Corel PaintShop Pro Reviews — Pricing, Features & The Honest Take

PaintShop Pro is a perpetual licence — you buy it once, from €39.99 including VAT, and it is yours. The newest version on sale is PaintShop Pro 2023, and the video editor bundled with it is VideoStudio 2022. Both facts matter together: no subscription is a real advantage over the dominant model in photo editing, and buying a three-year-old release without a newer option is a real limitation. Which weighs more depends entirely on whether you need current features.

• What it is: A photo editing suite with AI-assisted tools, sold outright rather than by subscription.
• Best for: Photographers who want capable editing without a recurring bill.
• Pricing: €39.99 for PaintShop Pro 2023, €53.99 Ultimate, €124.99 for the Photo Video Bundle. Verified July 2026.
• The honest catch: The product line has not moved past its 2023 release.

What Is PaintShop Pro?

PaintShop Pro is Corel’s photo editor — layers, masks, RAW processing, retouching and graphic design tools, with AI-assisted features for upscaling, denoising and style transfer. It has been a Photoshop alternative for decades, and its distinguishing commercial feature is that it is sold outright.

Three purchases are offered. PaintShop Pro 2023 is the editor. Ultimate adds a bonus software pack — MultiCam Capture 2.0 Lite, Painter Essentials 8, PhotoMirage Express, Highlight Reel and free fonts. The Photo Video Bundle Ultimate pairs it with VideoStudio Ultimate 2022.

Prices are quoted including VAT, which is unusual and welcome on a European price list.

How PaintShop Pro Works

• Bought once, not subscribed to.
• Prices include VAT, stated on the page.
• Three products — standard, Ultimate, and a video bundle.
• All three carry launch discounts of 30% to 40%.
• The current release is PaintShop Pro 2023.
• The bundled video editor is VideoStudio 2022.

PaintShop Pro Pricing

Captured from PaintShop Pro’s pricing page in July 2026 in euros, VAT included.

What actually decides your purchase:

• There is no recurring cost, and that is the point. €39.99 once, forever, against a photo-editing market that has moved almost entirely to monthly billing. Over three years that is roughly the cost of a couple of months of a mainstream subscription — and the software keeps working when you stop paying, which subscription software does not.
• You are buying the 2023 release in 2026. The page’s own “What’s New in PaintShop Pro 2023?” section is its current messaging, and the bundled VideoStudio is the 2022 edition. There is no 2024, 2025 or 2026 version on offer. For a perpetual licence that is a double-edged fact: what you buy will not change, but neither has it changed for some time.
• Every discount meets or beats its claim. The standard edition is advertised at 40% off and is actually 42.9%; Ultimate is exactly 40.0%; the bundle is advertised at 30% and delivers 30.6%. After a run of vendors rounding in their own favour, three that round in the customer’s is worth noting.
• Ultimate’s €14 premium buys other programs, not a better editor. The PaintShop Pro features listed are identical across both tiers — Focus Stacking, Frame Tool, AfterShot Lab, Real-time Blend Mode preview, Snap to Objects. What Ultimate adds is a bundle: Painter Essentials 8, PhotoMirage Express, MultiCam Capture Lite, Highlight Reel and fonts. Useful extras, but not a more capable photo editor.
• The video bundle is a €71 step for VideoStudio. €124.99 against Ultimate’s €53.99 adds VideoStudio Ultimate 2022. Judge it as a separate video-editing purchase rather than an upgrade to your photo editing.
• VAT-inclusive pricing makes comparison easier. Several vendors reviewed here quote net prices and add 20% or more at checkout. Corel does not, so the figure shown is the figure paid.

Who Should Use PaintShop Pro

• Photographers who resent subscriptions. The clearest case — one payment, no renewal.
• Hobbyists and enthusiasts. Layers, masks, RAW and retouching at under €40.
• Windows users specifically. PaintShop Pro is a Windows application.
• Anyone wanting extras cheaply. Ultimate’s bundle at €14 more is good value if you will use the additional programs.

It fits poorly for professionals needing current features and ongoing updates; for Mac users, since the product is Windows-only; and for anyone whose workflow depends on the latest AI tooling, which moves quickly in this category.

