Are you starting in photography?
Don’t know what image editing software out there you can use or buy?
Here is a list of free and paid software to consider.
The URL and pricing of these software are correct during the revision of this post (February 2017).
There are no affiliate links on this page. These are for your information only 🙂
Free Image Editing Software
There are actually a bunch of image editing software you can use it for free.
If you are looking for something similar to Adobe Photoshop, try GIMP, GIMPshop or Gimphoto.
Software | Mac | PC |
|---|---|---|
Picasa | Yes | Yes (Discontinued) |
Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
No | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes |
Free Web-Based Image Editor
These are web-based editor, often very limited in their functionality.
You can do basic image editing with these and some do offer filters and presets.
Premium Image Editing Software
These are the ones where you need to purchase a license to use them.
Some are subscription only (you need to pay monthly or annually to renew your license) and some are lifetime license (a once off payment to purchase the license).
The majority of these support RAW file and others can be used to organise your images.
Software | Mac | PC | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Yes | Yes | From $9.99/month | |
Yes | Yes | From $9.99/month | |
Yes | Yes | From $59.99 | |
Yes | No | $29.99 | |
No | Yes | $79.99 | |
Yes | Yes | $99.99 | |
Yes | No | $49.99 | |
Yes | Yes | €129 | |
No | Yes | $79.99 | |
Yes | Yes | From $4/month or $120 lifetime | |
Yes | No | $29.99 | |
Yes | No | $69.99 | |
Yes | Yes | $99.99 | |
Yes | Yes | $59.99 | |
Yes | Yes | $299.99 | |
No | Yes | $99.99 | |
No | Yes | $89.99 | |
No | Yes | From $59.99 | |
No | Yes | $39.95 | |
Yes | Yes | $34.95 | |
Yes | No | $59 | |
Yes | No | $59.95 | |
Yes | No | $39.95 | |
No | Yes | From $10/year or $30 lifetime | |
No | Yes | $29.95 | |
No | Yes | €29 | |
Yes | Yes | €59 | |
Yes | Yes | $150 | |
No | Yes | $49.95 | |
Yes | Yes | $79.95 | |
No | Yes | $399 | |
No | Yes | From $170 | |
Yes | Yes | $129 | |
Yes | Yes | $149 | |
Iridient Developer (Raw Editor) | Yes | No | $99 |
Be Funky Plus (web-based) | N/A | N/A | $4.95/month or $24.05/year |
I hope you find this useful.
Do let me know if you found more software be added to the list or a broken link.
For more tutorials on image editing technique, please check out the editing technique resource page!
Hey, I like your list of image editing software, everyone can find a suitable one for themselves. However, the other day I’ve found another automatic photo enhancer: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/244476/20190727/photoworks-advanced-photo-editing-made-simple.htm. It’s mostly about one-click edits, good results so far. The software is perfect for beginners and worth to have a look at.
Thanks Jack. Had a brief look and does seem interesting. Thanks for sharing it!
Hei, an impressive list of software Yaopey! I use Photomatix Pro for several years now with HDR images, just as many professional photographers do. Jeroen Derwort, a dutch photographer and one among your “Tips from 12 Experts” write about that for instance.
Hi Peter, Photomatix was great when I started using it several years ago. It’s even better now with its latest version.
That is a lot of tools to take in. I’m not a professional photographer; I’m just trying to edit personal photographs taken with an ancient camera and my smartphone, which produces awful shots and comes equipped with few editing options.
I am trying to make digital backups of my photos in albums. I found a free web-based Photopea alternative to Photoshop, a great program. It needs to be mentioned that the tool is excellent AND has more features like Ps. https://www.quora.com/What-are-free-online-tools-that-can-do-the-same-things-as-Photoshop/answer/Biju-Toha
Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely add that in the next time I update the list. Have a good day! 🙂
informative list but i think gimp is the best photo editing software.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
I have an interest in editing. Should i start with some free tool or a paid one?
Personally, I would use the free ones first or the free trial for paid software.
I don’t think “On1 Perfect Effects 9 Free” is till free.
Graphic Converter 9 is now 11. Others on you list have updated.
You might consider taking the version numbers out of the list as maintaining a list of version numbers is futile.
Thanks for your suggestion.