LR increasing prices... what are some alternatives?

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ecniv

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Hi

I'm using lightroom subscription to process the raw pics. However its increasing in price in August (for me).
I have affinity but it doesnt seem to have the flow of LR, more better stitched/stacking options.

What are the other options that people use and how do they compare to LR in terms of flow and money ?

Regards

Vincent
 
As I'm not a fan of subscriptions, yet a fan of good workflows (which is quite subjective, of course) I think I might have tried all of them that are not subscription based and I own a few still. These are the ones I tried and/or own licenses for:

Freeware: RawTherapee and darktable (I think there are a few forks of these too, like "ArtSomething" - forgot the name) and very new RapidRaw
Also - Some cameras (like SOny) come with their own raw developer. And whilst often basic, probably not terrible.
Paid: Capture One, ON1 Raw, DXO PhotoLab, Luminar Neo, ACDSee, Affinity

Is there a perfect one? No, unfortunately I don't think so. It really depends how you want to work and people are very different in this.
For example (that's not how I work, just mentioning) you can just develop your image into a quite flat 16bit tiff - so you don't clip - and then take it into Affinity and do the hard work there. I think this is a valid workflow, yet I don't do it mainly because a certain percentage of my images don't need big acrobatics. A bit of white balance, some tonal corrections and they're good.

What I use therefore really depends on what I think needs doing to the image. But before I write you a page worth of reviews about each package, I will say that these days I often use the raw developer in ACDsee, It does most things right and very quick. But if you are interested in my view of any of the packages above, please ask. Also, if you could ascertain what is important to you in a software, I can try and recommend one of them.
 
Thanks!
I use LR, found it to be fast to tweak exposure, contrast etc.
Hence looking for something similar.
Affinity was more like GIMP but has more dedicated stitching/stacking/hdr...
But no way is an LR replacement.

I have heard capture 1 was good, but I am unsure if they do a single payment anymore.. seems more subscription and higher rate than LR.

Also online on reddit, looked at DxO and Iridient Digital, both a significant investment in a single payment... so still looking
 
Affinity has a raw developer module that is pretty much like a "light" version of Lightroom. (I think it's called the "develop persona")
So you can do your exposure/contrast/white balance etc. there, but no masks or extended tonal corrections or specific hue corrections. For that you would have to then bring it from the "develop persona" into the "photo persona" (or whatever that's called) and that is then as you say, very much like gimp or photoshop, a layer based photo editor.

But if all you need is inside the raw development module, maybe give it another look, it might be all you need.

Capture one is quite good and in my opinion a very good raw developer but very, very expensive, (I trialled it but I didn't buy it so my experience is limited) Single payment still exists but is something like £300
DXO is pretty good but it works with slightly different paradigms (e.g. the control points) Once you get used to it, you can get very good results from it.

Maybe trial Luminar and ON1. They are both not perfect, they try to offer a lot of solutions (with AI and stuff that is often more frustrating than helpful) but they are quite affordable (wait for a sale!) and are doing the basics quite well.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
Just pay it.

It's still a bargain for what you get in my opinion.
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:agree:
Agreed. It's pennies compared to what we spend on kit. And the subscription model means it's always up-to-date. Unless, of course, you don't actually like the product, in which case by all means look for something which suits you better. The grass is always greener, etc.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
Just pay it.

It's still a bargain for what you get in my opinion.
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The most precious thing all of us have, is time.

I use CaptureOne and I kept buying the perpetual and eventually just bit the bullet and went for a subscription when they made the perpetual licence less attractive. It’s not cheap but the thought of messing around in the affinity raw mode or any of the free apps, rebuilding all my presets that I’ve taken years to refine, just to save a few quid a month when I’ve got a massive library of pics already, it suddenly seems decent value.
 
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Have a look at Luminar Neo, I swapped over from Lightroom a few years ago, first with a 12 month subscription, last year I purchased a lifetime license when they offered me a price I couldn't refuse, and I still get all the updates, it's a great piece of software.
 
It would have to increase significantly for me to consider switching (again). I left adobe maybe in 2019 for On1 Raw. Not here to slate it but it didn’t suit me. I hated not having a catalogue system.
Bit the bullet and went back to Adobe in 2022
 
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bumper said:
To some it could be.
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It might be..... Its about the same as a couple pints of beer that are actually harmful to health or some sugary sweets or cereals or some other absolute takeaway crap people tend to consume so should be very easy for most people to get the priorities right
 
LongLensPhotography said:
It might be..... Its about the same as a couple pints of beer that are actually harmful to health or some sugary sweets or cereals or some other absolute takeaway crap people tend to consume so should be very easy for most people to get the priorities right
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You’re assuming everyone drinks and eats crap so they can cut down and pay adobe.

