Unclaimed: Are you working at Adobe Photoshop?
Adobe Photoshop Reviews: 4.6/5 — Highly Rated
Arguably one of the best-known graphic design software tools used today, Adobe Photoshop is currently the go-to tool of many creative professionals. The software offers feature-rich tools for photo retouching, editing, and manipulation; and gives access to numerous brushes and textures. The platform is well known for having an ever-improving interface, supported by an extensive selection of tools, high customizable dashboards, collaboration options, and efficient file management options.
Adobe Photoshop is also often used as Photo Editing of choice in Marketing and UI/UX Design tech stacks.
| Capabilities |
AI
API
|
|---|---|
| Segment |
Small Business
Mid Market
Enterprise
|
| Deployment | Cloud / SaaS / Web-Based, Desktop Mac, Desktop Windows, Mobile iPad, Mobile iPhone |
| Support | 24/7 (Live rep), Chat, Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support |
| Training | Documentation |
| Languages | English |
Adobe Photoshop Pros and Cons
- Comprehensive set of tools for touch-up and retouching
- Extensive filters, brushes, and pre-sets
- Advanced color and background manipulation
- Extensive organization and image management tools
- Highly customizable
- Might present a steep learning curve for beginners
- Limited support for vector graphics
Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for image editing, and the most useful thing a review can tell you is not whether it is good but which plan to buy. Buying Photoshop on its own costs more than buying the Photography plan, which includes Photoshop plus Lightroom and 1 TB of storage. That inversion catches people every year.
- What it is: Professional photo editing software for retouching, compositing, and digital art, available on desktop, web, and mobile.
- Best for: Photographers, designers, and retouchers who need the deepest pixel-level toolset available, and anyone working to industry file-format expectations.
- Pricing: Roughly $22.99 per month for the Photoshop single-app plan, about $19.99 for the Photography plan that includes it, and around $69.99 for Creative Cloud All Apps. See the verification note below.
- The honest catch: Adobe’s annual plans are commitments, not rolling months, and cancelling early typically incurs a fee. Buy the term you actually intend to keep.
What Is Adobe Photoshop?
Photoshop launched in 1990 and has been the default professional image editor for so long that its name became a verb. That dominance is not nostalgia. Layer-based compositing, masking, selection tooling, colour management, and non-destructive adjustment are deeper here than in any competitor, and the file format is what agencies, printers, and collaborators expect to receive.
In recent years the product has expanded well beyond the desktop application, adding web and mobile versions and a large set of generative AI tools built on Adobe Firefly. Generative fill and expand are genuinely useful for retouching work that used to take manual cloning, and Adobe’s position that Firefly is trained on licensed content matters to commercial users who need to know where their imagery came from.
The independent ratings are among the highest of any product we have reviewed, on very large samples: 4.8 out of 5 on Capterra across 2,433 reviews and 4.6 on G2 across roughly 13,210. There is no serious argument that the software is not excellent. The complaints are almost entirely about the commercial model.
How Photoshop Works
- Layers and masks. The foundation, and still the reason professionals stay. Non-destructive editing at this depth has no real equal.
- Selection tooling. Object selection, subject detection, and Select and Mask handle the hardest part of compositing, and successive AI improvements have made this dramatically faster than it was five years ago.
- Generative AI. Generative fill, generative expand, and neural filters, powered by Firefly. Useful for removal, extension, and background work.
- Camera Raw and colour management. Professional colour handling and raw processing that matters for print and commercial delivery.
- Cross-device. Desktop, web, and iPad, with cloud documents syncing between them. The web and mobile versions are capable companions rather than full replacements.
Photoshop Pricing
A verification note first. Adobe’s own pricing pages did not respond to automated requests during this review, and Adobe varies prices by region and runs frequent promotions. The figures below reflect current published US pricing as reported by multiple independent sources in July 2026, and you should confirm them on Adobe’s site for your own region before buying.
| Plan | Approximate US price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Photoshop single app | ~$22.99/month, annual plan billed monthly | Photoshop on desktop, web, and mobile, plus Adobe Express Premium |
| Photography plan | ~$19.99/month, annual plan billed monthly | Photoshop, Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and 1 TB cloud storage |
| Creative Cloud All Apps | ~$69.99/month | Photoshop plus Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro and the rest of the suite |
The things worth knowing before you choose:
- The Photography plan costs less than Photoshop alone and includes more. At roughly $19.99 against $22.99, it bundles Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and 1 TB of storage. Unless you specifically need Adobe Express Premium instead, this is the better buy for almost everyone who wants Photoshop, and it is the single most valuable thing to know about Adobe’s pricing.
