Photo Editing Software & Apps

Updated October 2026

You don't need to spend much to edit photos well. Here's what we'd look at, starting with the free options.

Free

Start with what's already on your phone or computer. Apple Photos and Google Photos both handle cropping, brightness and color well. Beyond those:

• Snapseed (iPhone and Android) is Google's free mobile editor, with tools that let you adjust just part of a photo.
• Lightroom mobile has a free tier with solid basic tools and presets for editing batches.
• GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux) is a free, open-source editor in the Photoshop mold, with layers and retouching.
• Affinity (Windows, Mac) used to be a paid Photoshop alternative. Since Canva bought it, the full app is free for individuals with a free Canva account. Its AI tools need a paid Canva plan.
• darktable (Windows, Mac, Linux) is a free, open-source RAW editor and photo organizer.

Paid

Adobe Lightroom is built for organizing and editing big libraries across devices. Photoshop is still the standard for detailed retouching and compositing, and Photoshop Elements is the simpler home version. Elements is no longer a buy-once program. It's now sold as a three-year license. Capture One is popular with studio and product photographers for RAW editing.

We've left prices out because they change constantly. If you're editing a lot of listing photos, see our editing basics for a quick workflow, and AI background removal for cutouts.