You never know people’s circumstances. People could be paying for their kids and a mortgage and just trying to do a bit of photography as an escape. Taking photos and editing doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
 
I have an issue with subscriptions that doesn't have to do with whether or not I can afford it now. What if it becomes unaffordable in the future? Whether due to price increase or my financial circumstances change for the worse. If I can't afford a subscription any longer then I can't access my old edits any longer and if I have made a catalogue, I can't access that any longer either. I prefer having what I have as much as that's possible with software,
 
Agree the actual amount for the subscription isn’t too bad compared with other things in life
Depends on each person’s budget though
I tried out Affinity as a Photoshop alternative a few years ago and at the time preferred it for macro image focus stacking
I never liked the Affinity Raw development process but apparently it’s pretty good now
I went with DXO photo lab for that
To be honest though nowadays the software available for us is all really good and its just personal preference
I wouldn’t go back to Adobe purely because I have got used to using DXO and Affinity
 
bumper said:
You’re assuming everyone drinks and eats crap so they can cut down and pay adobe.

You never know people’s circumstances. People could be paying for their kids and a mortgage and just trying to do a bit of photography as an escape. Taking photos and editing doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
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You could also sell just one (extra) image and make more than enough to cover it.
Online training courses pretty much end up being $1000 per year or more and thats for things like sales training or business workshops or general lifestyle stuff (think tony Robbins, etc). Now as a non us entity i find this a little painful. This is just to put it into context. Adobe would have to seriously increase prices to become noncompetitive and im just being realistic and i do not get a penny from them for saying that
 
Photo.Wolf said:
I have an issue with subscriptions that doesn't have to do with whether or not I can afford it now. What if it becomes unaffordable in the future? Whether due to price increase or my financial circumstances change for the worse. If I can't afford a subscription any longer then I can't access my old edits any longer and if I have made a catalogue, I can't access that any longer either. I prefer having what I have as much as that's possible with software,
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You can and you should play it safe. Your whole catalogue is already accessible via file explorer and files are readable by any other recent raw processor. You should also export final edits as 16bit prophpto rgb tiffs to lock in your work. Do this for work that will still matter 10 years from now, not some £500 budget client shoot
 
LCPete said:
wouldn’t go back to Adobe purely because I have got used to using DXO and Affinity
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This is basically it. If functionality becomes a problem or there is a better alternative you obviously move
 
LongLensPhotography said:
You could also sell just one (extra) image and make more than enough to cover it.
Online training courses pretty much end up being $1000 per year or more and thats for things like sales training or business workshops or general lifestyle stuff (think tony Robbins, etc). Now as a non us entity i find this a little painful. This is just to put it into context. Adobe would have to seriously increase prices to become noncompetitive and im just being realistic and i do not get a penny from them for saying that
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I understand what you’re saying but not everyone can afford the £11 or £20 per month. You’re comparing the cost as a bargain to a training course for £1000. Again that some people can’t afford or don’t want to pay for. Not everyone wants to or can sell images either, that’s also assuming everyone sells images.

I know lots of pensioners that are living on basic state pension, entitled to no help and couldnt afford that. Especially in winter with high bills.

There are plenty of free or one off payment options.

Photography should available everyone, and not set to exclude people. Adobe are turning into greedy bastards.
 
bumper said:
I understand what you’re saying but not everyone can afford the £11 or £20 per month. You’re comparing the cost as a bargain to a training course for £1000. Again that some people can’t afford or don’t want to pay for. Not everyone wants to or can sell images either, that’s also assuming everyone sells images.

I know lots of pensioners that are living on basic state pension, entitled to no help and couldnt afford that. Especially in winter with high bills.

There are plenty of free or one off payment options.

Photography should available everyone, and not set to exclude people. Adobe are turning into greedy bastards.
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Shoot jpeg, direct print button. Unfortunately pc, laptop or printer also cost money and are increasing in price. It is your choice not to do anything about it
 
Photo.Wolf said:
I have an issue with subscriptions that doesn't have to do with whether or not I can afford it now. What if it becomes unaffordable in the future? Whether due to price increase or my financial circumstances change for the worse. If I can't afford a subscription any longer then I can't access my old edits any longer and if I have made a catalogue, I can't access that any longer either. I prefer having what I have as much as that's possible with software,
Click to expand...