- Annual plans are commitments. The common “annual, billed monthly” option is a twelve-month contract paid in instalments, not a rolling subscription. Cancelling early normally triggers an early termination fee. Month-to-month plans exist at a higher rate for people who genuinely need flexibility.
- There is no perpetual licence. You rent Photoshop. Reviewers who left cite this directly, and it is a legitimate objection rather than a misunderstanding.
- Storage differs sharply between plans. The Photography plan’s 1 TB is the practical difference for photographers working with raw files.
- Prices move. Adobe adjusts pricing regularly and runs student, teacher, and seasonal discounts. Check for a current offer rather than assuming list price.
A free trial is available, and Adobe also offers a free web-based Photoshop tier with limited functionality.
Who Should Use Photoshop
- Professional photographers and retouchers. The Photography plan is close to an automatic purchase: Photoshop for pixel work, Lightroom for cataloguing and raw processing, at less than Photoshop alone.
- Designers working with agencies or print. PSD is what collaborators expect, and colour management is what printers require.
- Anyone doing serious compositing. Layer and masking depth is unmatched, and no alternative comes close for complex work.
- Teams already on Creative Cloud. If you need Illustrator or Premiere too, All Apps is the sensible route.
It is a poor fit for casual users who crop and adjust holiday photos, where free tools are entirely sufficient, for people who object to subscriptions on principle, since Affinity Photo sells a perpetual licence, and for teams whose real need is quick social graphics rather than image editing, where Canva does the job faster.
Honest Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Unmatched depth. Nothing else offers this much control over pixels, layers, masks, and colour.
- The industry standard file format. Practical value when working with clients, printers, and collaborators.
- Genuinely useful AI. Generative fill and improved selection have removed hours of manual work from routine retouching.
- Excellent ratings on huge samples. 4.8 on Capterra across 2,433 reviews and 4.6 on G2 across over 13,000.
- Cross-device workflow. Desktop, web, and iPad with cloud document syncing.
- Enormous learning ecosystem. Decades of tutorials, courses, and community answers for any problem you will hit.
Limitations
- Subscription only. No perpetual licence, and reviewers cite this as the reason they stopped upgrading.
- Annual commitment with cancellation fees. The most common source of billing complaints, and easy to agree to without noticing.
- A steep learning curve. Reviewers consistently note beginners need real time and tutorial support before becoming productive.
- Demanding on hardware. Large files and heavy filters need a capable machine.
- Confusing plan structure. The Photography plan undercutting the Photoshop plan is the clearest symptom of pricing that is harder to navigate than it should be.
- Support quality is criticized. Slow replies, long holds, and inconsistent resolution appear repeatedly in reviews.
Photoshop Alternatives and How It Compares
- Affinity Photo is the strongest alternative for people who want to own their software, with a one-off purchase and roughly 80% of Photoshop’s capability for most work.
- Canva is not a competitor for editing depth but is faster and easier for social graphics, presentations, and marketing assets.
- GIMP is free and open source, capable but with a less refined interface and weaker colour management for print.
- Pixlr and similar browser tools handle quick edits without a subscription.
- Lightroom, included in the Photography plan, is the better tool for cataloguing and batch raw processing, and pairs with rather than replaces Photoshop.
For a broader view, browse our photo editing software directory.
The Verdict
Photoshop is the best image editor available and has been for three decades, and its 4.8 Capterra rating across thousands of reviews reflects software that genuinely earns its reputation. If your work involves serious compositing, retouching, or professional delivery, there is no real debate about capability.
