Whether for personal or professional use, if we want a good photo editing and retouching program, the first thing that will come to mind is Photoshop. This program is part of Adobe‘s Creative Cloud suite, and it gives us a large number of tools, both manual and based on Artificial Intelligence, with which to unleash our imagination. The problem with this program is that, being a professional software, it is paid. And not exactly cheap. Therefore, either we are really going to use it, or we will be losing money with it. Above all, from the change of business model to software as a service.
Subscriptions are very present among us today. Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Spotify, iCloud… We can even find it in Office, thanks to Microsoft 365. These “products as a service” allow us to use the platforms in exchange for a monthly payment. As long as we pay, we will have the right to use, without limitation, said services. However, at the moment we stop paying, the services will be canceled and we will be deprived of their use, regardless of how long we have been paying.
Adobe, for its part, has its own Creative Cloud subscription model, which allows us to make use of the company’s main applications. Depending on the apps that we need, we can choose one plan or another, and even get access to all the company’s programs in its most complete (and expensive) plan.
Specifically, the Photoshop photography plan, which gives us access to this program and to Lightroom, costs 12.09 euros per month .
If we are only going to use it for a short time, fine. But if we are going to use this program in the long term, the cost skyrockets. So is there no way to pay for the program license once and use it forever?
Photoshop’s one-time payment is history
A long time ago, Adobe allowed you to buy versions of its program for a single payment. Once the license was purchased, it was ours forever, and we will be able to use the software without having to pay again. Of course, if we wanted to use the new versions released each year, then we would have to checkout to “update” the license or buy the program again.
The price of this license, yes, was quite high, so only companies and professionals who dedicated themselves to it could afford it. With the advent of Creative Cloud, and the end of the Creative Suite, the one-time payment model disappeared. Therefore, it is no longer possible to buy Photoshop by paying once . In return, the program is much cheaper, which allows many other users to access it. Paying those 12.09 euros per month, or about 145 euros per year, we can make unlimited use of the program. And not only that, but we can also receive updates and new versions for free .
cheaper alternatives
And what if I don’t want to pay every month for Photoshop? So we have two options. The first is the obvious one, that is, do not use this program and opt for some other alternative , such as GIMP, in case you are looking for a totally free software and very similar in terms of functions, or Corel PaintShop Pro, in case you want an alternative single payment.
In addition, Adobe itself offers us a version of its design program that we can purchase for a single payment of 99 euros: Photoshop Elements . This program is much more basic than the classic program, but it depends much more on AI, so for less experienced users it is an excellent alternative.