If you cancel your Adobe your Lightroom subscription you will NOT loose your edits, and you will still be able to use the CATALOG, importing and exporting images and key-boarding them. What you will NOT be able to do is edit those images using the DEVELOP Module.
 
Eucris said:
This is their first price increase in TEN years.
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Sorry but I can’t defend the 100% increase overnight.

Your point also has nothing to do with the fact I made that some can’t afford it, and keep recommending it when a person asks for an alternative is wrong when others are available.
 
Eucris said:
If you cancel your Adobe your Lightroom subscription you will NOT loose your edits, and you will still be able to use the CATALOG, importing and exporting images and key-boarding them. What you will NOT be able to do is edit those images using the DEVELOP Module.
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Sorry, I think my lingo was probably a bit wrong (I don't speak lightroom :) ) What I meant by catalog is the databasing side of things. Keywording, tagging, sorting. That side of things. That will be gone if you lose access to a software. Maybe you can still read it but you can't change it.
And by "edits" I meant your actual work. As in the setup. not the exported images. What if you want to go back and change an edit just slightly? Maybe it was oversharpened? Mayeb you need to reinstate something you painted out because the image is going for an award that doesn't allow painting out? That kind of stuff. And again, you lose that naturally when youj lose access to a software.

I'm not trying to be right here, I don't mean to pick a fight, I'm just explaining why I don't like subscriptions as a model. I'm just old :) I still buy CDs instead of a streaming service because I want to make sure I can still listen to my favourite stuff even if spotify would close or even if I don't have an internet connection etc. It's just how I think.

Like with everything, what works for me might not work for you and the other way around etc.
 
Photo.Wolf said:
Sorry, I think my lingo was probably a bit wrong (I don't speak lightroom :) ) What I meant by catalog is the databasing side of things. Keywording, tagging, sorting. That side of things. That will be gone if you lose access to a software. Maybe you can still read it but you can't change it.
And by "edits" I meant your actual work. As in the setup. not the exported images. What if you want to go back and change an edit just slightly? Maybe it was oversharpened? Mayeb you need to reinstate something you painted out because the image is going for an award that doesn't allow painting out? That kind of stuff. And again, you lose that naturally when youj lose access to a software.

I'm not trying to be right here, I don't mean to pick a fight, I'm just explaining why I don't like subscriptions as a model. I'm just old :) I still buy CDs instead of a streaming service because I want to make sure I can still listen to my favourite stuff even if spotify would close or even if I don't have an internet connection etc. It's just how I think.

Like with everything, what works for me might not work for you and the other way around etc.
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Please don’t use age as an excuse ;) I am well over 70, fully computer literate, and my music collection is spread over vinyl, CD, and digital (backed up to hard disk, naturally). OK, my knees and shoulders are knackered, but that doesn’t affect my brain. I see no reason why age alone should preclude anyone from using Adobe. Now if there are financial constraints, then that is your business. No offence intended, but I am strongly anti-ageism.
 
I understand that some people are anti subscription and anti Adobe but surely the fact that there are several Raw develop and editing programs available now is a good thing it means that companies will keep improving their products
In the end we all have options from free software to subscription like Adobe as well as ones like Affinity which you buy and own
 
ecniv said:
I have heard capture 1 was good, but I am unsure if they do a single payment anymore.. seems more subscription and higher rate than LR.
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I use C1Pro on a perpetual licence, my last licence bought in 2022 for £99. They still offer perpetual licences, though they've changed the Terms to mean you get fewer (read almost no) updates, IIRC, and the "upgrade" licence price has gone away. The licence pricing is at https://www.captureone.com/en/pricing/capture-one-pro and you can see from there that if and when I decide I need to upgrade, the current prce is a rather steep £317! (One of the many joys of being a film photographer is that the "raw" formats of my "new" cameras don't change, so that rules out one of the major pressures to update. And not updating means no AI, win-win!)
 
Photo.Wolf said:
Sorry, I think my lingo was probably a bit wrong (I don't speak lightroom :) ) What I meant by catalog is the databasing side of things. Keywording, tagging, sorting. That side of things. That will be gone if you lose access to a software. Maybe you can still read it but you can't change it.
And by "edits" I meant your actual work. As in the setup. not the exported images. What if you want to go back and change an edit just slightly? Maybe it was oversharpened? Mayeb you need to reinstate something you painted out because the image is going for an award that doesn't allow painting out? That kind of stuff. And again, you lose that naturally when youj lose access to a software.

I'm not trying to be right here, I don't mean to pick a fight, I'm just explaining why I don't like subscriptions as a model. I'm just old :) I still buy CDs instead of a streaming service because I want to make sure I can still listen to my favourite stuff even if spotify would close or even if I don't have an internet connection etc. It's just how I think.