The decision that actually matters is which plan to buy, and here the answer is counterintuitive: the Photography plan at roughly $19.99 costs less than the Photoshop single-app plan at roughly $22.99, while adding Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and 1 TB of storage. Unless you specifically want Adobe Express Premium, choosing the Photoshop-only plan means paying more for less. Check both before subscribing.
Then read the commitment terms. Adobe’s headline monthly prices usually describe an annual contract billed monthly, and leaving early carries a fee. That is the source of most billing complaints, and it is avoidable by choosing the term deliberately. If you object to renting software altogether, Affinity Photo is a credible one-off purchase, and for casual editing free tools will serve you perfectly well.
FAQ
How much does Photoshop cost in 2026?
US pricing is approximately $22.99 per month for the Photoshop single-app plan on an annual plan billed monthly, about $19.99 per month for the Photography plan, and around $69.99 per month for Creative Cloud All Apps. Adobe varies pricing by region and runs frequent promotions, so confirm current rates on Adobe’s site. Our automated checks could not reach Adobe’s pricing pages directly, so these figures come from current independent sources.
Is the Photography plan really cheaper than the Photoshop plan?
Yes, and it includes more. The Photography plan is typically around $19.99 per month against roughly $22.99 for Photoshop alone, and it bundles Photoshop, Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and 1 TB of cloud storage. The single-app plan includes Adobe Express Premium instead. For most people who want Photoshop, the Photography plan is the better purchase.
Can you buy Photoshop outright instead of subscribing?
No. Adobe discontinued perpetual licences for Photoshop, and the software is subscription-only. This is the most common complaint from long-time users. If owning your software matters, Affinity Photo offers a one-off purchase that covers most of the same ground.
Can you cancel a Photoshop subscription at any time?
Not without cost on annual plans. Adobe’s common “annual, billed monthly” option is a twelve-month commitment paid in instalments, and cancelling early normally incurs an early termination fee. A genuine month-to-month plan is available at a higher rate. Choose deliberately, because this is where most billing disputes originate.
What is Photoshop best for?
Professional image editing: retouching, compositing, masking, and colour-managed output for print and commercial delivery. It is the right tool when depth of control matters, and considerable overkill for cropping holiday photos or making social media graphics.
Compare Adobe Photoshop with other popular tools in the same category.
User experience is at the most level and it is so much advantage for the every level editors also. For me at first, it was a little bit hard to understand everything but even though we can edit anything as professional editors.
Tutorial for each and every step is missing from the creator's side so I think it is a huge drawback. and the level of difficulty Is a bit too hard unless overall it is quite amazing.
Basically, in the beginning, I was just using it for personal purposes and later I had realized the real purposes of the software and it also helped me in the development of my professional career. So it was quite helpful to me and my career and I would suggest it to everyone because everyone has a problem with their editing so it will be helpful to everyone
I love that Photoshop has now included a mobile editor for photos. My current cell phone has better quality photos than my DSL camera. Editing on the go is great. Tehy continually update to stay current and make their product easier to use.
Photoshop still needs to clean up their drop-down menus and make things, like filters easier to find for the newbies.
Quicker photo editing for media making on the fly! I have also found many helpful tutorials for Photoshop that I use regularly.
In Adobe Photoshop, I like how I can make my images looks more seamless and professional.
The only issue is the price of Adobe Photoshop.
In Adobe Photoshop, I can add more elements to photos, get rid of objects, and correct the color and tone. Adobe Photoshop allows me to improve my skills with photo editing and create images for my website.
I like how many different tools and functions that are available.
Nothing to dislike. I have learned the program well, and it works for me. I've used it for years and years.
Photoshop helps me correct photos, as well as othe things. It is easy to use and has a lot of tools. The special effects work that you can produce with Photoshop is pretty amazing.
Simple yet amazing tool, the area of application is huge
No option to save as art and text as vector need to use illustrator or indesign for the same.
Photo editing, rendering edits, simple layouting and design
Ability to create all types of graphics, as requested by my clients. Print, film, video, I use Photoshop to do it all.
Can be hard to manipulate text in Photoshop. I prefer to work with text in illustrator or InDesign and import into Photoshop.
I can create layered graphics in Photoshop, the production team can then use all, just some or first one and then others thanks to layers.
