Photoshop is the best photo editing software we've tested, but its subscription price adds up. Here are some worthy replacements that could do what you need for less money.
ByMichael Muchmore
Michael Muchmore
Lead Software Analyst
My Experience
PC hardware is nice, but it’s not much use without innovative software. I’ve been reviewing software for PCMag since 2008, and I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time.I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft win and misstep up to the latest Windows 11.
Read Full Bio
UpdatedMarch 21, 2024
- RELATED:
- Best Photo Editing Software
- Best Mobile Photo Editing Apps
- Best Photo Editing Software for Macs
- Best Monitors for Photo Editing
Our Top 9 Picks
Best for Hobbyists Jump ToDetails Best for Pro Photographers Jump ToDetails Best for Budget-Conscious Image Editors Jump ToDetails Best for Enthusiasts Jump ToDetails Best for Unique Fixes Jump ToDetails Best for All-in-One Image Editing Jump ToDetails Best Free Photoshop Alternative Jump ToDetails Best for Filters and Enlarging Jump ToDetails Best Online Photoshop Replacement Jump ToDetails Adobe Photoshop Elements
Capture One Pro
Corel PaintShop Pro
CyberLink PhotoDirector
Skylum Luminar Neo
ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate
GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)
ON1 Photo RAW
Photopea
Nothing can completely replace Adobe Photoshop if you need its whizbang, technological-marvel features. Its content-aware cropping, automatic background removal, strong collaboration tools, AI-based neural filters, and plug-in support simply aren't found in any other software. But if you need just the standard photo editing software for correcting brightness and colors, working with raw camera files, adding text with drop shadows, or working with layers, then Photoshop could be overkill. Some excellent alternatives to Photoshop have the same tools and often dip into AI-assisted features, too.
You may be able to do everything you thought you needed Photoshop for with something less expensive. Read on to see how our list of the best alternatives to Photoshop can fit your needs. If not, you may find that Photoshop's $19.99-per-month subscription is a better deal than you'd previously thought.
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Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Adobe Photoshop Elements
Best for Hobbyists
4.0 Excellent
The best alternative to Photoshop may come from Adobe itself: Adobe Photoshop Elements. This one-time-purchase app includes a good many Photoshop features, such as filters, image adjustments, layers, auto subject select, blemish and object removal, sky replacement, and text overlays. It's decidedly targeted at consumer enthusiasts rather than professional image editors. It features many Guided Edits that take users through the steps of embellishing or correcting photos, but it lacks Photoshop's most advanced tools, such as Neural Filters and cloud-based collaboration. By itself, Photoshop Elements costs $99.99, but you can bundle it with Adobe's consumer video software, Premiere Elements, for $149.99.
If Photoshop Elements has more power and features than you need and you want to stick with Adobe products, another option is Photoshop Express. Photoshop Express is free, though you may run into a paywall for some features, and it's really designed to be used by people who are making marketing materials.
PROS
- Many powerful image-manipulation tools
- Strong face-tagging and geotagging capabilities
- Excellent image output options
- Powerful search
- Helpful guidance for advanced techniques
CONS
- No local help system
- No chromatic aberration correction tool or lens geometry profiles
- Little cloud storage allocation for mobile and web syncing
- No generative image AI
SPECS
Name | Value |
---|---|
Keyword Tagging | |
Face Recognition | |
Layer Editing | |
Lens Profile Corrections | |
Content-Aware Edits |
GET IT NOW
Learn More
Adobe Photoshop Elements Review
Capture One Pro
Best for Pro Photographers
4.0 Excellent
Capture One Pro is usually thought of as a Lightroom competitor, and it excels at rendering raw camera files with excellent detail and colors. But the program also includes plenty of features found in Photoshop, in particular, its layer and mask tools, making it a great Adobe Photoshop alternative for professionals. You also get curves and deep color-editing tools but no text or drawing tools aside from watermarking and markup to point things out to collaborators. This photo editor is not especially cheap at $299 for the one-time-payment option (at the time of writing) or as a subscription for $179 per year or a whopping $24 per month, making the monthly price higher than Photoshop's.
