What is the best photo editing tool right now?

Adobe Express leads this list by user signals — it is best for small business owners and social media marketers who need branded templates resized across multiple platforms without a full creative cloud subscription. Adobe Lightroom is the strongest runner-up.

Which photo editing are free?

12 of the 18 tools here have a usable free tier or are fully free: Adobe Express, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Affinity, BeFunky and 7 more.

Are there open-source photo editing?

Yes — GIMP, Krita, darktable are open source.

18 Best Photo Editing in 2026

Photo editing software adjusts exposure, color, and composition in still images, used by photographers, designers, and hobbyists to retouch and organize photos.

Top photo editing

Tool	Best for	License	Price	Reviews
Adobe Express	small business owners and social media marketers who need branded templates resized across multiple platforms without a full Creative Cloud subscription	Freemium	Free tier · paid from $7.99/mo
Adobe Lightroom	photographers who shoot in volume and want cloud-synced, non-destructive edits and AI-assisted culling across every device	Freemium	Free tier · paid from $11.99/mo	4.8/5 on Capterra (327 reviews)
Adobe Photoshop	photographers and designers who need pixel-level compositing, retouching, or AI-generated image edits beyond what non-destructive editors offer	Freemium	Free tier · paid from $19.99/mo	4.8/5 on Capterra (2,466 reviews)
Affinity	designers and photographers who want Photoshop/Illustrator-level editing tools without paying a subscription, and don't need AI generative features	Freemium	Free tier · paid from $14.99/mo	4.8/5 on Capterra (99 reviews)
BeFunky	Solo creators and small businesses who need quick browser-based photo touch-ups, collages, and templated graphics (banners, flyers, social posts) without learning Photoshop or Illustrator.	Freemium	Free
Capture One	portrait, fashion, product, and commercial photographers who need tethered shooting and fine-grained color grading beyond what Lightroom offers	Paid	Custom pricing	4.7/5 on Capterra (66 reviews)
Clip Studio Paint	illustrators, manga/comic artists, and 2D animators who need a large customizable brush library, panel/speech-bubble tooling, and either a one-time desktop purchase or cross-platform subscription including iPad and Android	Paid	From $4.99/mo
DxO PhotoLab	photographers who want DeepPRIME's high-ISO noise reduction and automated lens corrections without paying a monthly subscription	Paid	From $149.99 one-time	4.4/5 on Capterra (14 reviews)
Fotor	individuals and small businesses who want browser-based photo editing with AI background/object removal and image generation, without a Photoshop-level learning curve	Freemium	Free tier · paid from $8.99/mo
GIMP	photographers, illustrators, and designers who want a full-featured, scriptable photo editor without paying a subscription or license fee	Open source	Free
Krita	digital painters, comic artists, and concept artists who want a full-featured, no-cost illustration tool with a brush engine built specifically for freehand painting rather than photo editing	Open source	Free	5/5 on Product Hunt (1 reviews)
Luminar Neo	photography hobbyists who want AI-assisted, single-slider editing tools like sky replacement and background removal without paying an ongoing Adobe-style subscription	Paid	From $129 one-time
MediBang Paint	manga and comic artists who want free screentones and brushes plus multi-artist Group Project collaboration across Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Android	Freemium	Pricing not verified
ON1 Photo RAW	photographers who want a full RAW-to-export editing workflow without a recurring subscription, either standalone or as a Lightroom/Photoshop plugin	Paid	From $99.99 one-time
Photopea	students, social media creators, and small business owners who need Photoshop-style PSD editing without buying or installing desktop software	Free	Free	4.5/5 on Capterra (113 reviews)
Pixelmator Pro	Mac and iPad users who want professional-grade, layer-based photo editing and AI retouching without a Photoshop subscription	Paid	From $12.99/mo	4.8/5 on Capterra (48 reviews)
Pixlr	casual creators, social media managers, and small businesses who want quick AI-assisted photo edits in a browser without paying for Photoshop	Freemium	Free tier · paid from $1.99/mo	4.9/5 on Product Hunt (53 reviews)
darktable	photographers who want a fully non-destructive, database-driven raw editing workflow on Linux, Windows, or macOS without paying an Adobe Lightroom subscription	Open source	Free

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Find alternatives to a specific tool

Alternatives to Adobe Express3 Alternatives to Adobe Lightroom6 Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop5 Alternatives to Affinity5 Alternatives to Capture One4 Alternatives to Clip Studio Paint5 Alternatives to DxO PhotoLab3 Alternatives to Fotor5 Alternatives to GIMP5 Alternatives to Krita6 Alternatives to Luminar Neo4 Alternatives to MediBang Paint4 Alternatives to ON1 Photo RAW5 Alternatives to Photopea5 Alternatives to Pixelmator Pro4 Alternatives to Pixlr6 Alternatives to darktable3

Frequently asked questions

What is the best photo editing tool right now?: Adobe Express leads this list by user signals — it is best for small business owners and social media marketers who need branded templates resized across multiple platforms without a full creative cloud subscription. Adobe Lightroom is the strongest runner-up.
Which photo editing are free?: 12 of the 18 tools here have a usable free tier or are fully free: Adobe Express, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Affinity, BeFunky and 7 more.
Are there open-source photo editing?: Yes — GIMP, Krita, darktable are open source.