I like how easy it is to alter photos for print and websites. It has lots of tools to use to create beautiful images and graphics. The layers tool is my favorite tool to use to mask pictures and alter them. The program works great with InDesign, Dreamweaver, and Illustrator. I like how you can move between them quickly with have issues. The program renders fonts well and allows you to import EPS vector images without losing quality. I also like how you can quickly figure out issues you are having with photoshop through the help menu. Photoshop allows you to make animated images easily for websites.
Sometimes the program crashes, but it does save your file when it does and will open it with minimal issues. I also wish that I could create a path as you can in illustrator. I also hope that you could find the windows easier. When adobe updates their programs, they sometimes change where you see things, and it is hard for a long-time user to find them without using the help feature.
I resize images for print, websites, and email usage. I also use this program to alter contract and color correct images. I also create animated website ads and other graphics needed for emails, websites, and print products. I also color-correcting pictures and create new digital images from a variety of photos. I use this program every day to develop images to use in InDesign and Dreamweaver.
What I like the best thing Regarding Adobe Photoshop is that it is very useful and user friendly in nature and one can use it very easily.
Sometimes it is very difficult to find things that we need, apart from this overall experience about the Adobe Photoshop.
With Adobe Photoshop I Adjust proper color, Optimize photos, Save photos in various kinds of formats.
Never-ending possibilities & always learning. It is a powerful software that can help you achieve many creative goals. I love taking new tutorials and learning new ways to use the program.
It can be hard to teach someone new all of the skills needed. It takes time to learn all of the skills but even as a veteran of the program, I still find new ways to use photoshop, so a new person shouldn't feel discouraged.
Photo editing and creating graphics. A benefit of photoshop is even though I am a veteran user, I am always still finding new ways to use the program
There is no photo editing that cannot be done using Photoshop. By far the best product for photo manipluation. The magic wand tool is great for removing backgrounds or picking items to incorporate in other images. Plenty of tools for smoothing lines, adding items to photos, and getting photos to exactly what you need.
Some things are technical and take time to figure out, but plenty of tutorials on line.
Removing photo backgrounds, resizing photos, smoothing out photos and color corrections.
My Photoshop experience started with version CS2. From the beginning I loved the application since you can do work from many disciplines in it. From color correction, through matte painting, web page design, are some of the things that can be created in it. Its new policy of working in the cloud, I find it fascinating because for a low cost, you can work in one of the most complete programs in the world of design.
What I don't like is that the program is so big that I won't fully learn to use it.
During my experience I have made photomontages for 3D rendering, color adjustments and design of layouts for Web Design.
Adobe Photoshop is a tool that I do not change for anything, because wherever I am I can do touch-ups that beautifully transform my photos and designs.
Desde que uso Adobe Photoshop no he encontrado nada negativo, puedo usar varios efectos en mis fotos que hacen que mis fotos y diseños se destaquen en comparación con otro software.
It helps me to publish articles in magazines and writing jobs, the designs made for these different tasks look as if they were made by a professional, articles for digital newspapers look sensational, Adobe Photoshop is ideal for retouching and digital graphics, your interface is friendly and I love working with this amazing software
Photoshop allows me to edit, resize, and create beautiful images, logos, and more for my blog posts and overall business. It's so easy to resize and lightly edit various pictures for different purposes. I like how it remembers up to 20 of your recently created custom items, eraser, and clone tools. Initially, my husband taught me the basics, but then I took a class or two to learn more. It's such great software to know how to maneuver and have in your tool kit. I also use Canva every day in addition to Photoshop. I also like how various payment plans are available to allow users to afford the software and many new features and tools.
Photoshop is a beast to learn how to use, and working with layers can be intimidating. If you're new to the software, the learning curve is a whole situation, and you may wonder why you wanted to learn how to use it in the first place. I'm still not fluent or fluid in it, but can do all of the things I want to without my husband's help.
I use Photoshop every day to resize images to share within my informative blog posts and with various daily posts in my thriving Facebook community. The photos help support the main points of any articles, videos, or something else I create and share.
I enjoy the interface and the different functionalities. There are so many possibilities you can use photoshop for. I enjoy being able to use all the tools available.