PROS
- Good raw file conversion quality
- Fast import
- Automatic batch adjustment tools
- Collaboration supported
CONS
- Interface can get complex, especially with layers
- No face recognition for organization
- Expensive
SPECS
Name | Value |
---|---|
Keyword Tagging | |
Face Recognition | |
Layer Editing | |
Lens Profile Corrections | |
Content-Aware Edits |
GET IT NOW
Learn More
Capture One Pro Review
Corel PaintShop Pro
Best for Budget-Conscious Image Editors
4.0 Excellent
Corel's PaintShop Pro is probably the best-known, longest-running, full-on competitor to Adobe Photoshop. It's less expensive than Photoshop, does all the major things you can do in Photoshop, and even supports the market leader's PSD file format. You can work with raw camera files, vector graphics, and layers, just like in Photoshop. Not only that, it supports plug-ins and drawing directly onWindows tabletscreens. It even boasts AI tools like AI Upsampling, AI Artifact Removal, AI Denoise, AI Style Transfer, and AI Background Replacement. Apple fans need not apply, however, as PaintShop Pro is strictly Windows-only. Given its lower price, it's our top budget pick among the best Photoshop alternatives.
Another popular budget pick for Photoshop alternatives isSerif Affinity Photo, though we find it's less polished than Corel PaintShop Pro.
PROS
- Photoshop-like features at a lower price
- Powerful effects and editing tools
- Extensive help and tutorials
- Good assortment of vector drawing tools
- Automatic noise removal
CONS
- Inconsistent interface
- No macOS version
- Some slow operations
SPECS
Name | Value |
---|---|
Keyword Tagging | |
Face Recognition | |
Layer Editing | |
Lens Profile Corrections | |
Content-Aware Edits |
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Learn More
Corel PaintShop Pro Review
CyberLink PhotoDirector
Best for Enthusiasts
4.0 Excellent
CyberLink PhotoDirector supplies the functions of both Lightroom and Photoshop with both workflow and pixel-level editing tools. So you can do not only your Lightroom-style importing, raw conversion, tagging, and camera profile corrections but also your Photoshop-like layers, filters, masks, text overlays, and retouching. It, too, offers AI-powered tools, including object removal, denoise, image enlarger, and deblur. You can buy the software as a one-time purchase or subscribe (at a much lower cost than Photoshop) to get an ever-updated flow of new effects, templates, and stock imagery. We think CyberLink PhotoDirector is the best Adobe Photoshop alternative for enthusiasts (nonprofessionals, that is).
PROS
- Friendly yet powerful interface
- Many advanced effects
- Body shaper and other impressive editing tools
- Extensive layer support
- Painterly AI styles
- Tethered shooting
CONS
- No geotag maps
- Weak chromatic aberration and noise corrections
- Not enough lens profiles
- Some menus occasionally slow
SPECS
Name | Value |
---|---|
Keyword Tagging | |
Face Recognition | |
Layer Editing | |
Lens Profile Corrections | |
Content-Aware Edits |
Learn More
CyberLink PhotoDirector Review
Skylum Luminar Neo
Best for Unique Fixes
4.0 Excellent
Like Photoshop, Skylum Luminar Neo lets you use layers, raw camera files, and loads of filters. As its name suggests, it excels at fixing skies, but it also has a few unique tools up its sleeves, like AI Relight to change lighting based on depth and its one-press powerline removal tool. You also get AI masking, object erasing, and powerful portrait retouching tools. You don't get anything like Lightroom's workflow and organization features, but remember, we're replacing Photoshop here, not Lightroom. That said, unlike Photoshop and PaintShop Pro, Luminar is only about photo editing and enhancing: You don't get drawing and text overlay features. If you want its special tools but still want to stick with the Adobe software, you can use Luminar as a plug-in in Photoshop and Lightroom Classic.
PROS
- Unique AI photo-fixing tools
- Simple, pleasing interface
- Lots of adjustment tools, filters, and effects
CONS
- Some operations are slow
- No face recognition or keyword tagging
SPECS
Name | Value |
---|---|
Keyword Tagging | |
Face Recognition | |
Layer Editing | |
Lens Profile Corrections | |
Content-Aware Edits |
GET IT NOW
Learn More
Skylum Luminar Neo Review
ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate
Best for All-in-One Image Editing
3.5 Good
ACDSee has been in the digital imaging game for nearly as long as Adobe. The ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate software package is wide-ranging in its capabilities, which include both photo workflow organization and detailed image correction, editing, and enhancement. You get Photoshop-style layer editing, curves, and gradients, along with Lightroom-style importing, raw file conversion, and even face recognition. Remove or blur the background with its AI features, add text or drawings, or apply dozens of striking effects. The program even offers online storage for syncing your photos to the cloud.