Like with everything, what works for me might not work for you and the other way around etc.
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You can still FULLY use the catalogue side of LR after you end your subscription. You can import new images, keyword them, add to collections, etc.
You can also print images.
What you lose is the DEVELOP module (IE the ability to modify / edit images).
@ecniv
Hi

I'm using lightroom subscription to process the raw pics. However its increasing in price in August (for me).
I have affinity but it doesnt seem to have the flow of LR, more better stitched/stacking options.

What are the other options that people use and how do they compare to LR in terms of flow and money ?

Regards

Vincent
Click to expand...
Note that if you opt to pay Annually, rather than Monthly the price is unchanged.
 
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Photo.Wolf said:
Sorry, I think my lingo was probably a bit wrong (I don't speak lightroom :) ) What I meant by catalog is the databasing side of things. Keywording, tagging, sorting. That side of things. That will be gone if you lose access to a software. Maybe you can still read it but you can't change it.
And by "edits" I meant your actual work. As in the setup. not the exported images. What if you want to go back and change an edit just slightly? Maybe it was oversharpened? Mayeb you need to reinstate something you painted out because the image is going for an award that doesn't allow painting out? That kind of stuff. And again, you lose that naturally when youj lose access to a software.

I'm not trying to be right here, I don't mean to pick a fight, I'm just explaining why I don't like subscriptions as a model. I'm just old :) I still buy CDs instead of a streaming service because I want to make sure I can still listen to my favourite stuff even if spotify would close or even if I don't have an internet connection etc. It's just how I think.

Like with everything, what works for me might not work for you and the other way around etc.
Click to expand...

From the Adobe website.

Screenshot 2025-07-25 at 16.49.42.png
 
bumper said:
Sorry but I can’t defend the 100% increase overnight.

Your point also has nothing to do with the fact I made that some can’t afford it, and keep recommending it when a person asks for an alternative is wrong when others are available.
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The Photographers Plan has been £120 per annum for the past 10 years, and it is still £120 per annum if you pay annually.
 
Eucris said:
The Photographers Plan has been £120 per annum for the past 10 years, and it is still £120 per annum if you pay annually.
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Yes, and given that many do as much in post processing as they do in taking the original image, it's by far the cheaper side of the photographic hobby.
 
Eucris said:
This is their first price increase in TEN years.
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Perhaps.

But then if they didn't have the subscription model then a proportion of LR users would only upgrade intermittently and at a discount.

With the subscription they basically increased the discounted price of LR and they then got to charge it annually.

And when they did that their profits appeared to rise - which tends to suggest that this strategy definitely favoured Adobe while it's rather less definte regarding a proportion of the customers.

My observation is that where companies switch to subscription for software then over time they extract more money from their customer base. In some cases the gain to the supplier is a multiple - not just a fraction increase. It's not always the cas that the customers get significant value in return.

Added to this there is a problem that subscriptions may also make customers more tightly bound - so subscriptions may be monthly but the cancellation conditions may be based on annual. That means that any new entrant competing with say Adobe can't simply make a simple new customer offer over say a month that would be attractive to all Adobe customers - it would only be attractive to a minority of customers. Customers willing to leave Adobe mid contract would still be bound to pay Adobe.

So the subscription on the surface looks like it is monthly and therefore customers are free to leave at short notice. But the reality is rather different. Arguably it makes the incumbent such as Adobe even stronger.

The we have the risks where subscriptions also involve a tie in with data or work. So a customer finds it hard to leave.

Now countering that - Adobe haven't gone crazy with power and jacked up prices. But their dominance and the subscription system really needs some sort of oversight.

There is one more wrinkle. That subscription mechanism gives control. The software can be switched off. This was done briefly in Venezuala. So the US wouldn't tell Adobe to switch off subscriptions to UK or European subscribers ? Well the behaviour of the current incumbent in the Whitehouse suggests oherwise.

Some sort of UK government investigation into the subscription software for consumers and businesses is long overdue. There is - I believe- a need for some sort of oversight and regulation and possibly some legislation (an equivalent of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act).
 
Eucris said:
The Photographers Plan has been £120 per annum for the past 10 years, and it is still £120 per annum if you pay annually.
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My plan had increased to over £230 per year from £120. Almost £30 per month on a cancel anytime plan

I’ve obviously offended the adobe fanboys. There’s lots of alternatives that are just as good, Dxo being one.

