Best Photo Editing Software

While Adobe’s suite of image editing tools are fairly dominant in the market, that’s not to say there aren’t other equally capable solutions out there. And in fact these alternatives can compete in any number of ways.

Some developers take just one aspect of Photoshop and make that their focus to really excel at one specific function, while others look to create a complete package that can go toe-to-toe with Adobe. Others try to make image editing simpler than Photoshop or push easy-to-create effects and social media sharing to the forefront for quick and simple enhancements. Editing on mobile or over the cloud are also ways in which some services distinguish themselves.

And then there’s the cost. With an annual plan of $240, Photoshop is prohibitively expensive for the average user. Even Lightroom strictly for photo editing is $120 per year. However, for as impressive as much of the competition is when it comes to their feature sets, it’s the prices that stand out the most. Almost all of them are cheaper than Adobe’s offerings, can match Photoshop in functionality and can often be used entirely for free with certain restrictions.

When most people think of photo editing software, they think of installed software that is opened up in a separate window on your computer. That’s still a very common practice, but these days there’s an increasing influx of cloud-based solutions that operate through web browsers.

These are beneficial because they don’t take up space on your computer’s storage, they often aren’t as CPU intensive as downloaded programs, and can even allow you to continue your work across platforms. This makes it much easier to collaborate with others, while many of these services come with their own cloud storage.

But there are downsides. Typically cloud photo editing solutions don’t come with quite as many features and the interface can take some getting used to if you’re not experienced with such layouts. They’re usually simpler to use and therefore often for amateurs rather than professionals.

In most cases the pricing structures of cloud software are subscription based, too, which means you’ll be paying regularly to access the service. While it might seem to make sense to pay for a license outright for downloadable software, it’s worth remembering that you’ll often stop receiving updates to that program after a year and you’ll need to pay again to reinstate any new features.

There are actually a surprising number of ways to make use of photo editing software for free, but when it comes to not having to ever pay there are often some limitations. Open-source software like GIMP will provide no restrictions on your creativity, but they are harder to get to grips with and for many that can be off-putting.

Mercifully many photo editing software developers create completely free versions of these suites, provided alongside restrictions. While this is more common for cloud-based software, in the majority of cases these enforced limitations prevent the exporting of an image or apply watermarks to the final image. Oftentimes certain effects or features are blocked until you pay.

However, with the right version it’s quite possible to make use of solid photo editing suites without having to pay, especially since there is almost never a restriction on the basic tools and functions that all image editing software must rely on. Other providers fund development through advertisements, too, which often means full access to the service with only the minor nuisance of dealing with banner ads.

Those that offer such versions also provide a free trial, too, typically allowing potential customers to test the full, unrestricted version of the software for a month before it reverts back to a limited, free forever version.