Honest Pros and Cons

Strengths

• A genuine perpetual licence — bought once, no renewal.
• €39.99 including VAT for a complete photo editor.
• All three discounts meet or beat their advertised percentage.
• Prices are VAT-inclusive, so no checkout surprise.
• RAW editing built in via AfterShot Lab, no separate application needed.
• Ultimate’s bundle adds several usable programs for €14.

Limitations

• The newest version on sale is PaintShop Pro 2023.
• The bundled video editor is VideoStudio 2022.
• Windows only — no macOS version.
• Ultimate adds bundled software, not editing capability.
• No ongoing updates are implied by a perpetual licence.
• AI features lag subscription competitors that ship continuously.

PaintShop Pro Alternatives and How It Compares

• Affinity Photo is the strongest perpetual-licence competitor, on both Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom are the subscription standard, with continuous feature delivery.
• Canva covers lighter editing and design in the browser.
• Luminar Neo focuses on AI-assisted photo enhancement.
• GIMP is free and open source, with a steeper learning curve.
• Filmora is the closer comparison for the video half of the bundle.

For a broader survey, browse our photo editing directory.

The Verdict

PaintShop Pro’s proposition is refreshingly simple in a category that has almost entirely abandoned it: you buy the software once, for €39.99 including VAT, and it keeps working. No renewal, no losing access to your own editor when a card expires, and no annual increase. For a hobbyist photographer who edits a few hundred images a year, that is a genuinely better deal than any subscription, and the feature set — layers, masks, RAW processing through AfterShot Lab, retouching, AI-assisted tools — is far more than the price suggests.

The qualification is one you should weigh honestly rather than dismiss. The newest version on sale is PaintShop Pro 2023, and the video editor bundled with it is VideoStudio 2022. In July 2026 that means buying a release that is around three years old, with no newer option offered and no indication of one coming. For perpetual software this cuts both ways: what you buy is what you keep, so its age matters less than it would for a subscription — but photo editing is a category where AI tooling has moved substantially in three years, and a 2023 feature set is a 2023 feature set.

On the commercial detail Corel comes off well. All three discounts meet or beat their advertised percentage — 42.9% against a claimed 40% on the standard edition, exactly 40.0% on Ultimate, and 30.6% against 30% on the bundle — and prices are quoted VAT-inclusive, so the figure on the page is the figure you pay. One thing to be clear about before choosing: Ultimate’s €14 premium buys additional programs, not a better photo editor. The PaintShop Pro feature list is identical on both. If Painter Essentials, PhotoMirage Express and MultiCam Capture are useful to you, it is good value; if not, the €39.99 edition is the same editor.

FAQ

How much does PaintShop Pro cost?

Captured in July 2026 in euros including VAT: PaintShop Pro 2023 is €39.99 (list €69.99), PaintShop Pro 2023 Ultimate is €53.99 (list €89.99), and the Photo Video Bundle Ultimate is €124.99 (list €179.99). All three are one-time purchases rather than subscriptions, so there is no renewal cost.

Is PaintShop Pro a subscription?

No. It is a perpetual licence — you pay once and keep the software indefinitely, which is unusual in photo editing where most competitors have moved to monthly or annual billing. The trade-off is that a perpetual licence does not include future major versions, so upgrades are separate purchases when new releases appear.

Which version of PaintShop Pro is current?

PaintShop Pro 2023, as of our July 2026 capture. The pricing page’s own feature section is headed “What’s New in PaintShop Pro 2023?”, and the Photo Video Bundle pairs it with VideoStudio Ultimate 2022. No 2024, 2025 or 2026 release is offered, so buyers should factor in that they are purchasing a three-year-old version.

What is the difference between PaintShop Pro and PaintShop Pro Ultimate?

Bundled software, not editing features. Both list the same PaintShop Pro capabilities — Focus Stacking, Frame Tool, AfterShot Lab, Real-time Blend Mode preview and Snap to Objects. Ultimate adds a separate bonus pack: MultiCam Capture 2.0 Lite, Painter Essentials 8, PhotoMirage Express, Highlight Reel and free fonts, for €14 more.

Does PaintShop Pro run on Mac?

No, PaintShop Pro is a Windows application. Mac users wanting a perpetual-licence photo editor should look at Affinity Photo, which is sold outright and runs on both platforms, or accept a subscription product such as Adobe’s if platform coverage matters more than billing model.