Photoshop Review (2026): Is Adobe’s Flagship Still Worth the Subscription Price?
We put Photoshop through real photo editing and design work for a month. Is it still the king, or have free rivals caught up?
The Case for Photoshop
Photoshop is the industry standard for photo editing, compositing, and pixel-level design work. Its feature depth is unmatched.
The Good
- Unmatched power and precision. No free tool matches selection, masking, and retouching depth.
- AI features (Generative Fill etc.) genuinely speed up tough edits.
- Massive plugin/community ecosystem.
- Integration with Lightroom, Illustrator, and the Creative Cloud.
The Bad
- Subscription-only pricing with no buy-outright option.
- Steep learning curve.
- Heavy on resources and historically buggy on some systems.
- AI features are locked to the subscription too.
Should You Switch to a Free Alternative?
GIMP, Photopea, and Krita are genuinely capable for many jobs. But for professional retouching, presets, and industry-standard workflows, Photoshop remains hard to beat.
Pricing
Photography plan with Lightroom is around $9.99/month; Photoshop alone ~$22.99/month. Annual plans are cheaper.
Final Verdict
8.5/10 — Still the professional’s default, but the price stings. Amateurs should start free with Photopea. Professionals who edit photos for a living, Photoshop pays for itself.
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