Adobe’s Photoshop has been around for more than three decades, but it feels more popular than ever in 2023.
Despite plenty of competition, the app remains the go-to image editor for millions of people around the world. And it’s easy to see why: Photoshop is powerful yet familiar, offering almost unlimited options for modifying any image.
But since 2013, the full version of Photoshop has required an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. A combined plan with Lightroom, your cheapest option, currently costs $19.99/£9.98 per month or $239.88/£119.21 if you can pay annually.
If you only want to do some occasional photo editing, that’s a lot of money. Fortunately, there are other ways to access Photoshop in some capacity – one of these might offer everything you’re looking for.
In this article, we’ll run through three free options, plus three potential ways to get a discount. But if you’re not satisfied with any of these, see our separate article on the best free and cheap photo editing software.
1. Use the Adobe Photoshop free trial
Adobe offers a free 7-day trial of all its Creative Apps, including Photoshop. This is the full version of the software with no restrictions:
You’ll need to choose which subscription you’ll end up on after the trial, and enter your payment information. Just make sure you cancel before the trial ends to avoid being charged. However, Adobe typically offers a 14-day window (from purchase) to cancel and get a full refund.
This full version of Photoshop is only available on desktop operating systems. Windows users will need to be running Windows 10 or 11 and have at least 8GB of RAM, although 16GB is recommended. ARM-based devices such as the Surface Pro X are also compatible, provided they have 8GB of RAM and 4GB of GPU RAM.
On Mac, you’ll need to be running macOS version 11.0 (Big Sur) or later – that’s any software version released since November 2020. 8GB of RAM is the minimum, but 16GB is once again recommended.
See more details on both Windows and Mac system requirements on the Adobe website. It’s also worth reading Adobe’s FAQs at the bottom of the free trial page.
2. Get Photoshop Express free on Android, iOS & Windows
If you need only basic photo-editing tools, Adobe offers a free app called Photoshop Express. Previously known as Spark, it’s available on mobile devices via the App Store and Google Play, plus Windows devices via the Microsoft Store.
For a free app, it’s pretty good, though it bears no resemblance to the full version of Photoshop. It’s much more like other quick photo-editing apps such as Snapseed and the one built into Google Photos. That means you can add filters, crop, transform, add masks and adjust the likes of perspective, brightness and saturation.
Details of the full range of Photoshop Express features can be found on the Adobe website.
What you can’t do is edit specific portions of images, except when using the red-eye reduction and spot healing tools. There’s no image resizing (though you can specify the output resolution to nearest 200 pixels of width) or support for multiple layers, as you may be familiar with in the full version.
But as the app is free and only requires an Adobe account, it’s worth giving Photoshop Express a go. It may offer all the tools you need.
3. Get Photoshop Camera free on Android and iOS
The Photoshop Camera app, as the name suggests, adds effects and filters as you’re taking a photo.
It can replace your usual camera app, and allows you to effectively ‘photoshop’ your image as you’re taking it. There are no tools available once you’ve captured the image, but it’s also free and available on the App Store and Google Play.
4. Get Photoshop Elements 2023
That might be the end of the free options, but it doesn’t mean you have to pay full price.
Elements is hands-down the best option for those who want ‘proper’ Photoshop without the subscription costs of Creative Cloud.
Essentially, it’s a more user-friendly version of full Photoshop, but retains many of its most popular features and tools. For most people, Elements offers all the features you’re looking for and plenty more.
Building up images with multiple layers, resizing backgrounds without affecting subjects and replacing backgrounds and unwanted objects are all available. It’s easy to use, and there are 60 Guided Edits for all the most popular things you’d want to do to a photo. Adjusting colours, adding artistic effects and even turning a photo into a meme are all included.
Elements lets you create slideshows, and has a useful organiser so you can keep track of all your photos. There’s also an ‘Expert’ mode which works just like the full Photoshop. If that’s what you’re used to, this will be very familiar.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Photoshop Elements is only available on desktop devices, and the hardware requirements are similar to the full version.
On Windows, you’ll need at least an Intel 6th-gen or equivalent AMD processor, 8GB of RAM and Windows 10 (version 21H1 or later, 21H2 recommend) or Windows 11 (version 21H2 or later). On Mac, it’s at least Intel 6th-gen or Apple M1, plus 8GB of RAM and macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later.
At the time of writing, the latest version is Photoshop Elements 2023. It’s a one-off purchase of $99.99/£86.56 from Adobe, but also available from Amazon US and Amazon UK, where there are often discounts.
There’s 20% off Adobe’s price if you’re a student or teacher, too.
5. Get Adobe Photoshop discounts on Amazon
Amazon is also a good place to find discounts on the full versions of Photoshop and other Creative Cloud apps.
In the UK, a one-year All Apps plan is down to £378.99 from its usual £548.78 at the time of writing. A year of the Photography plan, which includes Photoshop and Lightroom, is available for £74.99 rather than £119.99.
However, there are no such discounts in the US, with both full Creative Cloud and the Photography plan currently full price.
Adobe occasionally has its own sales with 20% off, though we’ve previously seen up to 40% off.
6. Get a discount on Photoshop if you’re a student or teacher
While Adobe doesn’t offer a student discount on Photoshop alone, students and teachers can get a big discount on the full Creative Cloud bundle. That’s over 60% off in the US and over 65% off in the UK.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
See our full guide the Adobe Creative Cloud student discount for more details.
Students and teachers can choose from two annual payment plans:
- Annual prepaid: US$239.88 per year or £196.27 per year (VAT included)
- Annual, paid monthly: US$19.99 per month or £16.24 per month (VAT included) or US$19.99 per month
The student discount makes the entire suite’s price cheaper than the 1TB Photography Plan and Single App Photoshop subscription plan.
You will have to prove your student eligibility or institutional affiliation to get this discount, however. You can find all the eligibility requirements here.
This not only gets you Photoshop, but an arsenal of other powerful Adobe apps such as Illustrator, Lightroom, InDesign, Premiere Pro, Acrobat Pro, Express and Adobe XD – all at a significantly reduced rate. See all the apps included with the full Creative Cloud bundle here.
Get the Adobe student discount in the US and UK.
How much does Adobe Photoshop cost?
A Creative Cloud subscription means you can either pay an amount every month or a lump sum cost for a year. This promises ongoing access to updates at no additional cost.
Adobe’s Photography Plan has a few options (we’ve outlined these below) depending on how much cloud storage you need.
Single App subscription price
If you want only Photoshop CC without Lightroom bundled in, opt for the Single App plan from Adobe CC. The Single App includes the latest version of Photoshop, 100GB of cloud storage, access to premium fonts, as well as Adobe Express (a social media graphics creation tool) and Adobe Portfolio.
There are three payment plans:
- Annual monthly: $20.99/$20.99 per month
- Annual, pre-paid: $239.88/£238.42 (lump sum)
- On-going monthly: $31.49/£30.34 per month
You can see all Adobe Photoshop plans.
If you want to pick up an Adobe CC All Apps subscription, read our guide to Adobe CC.
Photography Plan (20GB storage) price
The 20GB Photography Plan includes Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop with 20GB of cloud storage. But it’s only available in the UK at the time of writing:
- Annual monthly: £9.98 per month
- Annual pre-paid: £119.21 (lump sum)
Photography Plan (1TB storage) price
If you need more storage, you can opt for the 1TB Photography Plan. It has everything the 20GB plan has, just more storage. Here’s how much it’ll cost you:
- Annual monthly: $19.99/£19.97 per month
- Annual, pre-paid: $239.88/£238.42 (lump sum).
We also have a guide explaining how to get Adobe InDesign.