PROS
- Excellent Light EQ tool
- Lens-profile-based geometry correction
- Face recognition and geotagging
- Good skin-improvement tools
- Responsive browsing and editing performance
CONS
- Busy interface with a lot of tools buried in menus
- Weak noise and chromatic aberration tools
- No generative AI
SPECS
Name | Value |
---|---|
Keyword Tagging | |
Face Recognition | |
Layer Editing | |
Lens Profile Corrections | |
Content-Aware Edits |
GET IT NOW
Learn More
ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate Review
GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)
Best Free Photoshop Alternative
3.5 Good
GIMP is free and open software with enthusiastic fans and a large toolbox of image editing features. It's typically seen as the best free alternative to Photoshop. Just don't expect a modern, pleasing, intuitive interface, fast performance, or the latest AI tools. Many features require you to install plug-ins manually, even for common things like opening raw camera files. But if you're willing to put in the work, you get a program that can accomplish all of Photoshop's major functions for free, as long as you're willing to live without its state-of-the-art editing, collaboration, and learning tools.
PROS
- Loads of image editing tools
- Good text tools
- Strong layer support
- Free
CONS
- Outdated, cluttered interface
- Slow performance
- Can’t open raw camera files without a third-party app
SPECS
Name | Value |
---|---|
Keyword Tagging | |
Face Recognition | |
Layer Editing | |
Lens Profile Corrections | |
Content-Aware Edits |
GET IT NOW
Learn More
GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) Review
ON1 Photo RAW
Best for Filters and Enlarging
3.5 Good
ON1 Photo RAW is another all-in-one photo app that includes organizing features found in Lightroom and image-manipulation tools found in Photoshop. It even has an AI masking selection, text overlays, a healing brush, a clone stamp, and layers. Like Lightroom, ON1 Photo Raw lets you work in nondestructive mode, in which the original image isn't altered, and the edits are stored separately. As the name suggests, working with raw camera files is the program's bread and butter, and you can keep your collection organized with keyword tags, albums, and geotags, and it will even sync photos to cloud storage. It's a huge toolset, but as with all the other alternatives, you still miss out on Photoshop's state-of-the-art capabilities and slickest of interfaces.
PROS
- Lots of high-quality filters
- Supports layers
- Face-tuning tools
- Lens profile adjustments
CONS
- Interface is not as slick as Adobe's
- Some operations run slowly
- No face recognition tagging
- Limited online sharing in Windows app
SPECS
Name | Value |
---|---|
Keyword Tagging | |
Face Recognition | |
Layer Editing | |
Lens Profile Corrections | |
Content-Aware Edits |
GET IT NOW
Learn More
ON1 Photo RAW Review
Photopea
Best Online Photoshop Replacement
Photopea is the closest thing to an online version of Photoshop you can find (aside from Adobe's own online version of Photoshop), though it more closely resembles GIMP. Like both of those apps, Photopea has masking (raster and vector), layers, raw camera file support, text overlays, drawing tools, and even the Photoshop-like Subject Select and Smart Objects. It works with all popular image formats as well as AI, PSD, PDF, FIG, sketch, and popular raw camera file formats. Photopea even takes over the browser's right-click context menus, so you can use them for editing rather than just for browser functions. If you want more of an installed-app feel, an Install option sets it up as a progressive web app. Photopea includes templates for social image sizes like Facebook or YouTube cover pages as well as standard photo, print, screen, and mobile sizes. It even has Artboards.
The app now incorporates some image generation from Stable Diffusion and other models, but only for paid accounts. Forget Photoshop's reliable generative AI and Neural AI-powered filters, though. Photopea's interface is less slick and helpful than Photoshop's as well. You can export your work to a choice of 16 formats, including JPG, PNG, SVG, and WebP. Photopea can work with online storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, and it includes its own Peadrive online storage. The web app is free to use, but a $5-per-month subscription removes a time limit on advanced features like AI image generation, increases Peadrive storage from 0.5GB to 5GB, removes ads, and doubles history steps.
Note that we have not yet fully reviewed Photopea, which is why no rating for it appears here.