I dislike that for beginners it's not that easy and there isn't a beginner version. The downside is it is not cheap. I also think it could be more user friendly and visually appealing.
Problems solved: 1. Erasing errors and objects 2. Replacing backgrounds, logos Benefits found: 1. Ease of compatability with word and other Adobe programs
Easy to use (user friendly), fast and gets the job done.
No vector based tools like adobe illustrator.
Photo editing as well as animation can be done in Photoshop. Photoshop is a great tool to create digital art as well.
I've used photoshop for over 15 years and it's still my all time go-to tool for editing and creating images. I've tried other software and I always come back to Photoshop. I can easily and professionally create graphic images and edit professional photos for high-quality results. It's easy to run actions and custom functions within the platform as well. Works seamlessly with other software too, like Quark and Illustrator.
I honestly can't think of one thing I don't like about Photoshop. It's my all time favorite photo and graphic software. If I have to come up with one negative, maybe it would be that I would like a way to connect with other users in my same skill level. Maybe more of a forum or an app for users to connect and share work/ideas? But really, in all these years, I've had so few probelms.
Editing photos, creating new graphics, editing graphics, making presentations.
Adobe Photoshop is a valuable photo editing tool with so many different features to utilize.
There are so many different tools within Adobe Photoshop that seemingly do the same thing.
Photo editing, resizing, color correction, cropping.
It is so versatile, and there are so many tools you can use that make it very enjoyable to use. I love being able to use this with the other apps in the Creative Suite and has helped me out immensly in my video business. It is incredible for color correction and color grading photos, and I love the RAW program built into photoshop! I have also recently gotten into painting in Photoshop and it is so much fun! This is more of a hobby for me and I am loving the whole process. The brushes are amazing and I love being able to make a whole painting in digital format because I have done actual painting before and the ability to have a mess up and easily correct it and not have to start all over is such a blessing!
The thing I least like is that sometimes it is tricky finding out precisely what you want to be done if you are new to the program. It does have a more significant learning curve if you are getting into complex photo manipulation, however for basic photo correction and grading it is relatively simple to learn and produces outstanding results.
I am solving the problem of color-correcting photos. I did not know what to use before I got Photoshop, and now I will not switch to another software!
I love literally everything about Adobe Photoshop. This is the best photo editing software that is out on the market. I can do all my color correcting, cropping, compositioning, retouch, masking, and more! The features that Photoshop have are endless. It includes thousands of presets that are easily accessible to the user. For the advanced users, Photoshop is there for you too. I'm able to create layouts, render 3-D images, and more. Layer masking is probably my favorite feature as I'm able to blend different photos into one. When it comes to Photo Eidting, Photoshop is unmatched. This is the best tool for color correction and retouching and photo. I can not think of another program that comes close to Photoshop.
The only thing I do dislike about Adobe Photoshop is the price. This very robust program does come with a hefty price tag. Since it is the best photo editing program out there, I guess they are able to charge what they charge. I do like how they charge you a monthly subscription fee, but it adds up. I personally prefer the one time purchase because we are not hit with the monthly subscription cost. This is somethign for new users, but Adobe Photoshop can be overwhelming to those that are just learning the program. There is a steap learning curve when it comes to mastering this program, and there are just so many ways to use this program.
With Adobe Photoshop, I am able to bring my poorly taken photos to life. When taking pictures, the lighting is not always the best, so we have to work with what we got. With Adobe Photoshop, I am able to brighten up, add contrast, saturate, sharpen, and do many more things to bring the picture to my liking. This brings up the quality of my pictures 100%.
You can do all sorts of designing using PS. It lets you create vector graphics, edit photos, create animation, etc.
The newer versions do not have efficient RAM usage. They are very slow even on medium-end systems
Marketing is efficient
I love that I can do pretty much anything to a photo..most times good and sometimes bad :) , using photoshop! I can edit out logos and touch up face, make things in the sky disappear, you name it, there is a way to do it.
I dislike that updates often bring new problems to the program and are sometimes not easy to identify how to fix.
I can't have certain clothing logos in our photos for our company, and I am able to photoshop them out before posting them on social media, which is a life saver, as I wouldn't be able to use them otherwise!
