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.
You can do a lot of things in adobe like layouting, photo manipulation, illusions, typhography and many more.
I would say the 3D workspace since it is very intimidating when you use that preset.
A lot since there are a lot that needs layouting or manipulating so photoshop can do all the things in regards manipulations. It benefits me by using this application because it is an all in one application.
It's ability to manipulate everything related to photos
A little less user friendly specially for a first timer it would be difficult to use
Helps me remove some unwanted things in a photo and helps me clear it
Este software tiene las herramientas adecuadas para la edición de imágenes, que me permiten hacer todo tipo de recortes y mejoras. Me gusta la interfaz de usuario, ya que están todos los elementos organizados y es fácil ubicarlos. Puedo personalizar la mesa de trabajo eligiendo sólo las herramientas y funciones que necesito, lo que agiliza el proceso creativo y de edición.Aunque muchas personas dicen que tiene una curva de aprendizaje alto, cuando ya comienzas a usarlo, te das cuenta de que es muy fácil de usar y de que, aprendiendo este software, te sientes más cómodo usando cualquier otro software de Adobe. Me gusta tener una gran gama de opciones de exportación.
La única queja que siempre tengo de este software es que es costoso en comparación de otros, pero lo que la hace diferente es que las prestaciones que tiene no se consiguen en los demás, al menos no de la forma en la que está presentada
Este software aporta muchísimo en mi trabajo ya que regularmente necesito editar imágenes y esta es la herramienta adecuada para hacerlo.
I love having Adobe Creative Cloud's access to the most up-to-date versions of the software I use.
The annual fee is steep for the software.
Adobe Creative Cloud provides up-to-date photo editing software that is required to do my job. Not having to worry about having an out-of-date product is a huge benefit.
Adobe Photoshop has been around for quite a while and throughout the long term, the plan has developed into an across the board plan program. If you have any desire to change something on a photograph, this program will allow you to make it happen. It works incredibly to plan a flyer or an advert. There are many various apparatuses and choices, so anything you desire to do with your plan, you can.
I would agree that that adobe photoshop can be somewhat challenging to use for novices. So it's important you should do a few examination on many strategies and methods to us full benefit of the product.
I need to make custom designs and site resources, alter the photos my clients give, and commodity them streamlined for web use. It additionally helps in making basic livelinesss. Another phenomenal use case I as of late found is the capacity to work with D3D/DDS documents for Unbelievable Motor 4 resources.
I love that art boards are now also featured in PSD, as in AI. It makes viewing overall layout of all pages side by side a breeze. Also that there is a recovery mode so less work is lost!
It tends to crash, at times but not too often.
The art boards are great when working on multiple files at once. Usually screen displays, occasional environmental design, and loads of flyers/signage.
SUPER hefty software that does pretty much anything you want to do graphically. There are a ton of resources online for how-tos, too, if you're new to the program. The creators did an excellent job of setting up shortcuts, so those familiar actions are easy.
It is a really robust program, which sometimes makes things harder to learn. My biggest beef is actually when things move around in updates. Oh progress... worthwhile but sometimes flinch worthy.
I've used Photoshop for photo editing, logo design, a lot of detail work. I typically use it in concert with Adobe Illustrator on projects.
since it moved to Creative Cloud, its full integration including Adobe Stock with your subscription
the cloud storage is a little buggy and doesn't always behave.
we can bring high end graphics work in house, saving money and most importantly time. Empowering.
Easy to use, lot of editing options, option to save the photos in required formats.
Nothing at the moment, looks perfect for me. But one thing is we don't have a offline installation now a days
Photos editing, coloring etc. Also I was using to do Movie Posters
It's the magic wand of art, design and photography. No other tool on the market compares to the capability, versatility, and sheer quality of Photoshop. But we already knew that.
Photoshop is exponentially becoming a universally needed tool for the business environment. However, the fact that there are physical classes that range in cost to learn how to use the tool is absolutely insane. That's not to say that the classes are affiliated with the product, however, just at face value - we are in an era of need for universal access to software and technologies. There should never have to be a learning curve that requires additional education to learn how to use such a widely needed software. Photoshop is aiding in the gentrification of the business industry and limiting the job market to the elite.
Every problem that your image could possibly have. It's benefiting me because my images look flawless and of top-professional quality. Anything you want added or removed - seemless.
