Adobe Photoshop Elements is a subscription-free Adobe product that allows you to (almost) own your software while utilizing some basic Adobe editing tools. The 2025 update to Photoshop Elements comes with some new tools, removes some previous features, and is an all-rounder for editing your photos without paying large subscription fees.

Photoshop Elements isn’t one of Adobe’s best known software tools. While it includes many features similar to what you'd find in Photoshop for desktop and mobile, it does lack in many areas. The idea of owning the software might be enough for some users to deny an expensive Creative Cloud subscription plan and stick to Elements, but there are plenty of better alternative photo editing tools on the market.

About this review: Adobe provided me with access to Photoshop Elements 2025, but Adobe has not had any input into the contents of this review.

Price, platforms, and specs

Non-subscription model for multiple platforms

Most of Adobe’s software is known to fall into the trap of expensive Creative Cloud subscription charges. Although there are a handful of Adobe apps with no subscription, Photoshop Elements falls somewhere in between the two options.

Gone are the days when you can own your Adobe software outright. Even Photoshop Elements’ price model isn’t bringing those days back. You can purchase a 3-year license for Adobe Photoshop Elements 2025 from $100. If you already license a version of Photoshop Elements, you can upgrade to the 2025 version for $80. Again, do note these prices are only for a 3-year license, and not outright owning the software in perpetuity. But at least you do not need to adhere to difficult-to-cancel and rising-in-price monthly subscription costs.

The 2025 update of Photoshop Elements includes additional platforms from which this software can be accessed. Photoshop Elements has always been available for desktop, but the 2025 update brings Apple Silicone M3 compatibility, improving usage for Apple users, which is something I’m very happy about.

The newer platforms available from the 2025 update also include beta versions of Photoshop Elements on the web — which is accessible via the browser from anywhere you can log in — and a mobile app is also available with this update, so you can edit on the go from almost any device. These new updates fall in line with Photoshop’s software availability, which has been available on the web for quite some time, plus a comprehensive mobile and tablet app, too. You can currently download the Elements Beta app directly from Adobe via TestFlight. The phone app has offline access, as well as online access, for true on-the-go editing.

Tools and features

What Photoshop Elements is good for

The 2025 update to Photoshop Elements brought with it some new features, including AI tools — although it isn’t the first time AI tools were announced in Photoshop Elements. The 2025 AI features are Quick Tools, including the Removal Tool which uses generative fill technology to let you inconspicuously remove any element of your image. This goes hand-in-hand with the Object Removal Tool, which does a similar thing.

Other AI tools include the Smart Brushes recoloring brush. This tool impressed me a lot, not only because of how accurately it made the selection of the area, but also for how well it recolors things. It adds vibrant new colors to elements, with the ability to edit them to your liking.

These tools are included within the existing tools available in previous versions of Photoshop Elements; however, some of the Guided tools have been removed. There’s only one new Guided tool in the 2025 version: the Guided Combine Images Tool. I am pretty disappointed by Combine Images, and hope to see more value in the feature in the future. It’s much more basic than the advert for the tool makes it seem, which offers a sample image of a complex ripped paper collage; in reality, you can just remove a background, change the layer order, and add a blending mode.

User interface and experience

It’s not a pretty interface

I’ve been using Adobe products for over a decade, as well as many Adobe alternatives. Historically, Adobe’s interface created the blueprint for most other software, especially those emulating Photoshop itself. My disappointment with the interface of Adobe Photoshop Elements is huge. Upon opening this software, it feels like I’ve time-jumped backwards 15 years.

Although Photoshop’s interface itself isn’t totally easy to learn for a newbie, it makes sense once you’ve gained some Photoshop experience. On the other hand, Adobe Photoshop Elements has lots of menus, and their titles aren’t the most descriptive. With the three main menu options Quick, Guided, and Advanced, it’s hard to recognize what might be on the other side of each button.

Power and application

An Adobe app surely has Adobe power?

I am also disappointed by how slow Photoshop Elements is when using it. I am used to a pretty short wait when using the AI tools in Photoshop. Or perhaps when my computer is overloaded, it takes a lot of system willpower to do seemingly basic tasks; but from the moment I opened Photoshop Elements, it felt slow.

I’ve received the spinning wheel of death on countless occasions when choosing the Quick Actions tools. Since there’s no true preview of the tools, I must commit to the editing choice and wait out the time before either realizing my disappointment with the chosen edit, or being happy with my choice but still waiting for it to fully apply.

While the Quick Actions tools do have image preview thumbnails for each tool, there’s no preview window to view your own image with that tool’s effects. Instead, you must apply the tool to view the outcome, which is a tedious process, especially if you want to go back a step.

Maybe Adobe has jaded my opinion

This software isn’t strong enough to compete

Having used Photoshop and other Adobe software for over a decade, I am perhaps a bit spoiled with my expectations based on other software from Adobe. Photoshop Elements is only meant to be a pared down version of the famous image-manipulation app. The software does offer some great basic editing tools; a hobbyist editor could find everything they need from Photoshop Elements. But if you’re looking for heavy editing or a naturally intuitive interface, then it’s better to take the hit with a full Adobe subscription — or even go with an Adobe competitor, instead of Elements.