I’m not willing to keep going around in circles. If you read my first comment above and don’t understand that some in our country can’t afford the outlay yearly or per month, keep your head in the sand.
 
jerry12953 said:
I'm with those who left Lightroom after the subscription model was introduced. I trialled DXO for a few months but couldn't get on with it. Since going back to LR it has improved no end.
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I switched from LR to Capture One. In the intervening time LR has advanced quite a bit - I suspect this is in part a defence against Capture One.

I still use Adobe - though Photoshop is the main justification for my subscription now. I don't use LR much.

My view is that the Adobe ecosystem is a bit of a mess - a let down. LR and PS do not join up well. LR is convenient and powerful for photographers and feels like it has evolved. PS on the other hand feels like it is a clever piece of software on old foundations that is creaking. And in the midst of this we have Bridge which should have been a better underpinning to both when it comes to flexible asset management - but doesn't seem to work too well with LR. ACR overlaps with LR. File management and handling with PS is cumbersome - it has a huge number of quirks and oddities.

I think Adobe could have done more over the last 15 years to modernise the underpinnings of Photoshop.
 
Much has been made of Adobe’s apparent wish to increase profits? Not being a communist, I do wonder what is wrong with that? It provides jobs, and probably encourages competition. If you don’t like it, the answer is simple. It’s a free world.
 
Stephen L said:
Much has been made of Adobe’s apparent wish to increase profits? Not being a communist, I do wonder what is wrong with that? It provides jobs, and probably encourages competition. If you don’t like it, the answer is simple. It’s a free world.
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I don't think there is any issue with healthy increase.

The risk comes when a massive incumbent has too much power. There is also the equivalent of rent seeking. In the case of the likes of Microsoft or Adobe or Apple this means that customers who might be happy with an existing older product end up paying for an improved product that offers them no net benefit. So the company takes money in an unhealthy way.

This doesn't just affect the IT market - we see car manufacturers increasingly trying to gain income from digital services in cars.

And in services and utilities we see mobile networks, broadband, and energy suppliers continually try and exploit monthly customers. An example in the energy market is the increase in standing charges. With other utilities we see pricing complexity and discounts that mean customers see fixed price increases in contract - and the removal of structural discounts as contracts end. With insurers this was regulated with renewals being brought under control by rules. OTOH mobile suppliers have recently decided to quite cynically boost prices for lower priced tariffs demonstrating that they need some imposition of rules.

A simple measure with software is to ask

(a) what would I have paid if there was no subscription

And also

(b) what additional value have I received (that I use)

So you might have paid more - but also received more value.

The problem - I suspect - is that for many customers that the balance of the exchange is increasingly in favour of the supplier.

And this is fundamentally unhealthy - as it means these suppliers get more money than they should for the service / product that they supply.

So if Adobe charge you £1200 for 10 years of LR and PS but you only got £400 of value because you don't use Photoshop and there has been very little added to LR that you would have paid to upgrade then that is very very healthy for Adobe but less healthy for you or any other supplier of services and product (which may be photographic - but could be expendfiture on completely different goods and services). In effect one supplier or sector in the economy gains undeservedly at the expense of other suppliers and sectors.

Conversely some customers will benefit from Photoshop being provided in that £1200 and might benefit tangibly from updates in functionality - so would have spent more than £1200.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions :)

I ended up finding the free version of capture one (restricted items - but seems to work well)
The others are around 100-400 one payment; rest are on subscription that is a lot more than LR.

To clarify, I was looking for the develop part, I dont use the organisation part.

I did find it (capture one) a little jarring with parts like curves missing, but also some of the controls have a better feel. I assume that the curves graphs and histogram are on the paid version.

I did change the default film bit that actually made the images a lot more noisy, but managed to reset it (phew!)
first few pics on the flickr stream are now via capture one...

Thanks for the suggestions and for contributing on the comparison/money/value points.
 
ecniv said:
Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions :)

I ended up finding the free version of capture one (restricted items - but seems to work well)
The others are around 100-400 one payment; rest are on subscription that is a lot more than LR.

To clarify, I was looking for the develop part, I dont use the organisation part.

I did find it (capture one) a little jarring with parts like curves missing, but also some of the controls have a better feel. I assume that the curves graphs and histogram are on the paid version.

I did change the default film bit that actually made the images a lot more noisy, but managed to reset it (phew!)
first few pics on the flickr stream are now via capture one...

Thanks for the suggestions and for contributing on the comparison/money/value points.
Click to expand...
Glad you've found something which suits your personal requirements. :)
 
You can still use the organise and catalogue and export functions when your subscription ends.
You will only need another processing program.
 
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