Pixelmator vs PhotoFlare

Pixelmator's interface is pleasant to look at, easy to use and specifically optimized for OS X users, making it very intuitive for long-time Mac users.

Not only does Piexelmator provide easy to use tools that you should expect in any image editor, it also has rare tools such as layer styles, liquify tools and OS X optimized, fast image manipulation engine among others.

Layer styles allow non-destructively applying effects to a layer.

Dozens of visual effects available, easily discovered from the visual Effects Browser, broken into categories. Effects have interactive dialogs and live preview.

Pixelmator can be used across any number of monitors.

Gives you common image editing capabilities almost instantly.

Pixelmator's image engine is specifically optimized for use with Macs, providing one the best performance results available on OS X.

Pixelmator costs just $30 on the App Store. Additionally, it often comes bundled with other software that you might also find useful bringing the price down.

An easy to use GUI, inspired by the equally great PhotoFiltre editor. Very suitable for beginners to add that special touch to photos/images.

Starts up very quick and most editing features run at a high speed.

This program can open most RAW formats produced by high quality DSLR cameras. Great feature to have if you own a high end Nikon or Canon camera. (other brands supported too)

Offers a Community Edition which is free and the full code is available on Github.

Runs on all major platforms such as Windows, Linux and Mac.