Since Adobe moved to a subscription model, they've consistently raised the prices. With Canva following Adobe in increasing prices, I doubt Adobe will stop anytime soon. Despite Adobe's top-tier products, the subscription costs can be a barrier for many hobbyists and enthusiastic photographers looking to get started. As someone who loves to create and edit photos without breaking the bank, I have found several alternatives that can replace Photoshop and Lightroom in no time.

Unless you are tied into the Adobe ecosystem or need a specific Photoshop plugin or Lightroom preset in your workflow, you can easily pick some of my favorite free photo editing tools and unleash your inner artist without affecting your wallet at all.

3 Darktable

Although Darktable looks outdated, it is still a decent free alternative to Adobe’s offerings. With features like non-destructive editing, custom color profiles, a comprehensive toolset like balance adjustment, exposure compensation, highlight and shadow recovery, noise reduction, sharpening, lens correction etc., and your willingness to go past the initial learning curve, Darktable can be a valuable tool for photographers seeking high-quality results without the cost of a subscription.

If you're uncertain about trying Darktable, check out our top reasons why it's the best free alternative to Lightroom.

2 RawTherapee

RawTherapee is an open-source RAW image editor with cross-platform availability on major desktop platforms. It offers advanced RAW processing, non-destructive editing, robust color management, batch processing, and more. If you don’t prefer a web solution like Photopea, RawTherapee can be an ideal pick for you. It does require a steeper learning curve, though.

1 Photopea: My go-to solution

Photopea is a web-based free Photoshop alternative that’s surprisingly powerful. It looks and feels similar to Adobe Photoshop, simplifying the transition for current Adobe users. Whether you are a casual user or a professional, Photopea’s wide array of features will cater to your needs and help you get the job done. Here are the main reasons I rely on Photopea in my workflow and suggest it to anyone seeking an Adobe Photography plan alternative.

Web-based solution

As mentioned, Photopea is a web-based solution. Whether you use Windows, Mac, Linux, or even a Chromebook, Photopea is just a click away in your favorite browser. It doesn’t require any software installation and helps you get started in no time.

If you desire a native app experience, you can install Photopea as a PWA (Progressive Web App) and pin it on your Windows taskbar or Mac dock. Photopea surely feels more responsive than Photoshop and Lightroom on mid-range hardware.

Full PSD support

Photopea's compatibility with various file formats, especially its robust handling of PSD files, sets it apart in the world of free image editors. If you can’t access Photoshop, you can easily continue your projects in Photopea. It can also handle complex structures of your PSD files, including layers, masks, and even smart objects.

I also have the flexibility to save Photopea files in PSD format, so that I can send them to other Photoshop users without any hiccups. Other supported formats include JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, RAW, PDF, and even SVG. I can even open my existing Sketch or Figma files in Photopea for some final touches before sending them to the client.

Full suite of editing tools

Although it is a free web solution, Photopea hasn’t skimped on important image editing features. It’s packed with useful editing tools to handle your complex image editing tasks without breaking a sweat.

You can explore a robust layer system to create multiple layers, adjust their opacity, and apply masks to control which parts of a layer are visible. You can also perform non-destructive tweaks with brightness, contrast, curves, and other tools.

Other noteworthy features include healing and clone tools, text tools, filters and effects, brush tools, the ability to create custom presets, a preset manager, and more. Photopea provides ample features whether you're a student, educator, social media fan, small business owner, or freelancer.

Automation

Automation is where Photopea completely took me by surprise. I have recorded several actions (sequences of steps), which I apply to most of my images to save time and ensure consistency. If you are a developer, you can even write scripts in Javascript and put your Photopea setup on autopilot mode.

Photo editing toolbox on a budget

So, there you have it. With these free Photoshop and Lightroom alternatives, you can easily bring your creativity and artistic vision to life without straining your wallet. While I personally prefer Photopea, you can’t go wrong with RawTherapee and Darktable.

GIMP is another robust Photoshop and Lightroom alternative, but I skipped it since the current version looks outdated. I’m looking forward to GIMP 3, which promises to deliver a design overhaul, along with other user-requested features like non-destructive editing, extension manager, and more.