I love photoshop so much. If I could play on there all day, I would. It's just so usefull and so fun to see what you can create. From editing pics to creating beautiful graphics, it's the best.
I dislke how quick things change but I also love it. I feel like you always have to learn something new when it comes to photoshop. I absolutely understand thats what they have to do to keep up with the industry.
Editing smiles is one of my favorite tools for Photoshop. You can make a good picture great with just a click. I also love taking out certain items in food photos to make it look so very professional.
All the tools for manipulating and creating images. It can be overwhelming at first but tutorials do a great job of helping you to learn all of the features.
The mobile app is not as diverse as desktop version. That's to be expected though.
Bringing my ideas to life. If it's blending, cropping, merging, or simply helping enhancing a photo. Photoshop is there to fix the problem in a way that other editing softwares just can't do.
Editing or tranforming images, creating graphics.
Subscription fees and the overall cost associated.
Creating graphics
Photoshop is the most intuitive and advanced image editing software available. You can edit images in any way you wish with easy access to all of its features and advanced image manipulation capabilities. While Photoshop has a bit of a learning curve, there are plenty of free tutorials for it on Youtube that anyone can view to understand the software better and find solutions for any issues. Photoshop supports all image formats, including the commonly used jpeg and png. Photoshop does excellent conversion from png to jpeg without quality loss in the image. For daily image editing such as cropping, resizing, scaling, etc., Photoshop is the best in the market and works flawlessly. You can create layers to edit images, thereby keeping the original copy intact and work on layers on top of the original image. Photoshop's photo editing capabilities are endless and can be used to serve any purpose in any field.
Photoshop is not cheap and the license can be expensive to bear if you're not an avid user to make it worth it.
I use Photoshop daily for cropping screenshots and highlighting important parts when working, making it easier to send detailed info to my colleagues in our Zoom room. When we're working on presentations, we extensively use Photoshop to help make the slides more attractive with visual designs and diagrams. We also use it to create charts for algorithms and as a secondary whiteboard. While working on dev projects, we use Photoshop to create prototypes for the GUI of the finished projects. It's an excellent software that has made working from home convenient as it's faster and has higher image editing features than any of its competitors. One of the best parts about Photoshop is the new Firefly add-on that has introduced AI into the software. You can easily erase contents from an image and have the AI replace them with the existing background. Besides Firefly, Photoshop has plenty of plug-ins for improved image editing and user experience.
No other app has more features or ease of use in creating or manipulating photos
Cost. I do not like the subscription model.
Photoshop allows me to manipulate and retouch images that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to use.
Powerful tools that allow easy color correction, clean-up, and format changes.
Adobe seems to change the interface every two years or so. It's been more subtle lately, but it gets somewhat annoying when you have tools memorized by location.
File formats that need to cross mediums. This is the biggest problem solver as things change rapidly.
The most powerful image editing software around. Notihng compares.
IT can be daunting to use at first but eventually becomes second nature.
Does everything I need to edit my photo collection. Everything. It allows me to enhance, edit, and improve my photos to no end. IT can fix any issue I have and now can even proovide gneerateive AI.
I must say I love the Interface and every capabilities built into Photoshop. Though I'm not a certified Graphics Designer, However with few Tutorials over the internet, I've been able to come up with designs on Photoshop that has helped my business gain the right perception from people, especially potential clients.
I sometimes get the message "scratch disk full" and I wish Photoshop could use less space so those of us who use less expensive computers will still be able to use the software without a strain
As a Music Producer and Organizer of Christian, I have had to need e-flyers design again and again. All these amount to a great cost but since I learnt how to use the software, I've been able to do those flyer design myself. I've even started getting paid for helping others do designs on Photoshop.
It has all the features a person needs for various types of work. It has everything from creating illustrations to photo editing to using it as a support tool for video editing. It is the industry standard software, and the new AI feature is fantastic.
Everything requires a little hard work to learn. Photoshop has a learning curve, but with the time and effort put into learning, those are worth it. Many users might get intimidated by the user interface, but it is best optimized for beginners and professionals.
Our designs are created in Photoshop. So it contributes the most to the content we create and the banners and posters (graphic designing) we make, which goes to the website or different social media platforms.
Adobe Photoshop contains innovative features for editing photos; the most I like most has a shortcut to remove backgrounds, no need to use tools to cut manually. It is automatically.
