Yes, I’m putting Photoshop itself on this list, and here’s why: its current pricing scheme is, depending on your situation, cheaper than it used to be. Photoshop-Yes, the Photoshop ($10 a Month on Windows and Mac) Affinity Photo can replace Photoshop for photographers, but Pixelmator can do it for everyone. What sets Pixelmator apart from Affinity Photo is that you can do a lot more design and vector work. There is a learning curve if you want to switch.
The biggest problem is that the workflow can be very unintuitive, especially if you’re coming from Photoshop, or Photoshop-like apps. Like Affinity Photo, Pixelmator is a worthy Photoshop alternative that’s a massive step up from GIMP. At $29.99, it’s the cheapest great app you can get. It’s not as fully featured as Photoshop, but it can still do a lot. $49.99 may seem steep for some, but compared to Photoshop, it’s a steal, and a big step up from GIMP. The only thing you really miss out on is Adobe’s ecosystem, and a bit of Photoshop’s extra polish and more advanced features.įor everyday users and amateur photographers, it does pretty much everything you need. Affinity Photo is a great alternative to Photoshop, and like with GIMP, it can do almost anything Photoshop can.