Above all, the way they are seamlessly compatible with other Adobe software. Also, I love that if I cannot figure something out, there are tons of tutorials, templates, actions, plugins and forums.
I don't have anything I dislike about the software.
Definitely that if I cannot figure something out, there are tons of tutorials, templates, actions, plugins, and forums.
The amount of tools and wide variety of functions and possibilities, and the best thing is that even with all these functions it is a simple software to use.
The copy and paste command sometimes becomes flawed and the loading of some images can be done in different ways, but only one would be the "correct". This leads to a loss of image quality and possible damage.
It solves the problems of graphic creations for social media and some printed arts in the company I work for. Allows for a significant advance in marketing quality.
I love the connectedness of Adobe Photoshop and the other apps with Adobe Creative Cloud. The integrated experience is worth the monthly cost of the subscription and I consider it the best marketing application we subscribe to.
My only major complaint is that there are times when iOS software isn't perfectly compatible with the updates of Adobe products and that has caused applications to close or freeze and slow my computer down.
The main purpose I use Photoshop for is creating graphics for our organization especially for social media, apps, and our website. Photoshop has an incredible amount of editing tools that create a great environment for creating professional graphics for a variety of audiences and purposes. One major benefit I have been pleased with is the integration of Adobe Creative Cloud and the availability of all of their major applications that flow really well within each other.
This software is so easy to use for beginners to advanced users. The fact that I is able to import or export to any format that is needed is a plus. If you are using this in conjuction with other Adobe products then you will find how easy it is to transfer from one app to another. Also if you use this in conjuction with the adobe cloud then you are able to share this across your functions of business for others to grab and use as they see fit.
Sometimes it can take room on your hard drive for all of the fonts and photo additions you can add to the software. This makes it cumbersone to use if youre on a smaller system. Furthermore when you are using this software and you save a file that has a lot of extras in it then the file size can become quite large.
This allows us the ability to quickly edit photos or create something from scratch no matter what abilities we have as photographers. Even some of our younger student helpers can get in quick and easy and make photo edits and publish them to social media quickly. We are able to take photos during our church services and within minutes of the service completing we are able to post photos.
The ability to zoom in and edit individual pixels allowed me to get excellent resolution on our logo. Also, the ability to get rid of backgrounds and leave you with just what you're working with was beneficial at times.
The speed was extremely slow at times due to the insane RAM demands of photoshop. It also has an insane number of functions that it simply does not explain, which made finding out what I needed to do what I wanted very hard.
We were able to get exactly what we wanted out of our logo and other marketing material instead of hiring someone who probably wouldn't have done what we wanted anyway.
We are five-star hotel and we have been using Adobe photoshop at our hotel. its brilliant at image editing. We get many guests from across the globe, and hundreds of seminars are being arranged in our hotel. This tool has done alot to our hotel. We can edit photos and can combine multi images of a sminar. With this tool, we prepare different pictures for our website. This is very easy to use and very affordable. We highly recommend it. Thanks for reading my review.
We have been using it for a long time. Up to now, we are not facing any problem with it. So at this point, from our side, there is nothing bad to say about such an excellent app.
With adobe photoshop we can edit any picture or combine it for high resolution. As I said, we are a five-star hotel and lots of seminars are being conducted at our hotel so we have lots of pictures to edit and we always look for the best. We have tried other software as well, but adobe photoshop is the best.
If you’re going to design or retouch photos adobe photoshop is the best.
I only have one problem and that is with the fonts
Retouching
You can do anything in Photoshop, it's tried and true and can't be beat.
The learning curve for how to use it vs. how to use it well is pretty intense.
Being able to edit photos for any aspect of business and recreation.
Photoshop is a powerful photo editing software that just keeps getting better! I really love the new neutral filters. The ability to move the position of the head and adjust lighting is pretty slick and so easy! And the select and mask function is really slick! It saves so much time and is more accurate than doing it manually
I'd like to be able to convert to vector.
My sales team isn't local. The team gets their headshots done elsewhere and then I put them on the corporate background. The select and mask function has made it really quick for me to do this. And they look great!