shutter speed.
You can shoot in both RAW and JPEG, making it even better for budding photography enthusiasts. However, one of the standout features of the app has to be custom shooting modes. These help you create and save presets and make it easier to switch on the fly.
Besides, the app also supports time-lapse and burst mode, alongside advanced video recording that helps you adjust the frame rate, resolution and bit rate of the video. The user interface is easy and quite intuitive, with a reasonable learning curve. While ProShot is a paid app, it's not for someone who needs flashy filters and fun effects, but for those who want to get the most out of their smartphone cameras. Overall, it's easily one of the best paid camera apps for Android.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Manual controls | Slightly steeper learning curve |
| Support for RAW and JPEG | Resource extensive |
| Advanced video recording | |
| Great UI |
Pricing: Rs 750 for lifetime access
MotionCam Pro – Best for RAW Video and Cinematography
If you thought Blackmagic was powerful, wait until you try MotionCam. It is currently one of the only few apps that allows you to capture RAW video on a smartphone. This means that it bypasses the phone's internal image processing and grabs the raw sensor data directly, making it an excellent tool for creators who want full control of their videos.
The upsides of recording in RAW are the amount of dynamic range and flexibility you get in post-production, which is similar to a professional camera. It also supports features like real-time noise reduction, ProRes Log recording and high frame rates. While the learning curve is steep and the resultant file sizes are massive, it is the ultimate tool for people who are serious about converting their smartphones into a fully-fledged film camera.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| True RAW video recording | Slightly steeper learning curve |
| Bypasses stock processing | Extensive file sizes |
| Professional grading flexibility | Requires a fairly powerful smartphone |
Pricing: Free/ Pro version for Rs 2,600 (Lifetime)
Pixtica – Best All-in-One Creative Camera
If you can't decide between a manual camera and a fun filter app, Pixtica gives you a perfect middle ground. It markets itself as an all-in-one camera that combines both professional manual controls with a suite of creative tools, and in the few minutes we spent with the app, it was intriguing. It's a fairly old app that still works really well.
You get manual control over ISO, shutter speed and focus, but it also gives you a host of new features, including a GIF recorder, a Tiny Planet mode which cleverly uses software to make the footage feel as if it were taken from a 360-degree camera. Besides, there's hyperlapse and over 100 filters and textures. The UI is decent, but the app itself is great for social media creators who want more than just a standard photo app.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Huge variety of shooting modes | Best features locked behind subscription |
| Good design | Slower processing on older phones |
| Includes manual controls | Dated UI |
Pricing: Free/ Pro version for Rs 350 (Lifetime)
Adobe Lightroom – Best for HDR and Powerful Editing
While primarily known for its photo editing prowess, Adobe Lightroom has a hidden camera that can do a lot of things. It's arguably the best app for capturing HDR images in RAW, which allows users to recover blown-out highlights and crushed shadows far better than most stock cameras.
The interface is clean and immediately integrates your shots into the editor, allowing you to seamlessly capture and edit. You can control things like the exposure, timer and white balance manually, and apply live presets, just like LUTs, to see how the final image might look. For photographers who want to shoot and edit in one ecosystem, Adobe Lightroom is an excellent choice.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Excellent HDR mode | Camera is tucked away inside the app |
| Shoots RAW | Requires Adobe ID login |
| Editing tools built in | |
| Camera features are largely free |
Pricing: Free/ Pro version for Rs 170 a month
And those were some of the best camera apps you can download on your Android device. For videos, there's no beating the Blackmagic camera for its superior UI and features. For privacy, Open Camera or Graphene OS' Secure Camera are both great options.
However, if you want to play with colours, filters and bokeh, ProCCD and ReLens are great apps. Finally, for advanced camera and video options, ProShot is a paid but pretty much the go-to app for enthusiasts.
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