Adobe Photoshop needs a large capacity of storage in order to operate; for instance, it requires more than four random memory and above to use in a laptop. And also is selective and does not support Android devices, only desktop and laptop
Adobe Photoshop helped me resize the image that contained large pixels, which means it does not post on social media. By using Adobe Photoshop, I manage to resize and post easly.
My Photoshop, you make nice pictures and beautiful albums and meanwhile, you can add some other effects to the images
as of now there are no dislike i have found
I can create my photo albums and matte pating
We've been using Photoshop and Lightroom for several years for our business. We do a lot of product photography and Photoshop has been the perfect tool for editing our product photos. We also tether our DSLR into Lightroom during photo shoots which makes it incredibly easy to preview photos and determine if we need to reshoot or adjust a scene. We also love having access to the cloud storage that Adobe Creative Cloud offers.
There's nothing we've disliked about Adobe Creative Cloud. It's been a valuable part of the tools we use in our small business for editing photos. I really like that they are bringing AI technology into the new versions of Photoshop.
We do a lot of product photography and we use Lightroom for tethering our DSLR which is very useful for previewing photos in real time on a large computer screen instead of monitoring it through the small camera screen.
Adobe Photoshop is used for the photo editing it's most usefull for the photographers and we can easily use it, we can remove the background from photo, also we can change the Background as well.
I used this last 1 year and this is greatfull help and I am not sure is there any dislike for me and my mats but some time it ask for money, It takes too much time to save our pictures, and also I would like to one more point it's heavy software.
This software is most of the time I used for the photo editing purpose and this more benefit to me and mats who are works together, it's solving too much problems like it remove background in very easy manner.
This software is used for the photo editing purpose and make a logo we can design a logo as well with the help of this software even we can add some backgrounds in the photo it's most usefull for the photographer and designer.
Most of the when install this software in our system it's not be proper install and require some keys to install and this is there no dislike apart from this, and when Install it's proper working.
I am using this less than one year and this more benefits to me and my coluligues which uses this software like photo editing purpose and making some unique design in logos etc.
Adobe has several parts of the creative cloud that helps you create awesome designs and edit as needed, you are able to create digital books, posters and interactive documents. You can also create social clips.
I would have to say the pricing. Even for students the pricing is a bit high.
It has helped me to create promotional material for my work, and awesome blowups that I can use to market my services.
It's simply the best tool for editing your photos. Sure, there are other tools available as well, but the good thing about Photoshop is that this program has is all. On top of that, they are always on track with creating new tools.
It comes with a montly subscription, but they do give alternative plans which cost less. So, if you don't like to pay the full amount you can simple go for Photoshop only with lightroom as a 2 package bundle.
Photoshop basicly saves me tons of time. Especially now with photoshop using AI tools. I'm way more productive then ever before and can produce more within less time.
How easy it is to use once you learn what every tool does
The interface could use some work, it takes too long to figure out what tool does what
It's almost impossible to edit photos without photoshop
Photoshop is a legend in the space and they have so many free tutorials online. It's not often you can learn to use a software program for free and make a living out of it, but if you wanted to with this... you can! Invaluable tool for creators!
Sometimes the menus can be confusing or the updates from generation to generation slow you down a bit and it can take a while to find someone else online who has the answer.
They keep creating more powerful tools to save time and uncap your creativity. It comes down to what problem can't you solve visually... there really aren't many and for that it's a blessing.
The large variety of tools and abilities to create and manipulate images. Though there may be a learning curve, it can use do so many different things with ease.
Even though I love that it has a large variety of features, the UI can be a bit overwhelming and I often find I need to learn more on my own how certain features or tools get used. I also wish that it was something that could be purchased separately rather than with the rest of the products.
The problem it's solving is having a robust and easy-to-use tool to give the individuals in the company to power to do the needed photo editing for Marketing purposes or designing. This allows our design team to be more efficient and sped up. in their day to day tasks.
Photoshop is great to use since you can edit, clean up, adjust the brightness/color/background photos. There are many times when all a photo needs to make it 'usable' is a quick adjustment that can easily be done in Photoshop.
There is very little to not like about Photoshop, but one of the few things I don't like is when I forget to 'flatten' a photo and get rid of all the layers after I am done working on it. Some kind of reminder alert to flatten would be great.
When we take a lot of head shots that need to be cropped the same way, it is great that we can do a 'batch processing" function and take care of this task in very short order. It has saved me hours of work.