GET IT NOW
Buying Guide: The Best Adobe Photoshop Alternatives for 2024
What Are the Best Photoshop Alternatives for Beginners?
A reasonable place to get started with photo editing is to use the free, included applications that come with your operating system: Apple Photos for macOS and iOS, Google Photos for Android, and Microsoft Photos for Windows. They give you basic light and color editing tools in simple interfaces.
If you're interested in building your photo editing chops with more Photoshop-like editing, Adobe Photoshop Elements is a simpler version of Adobe's software with more handholding, and its many Guided Edits take you through the steps of creating both standard and advanced effects.
Lightroom, the non-Classic version, is also worth a look. Lightroom gives users access to the Discover community, where photographers and editors share their entire process from raw image to final product. You can even submit your photos to the community and let them edit your work.
What Are the Best Free Alternatives to Photoshop?
Desktop operating systems typically include photo software that can serve consumers' needs at no extra cost. For example, theMicrosoft Photosapp included with Windows 11 may surprise some users with its capabilities. In a touch-friendly interface, it gives you a good level of image correction, auto-tagging, blemish removal, face recognition, and even raw camera file support. It can automatically create editable albums based on photos' dates and locations.
On macOS, Apple Photosdoes those things, too. Both programs sync withonline storage services: iCloud for Apple and OneDrive for Microsoft. (You can now access iCloud Photos in Windows 11's Photos app, too.) Both included photo apps let you search based on detected object types, like "tree" or "cat" in the application. Apple Photos supports plug-ins like the excellentPerfectly Clear and Topaz DeNoise.
Ubuntu Linux users are also covered when it comes to free included photo software. One option for them is the capable-enough Shotwell app. For more sophisticated editing, the venerable GNU Image Manipulation Program, better known as GIMP, is available for Windows and Mac as well as for Linux. It has a ton of Photoshop-style plug-ins and editing capabilities but very little in the way of creature comforts or usability. For free Lightroom-style workflow options, look to the open-source Darktable and RawTherapee applications.
What's the Best Image Editor for You?
While you're deciding which is the best alternative to Adobe Photoshop for you, read our detailed reviews of the best photo editing software to help you make an informed decision. If you're mostly working on photos rather than illustrations, you might also want to see PCMag's list of the best digital cameras. And for some help with creating those images, read up on our beyond-basic digital photography tips.
Compare SpecsThe Best Adobe Photoshop Alternatives for 2024
Our Picks | Capture One ProSee It$24 Per Month at Capture One | Corel PaintShop ProSee It$99.99 at Amazon | CyberLink PhotoDirectorSee It$54.99 Per Year at CyberLink | Skylum Luminar NeoSee It$99 Per Year at Luminar | ACDSee Photo Studio UltimateSee It$99.95 at ACDSee | GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)See It$0.00 at GIMP | ON1 Photo RAWSee It$99.99 at ON1 | Best Online Photoshop ReplacementSee ItVisit Site at Photopea | |
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Editors'Rating | Editors' Choice 4.0Editor Review | 4.0Editor Review | 4.0Editor Review | 4.0Editor Review | 4.0Editor Review | 3.5Editor Review | 3.5Editor Review | 3.5Editor Review | |
Keyword Tagging | |||||||||
Face Recognition | |||||||||
Layer Editing | |||||||||
Lens Profile Corrections | |||||||||
Content-Aware Edits | |||||||||
Where to Buy | $99.99 at Adobe | $24 Per Month at Capture One | $99.99 at Amazon $69.99 at Paint Shop Pro | $54.99 Per Year at CyberLink | $99 Per Year at Luminar | $99.95 at ACDSee | $0.00 at GIMP | $99.99 at ON1 | Visit Site at Photopea |
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The Best Photo Editing Software for 2024
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Editors' Choice
PC hardware is nice, but it’s not much use without innovative software. I’ve been reviewing software for PCMag since 2008, and I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time.I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft win and misstep up to the latest Windows 11.
Prior to my current role, I covered software and apps for ExtremeTech, and before that I headed up PCMag’s enterprise software team, but I’m happy to be back in the more accessible realm of consumer software. I’ve attended trade shows of Microsoft, Google, and Apple and written about all of them and their products.
I’m an avid bird photographer and traveler—I’ve been to 40 countries, many with great birds! Because I’m also a classical fan and former performer, I’ve reviewed streaming services that emphasize classical music.
Read Michael's full bio
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