What it's for
The pro standard for compositing; our thumbnail and staging notes use it.
- Retouching and compositing
- Virtual staging
- Thumbnails
Plans and prices
| Plan | Price (USD unless shown) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Photoshop | US$22.99/mo, annual plan billed monthly | Photoshop on desktop, web and mobile |
| Photography | US$19.99/mo, annual billed monthly | Photoshop plus Lightroom, 1TB |
| Creative Cloud Pro | US$69.99/mo (promo shown: 50% off for 3 months) | All apps, 4,000 credits |
Read on the official pricing page on . Prices change; check before you buy.
Free plan in real output
No free plan; 7-day free trial.
- The cheapest route into Photoshop is a US$19.99/mo plan; generative credits differ by plan (the page lists 25 to 4,000 monthly).
Cost at your stage
| Plan | Monthly cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 (testing, low volume) | Photography | $19.99 |
| Month 12 (working volume) | Photoshop | $22.99 |
Break-even: Covered by one $25 thumbnail or staging job a month.
Month-12 plan is our estimate of what a solo seller at steady weekly output needs, based on the plan limits above. Costs exclude tax.
Commercial use and output rights
Not a content generator. An editor; your edits are yours. Generative Fill output follows Firefly's rules.
Your data and AI training: Adobe says it doesn't train Firefly on Creative Cloud subscribers' personal content (Firefly FAQ).
This is a summary of public terms, not legal advice. Terms change; re-read the clause before client work.
First-hour setup
- Start the trial on the plan you'd keep.
- Learn layers, masks and Generative Fill.
- Build a reusable template PSD for your service.
- Export presets for web and print.
- Cancel before the trial ends if it's not right.
Competitors compared
| Tool | Pricing model | Free plan | Starting price | Difficulty | Output rights | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop | Paid plans only | Trial only | US$22.99/mo, annual plan billed monthly | 4/5 | Not a content generator | Professional retouching and compositing |
| GIMP | Free, open source | Yes | Free, open source | 3/5 | Not a content generator | Free Photoshop-style editing |
| Photopea | Free plan + paid plans | Yes | See official site | 2/5 | – | Opening PSDs without Photoshop |
| Affinity | Free | Yes | Free | 3/5 | – | Pro design without a subscription |
| Canva | Free plan + paid plans | Yes | $0 · then US$144/year for one person | 1/5 | You own or may use output commercially | Fast templated design for non-designers |
| Adobe Lightroom | Paid plans only | Trial only | See official site | – | – | Editing large batches of photos |
| Pixlr | Free plan + paid plans | Yes | See official site | – | – | Quick edits on any device |
Head to head: Canva vs Adobe Photoshop
Learning difficulty
4/5: Powerful and deep; takes weeks to work fast.
When not to use it
For occasional edits, GIMP or Photopea are free.
Cheaper or free alternatives:
Which of our hustles use it
- AI headshots / photo editing: Generative Fill and retouching
- AI product photography for e-commerce: Final retouching and compositing
- Virtual staging for real estate: Compositing and cleanup
- AI thumbnail design service: Cutouts, compositing and AI-assisted fills
Price history
Each monthly check adds rows here. Older rows are never edited, so you can see when prices changed.
Sources
- Photoshop plans (read 17 October 2026)
Last verified . Anything we couldn't confirm on an official page is marked "not published", "not shown" or "not verified".