Hipstamatic is a free popular photography and social media app in one by Hipstamatic, LLC that allows users to capture stunning photos with a retro, vintage feel. You can create your analog profile and earn stamps for your photos, keep a photo streak going, and share your latest shots with friends.

The Hipstamatic app offers a chronological feed of the latest posts from up to 99 people you follow, and photos you post disappear after 30 days to keep it ephemeral and fun. You can give Kudos Stamps to photos you love and create custom stamps with your own message.

A camera app and a community in one

With a selection full of fun retro camera rigs and a very large catalog of over 200 lenses and films for unlimited Darkroom Editing, giving your photos a retro and vintage feel is an easy task to do. It includes a Passport feature where you can take a look at the Kudos Stamps you've earned and created along the way.

While Hipstamatic is completely free-to-use, it also offers an option to pay for a subscription that unlocks more features. The paid subscription is also called Hipstamatic Makers Club—available in monthly and annual plans—and lets you enjoy an ad-free experience and full access to the preset library, cameras, and lenses. Club members can also enjoy early access to new camera styles.

The app excels in every possible way to easily bring back vintage on digitally-taken photos. However, its weak point is the 30-day expiration of the posts. While it's nice to keep the "ephemeral" theme going, it would have been nicer to have it only as an option, as there are some users who would like to keep their posts active for a long time.

Retro with limitations

In conclusion, Hipstamatic is the perfect choice for giving photos a vintage look. While the app is free, subscribing to Hipstamatic Makers Club unlocks more features such as an ad-free experience, and full access to the preset library, cameras, and lenses. Despite the app's overall excellence, the 30-day expiration of posts could be a disadvantage for users who wish to keep their posts active for a more extended period.