Don’t like the monthly subscription when it comes to using the software? I’m not a big fan of this either, but it seems to be the way of the future because it puts more money in the pockets of software developers.
One of the biggest players when it comes to monthly software subscription costs is Adobe. While the company used to sell its professional-grade software for a fixed price, it has since moved to subscription-based models that guarantee a permanent, perpetual subscription in exchange for your use of Adobe software. It’s very similar to renting; stop paying and you will lose access.
Apps like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom are wildly popular with photographers who edit their work in post, but if you want to avoid monthly subscription costs, you should know that there are great alternatives for macOS, Windows, iOS, and iPadOS that can do the same job without recurring subscription costs. We will show you some of them.
Photo editing software without a subscription
GIMP
Free, open source, and available for all major desktop operating systems, the tried and tested GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) software contains many of the same tools as Adobe’s venerable Photoshop software.
GIMP has been around for a very long time, and plenty of satisfied users can tell you how resourceful this free software is. Once, he even helped law enforcement solve a murder case; true story!
Go to the GIMP website to get started.
A dark room
Darkroom is a competitive and award-winning alternative to Adobe Lightroom that offers many of the same RAW photo editing features as bug but at a fair fixed price.
While Darkroom has its own subscription options; a lifetime license can be purchased for $74.99, which is universal across macOS, iPadOS, and iOS platforms. Unfortunately, it is not available for Windows. I personally use this to edit RAW photos.
Go to the Darkroom website to get started.
Pixelmator Pro
Pixelmator Pro is a powerful alternative to Adobe Photoshop that offers a variety of image retouching tools, including a powerful AI-powered Spot Healing Brush that vanishes elements of a photo.
Pixelmator Pro is only available for macOS, but at a low fixed price of just $49.99 (but a free trial is available!). I use this image manipulation and banner maker software almost religiously and can attest to how useful it is for the price. Again, this software is unfortunately not available for Windows.
Go to the Pixelmator Pro website to get started.
related photo
Affinity Photo is a great photo retouching software for macOS, Windows, and iPadOS that offers support for professional-grade tools and even RAW photo editing without a subscription.
Available for a one-time payment of $69.99 for macOS or Windows, $19.99 for iPadOS, or $169.99 for everything. You can download and enjoy this last minute photo editing software without a continuous stream of payments.
Go to the Affinity Photo website to find out more.
Topaz Photo AI
You can’t mention photo editing software without mentioning the young but really advanced Topaz Photo AI for macOS and Windows.
Topaz Photo AI uses artificial intelligence to automatically process any of your photos. It comes with noise reduction, blur removal, and even upscaling options that I regularly use to enhance my photos.
Topaz Photo AI is a little pricey at $199, but at least you won’t have recurring charges like some other types of photo editing software.
Go to the Topaz Photo AI website to get started.
Preview
The native Preview app for Mac is more powerful than you might think. Not only is it an image viewer, but it also provides photo editing tools that can be especially useful, including lighting and color adjustments that work nearly as well as they do in Adobe Lightroom.
We thought it was important to mention this before you decide to buy expensive software because most people don’t even know that their Mac comes with powerful photo editing software preinstalled. Unfortunately, the preview is native to macOS and is not available on Windows or mobile platforms.
Conclusion
While some people flock to Adobe’s subscription-based software simply because of the brand’s reputation in the industry, the good news is that you can prevent yourself from being dragged into ongoing subscription payments by using any of the quality photo editing software mentioned above.
Personally, I’d rather pay once and own the software for life than pay all the time and lose access to it when I stop paying, so I’ll be using these alternatives for a long time – maybe forever!
What is your favorite photo editing software? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below, and also indicate the platform you prefer to edit on.