Adobe Photoshopvs
Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo: Professional photo editor with perpetual license model, offering similar editing capabilities without subscription requirement.
Adobe Photoshop
The world's best imaging and graphic design software
As of 30 August 2026, Adobe Photoshop starts at $19.99/month. Adobe Photoshop is the industry-standard photo editing and digital imaging software. Softwr lists it under Photography. Adobe Photoshop is made by Adobe Inc, launched in 1982, available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Web.
Overview
What Adobe Photoshop does
Adobe Photoshop is the industry-standard photo editing and digital imaging software. Used by photographers, designers, and artists worldwide for photo manipulation, digital art creation, and graphic design.
What people use it for
- Photo editing
- Digital art creation
- Graphic design
- Web design
- Print design
- Social media graphics
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Adobe Photoshop.
- Subscription-only model with ever-increasing costs, no perpetual license option
- High hardware requirements for smooth performance with large graphics
- Limited mobile optimization compared to desktop version
- Limited 3D modeling and rendering tools for professionals
- AI text generation inside images remains inconsistent and unpredictable
- No progress monitoring bars for rendering operations
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Adobe Photoshop
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- Adobe PhotoshopvsGIMP
GIMP: Free, open-source image editor providing core photo editing features comparable to Photoshop's basic functionality.
- Adobe PhotoshopvsPhotopea
Photopea: Web-based photo editor with Photoshop-compatible interface, eliminating need for installation while maintaining familiar workflows.
- Adobe PhotoshopvsPixelmator Pro
Pixelmator Pro: Mac-specific professional photo editor with one-time purchase model offering alternative to Photoshop's subscription.
- Adobe PhotoshopvsAdobe Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom: Adobe's own photo management and editing software, often bundled with Photoshop in the Photography plan at lower cost.
Pricing
What Adobe Photoshop costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Photography Plan
$19.99 /mo
- Photoshop desktop for macOS and Windows
- Lightroom desktop and cloud
- 1TB cloud storage
- 1,000 AI credits monthly
- Photoshop web (limited features)
- Mobile apps included
Photoshop Single App
$22.99 /mo
- Photoshop desktop for macOS and Windows
- Photoshop for iPad
- Photoshop web (limited features)
- 100GB Creative Cloud storage
- Adobe Fonts access
- 25 AI credits monthly
Creative Cloud Pro
$69.99 /mo
- All Creative Cloud apps including Photoshop
- Unlimited standard AI features with Firefly Pro
- 4,000 AI credits monthly
- 1TB cloud storage
- All mobile and web apps included
Capabilities
Features
Advanced photo editing
Layer-based editing
Selection tools
Color correction
Digital painting
3D design
Typography tools
Batch processing
Adobe Creative Cloud
Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud
Lightroom
Integration with Lightroom
Illustrator
Integration with Illustrator
After Effects
Integration with After Effects
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
What does a Photoshop subscription include?
A single-app Photoshop subscription ($22.99/month) includes the desktop app for macOS and Windows, Photoshop for iPad, limited web features, 100GB cloud storage, and 25 AI credits monthly. The Photography Plan ($19.99/month) adds Lightroom and increases AI credits to 1,000 monthly.
SourceIs there a free trial for Photoshop?
Yes, Adobe offers a 7-day free trial for individuals and 14 days for Teams. The trial requires credit card verification, includes 100GB cloud storage, and full access to all features. The subscription auto-renews at $20.99/month unless cancelled 24 hours before trial ends.
SourceWhat AI features does Photoshop 2026 include?
Photoshop 2026 features Generative Fill with reference image support (for control over lighting and color), Generative Upscale (enlarges images to 8MP while preserving detail), a conversational AI assistant in beta, Harmonize for auto light and color matching, and integration with Gemini 2.5 Flash and FLUX.1 AI models.
SourceWhat platforms does Photoshop run on?
Photoshop is available on Windows 10/11, macOS 13+, iPad (iOS 17+), iPhone (iOS 17+), and web browsers. Android version entered beta in June 2025.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Adobe Photoshop
- Company
- Adobe Inc
- Based in
- San Jose, CA
- Founders
- John Warnock, Charles Geschke
Timeline
Adobe Photoshop over time
- Milestone2012-01-01
Adobe transitions to Creative Cloud subscription model under CEO Shantanu Narayen
Source - Acquisition2005-01-01$3.4bn
Adobe acquires Macromedia for approximately $3.4B, expanding design tools portfolio
Source - Acquisition1994-08-01$446m
Adobe acquires Aldus Corporation for $446M, gaining PageMaker and After Effects
Source - Launch1990-02-01
Adobe Photoshop 1.0 released, becoming industry standard for digital image editing
Source - Acquisition1986-08-20
Adobe IPO on August 20, raising $16 million
Source - Founded1982-01-01
Adobe Systems founded by John Warnock and Charles Geschke to develop PostScript language
Source
Keep looking
Where to go from Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Photoshop alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Adobe Photoshop pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Adobe Photoshop badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Photography softwareThe full category
- Best Photography softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Photography software for
Compare Adobe Photoshop with
- Affinity Photo
- Corel PaintShop Pro
- Pixelmator Pro
- Picsart
- Lensa
- darktable
- Aftershoot
- ON1 Photo RAW
- digiKam
- Nik Collection
- Capture One
- Luminar Neo
- Photo Mechanic
- Pixieset
- Remini
- Facetune
- Pixelmator Pro
- ON1 Photo RAW
Other Photography software
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10 researched notesOpen source photo manager with face recognition, geotagging and a shared database option
Open source11 researched notesPlugin suite of specialised editing tools, black and white, HDR, colour effects, sold as a one-time purchase by DxO
11 researched notesAI-powered photo editor with generative tools and one-time or subscription licensing
From $129/mo9 researched notesIngest and culling tool that browses camera files at card-reader speed
From $139/one-time13 researched notesClient gallery, store and studio management platform priced by storage volume
Free, then $8/mo12 researched notesAI photo enhancement and restoration app with a short free trial that converts to an annual subscription
Free plan10 researched notesSelfie and portrait retouching app from Lightricks, sold on a subscription with a short free trial
Free plan10 researched notesAll-in-one RAW photo editor and organizer, an alternative to Lightroom and Photoshop
10 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Adobe Photoshop, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Adobe Photoshop
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Adobe Photoshop pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Adobe Photoshop
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Best Photography software alternatives
Selfie and portrait retouching app from Lightricks, sold on a subscription with a short free trial
Free download with a short free trial, most tools require a Facetune Pro subscription that auto-renews annually
Perpetual-licence RAW editor and cataloguer built around film-emulation presets, from a very small vendor
One-time purchase
Google's photo backup and organisation app, now billed against shared Google account storage
Free tier plus paid storage add-onAI photo editing and avatar generation app from Prisma Labs, known for its viral Magic Avatars feature
Free download with a short free trial, Magic Avatars and most tools require paymentAI culling, editing and retouching for photographers, priced flat rate per month rather than per image
Per module per month, unlimited images
AI photo culling and editing priced per image, with volume tiers that reward committing to a set annual number
Per image, with annual volume tiersOne-time purchase photo editor from Corel, positioned as a budget Photoshop alternative with no subscription
One-time purchase, paid upgrades
Photo cataloguing and RAW editing sold as a perpetual licence or as an ACDSee 365 subscription
One-time purchase or per-user subscription