Affinity, darktable and Luminar compared with Adobe's Lightroom and Photoshop in 2026

Quick answer: For Photoshop-style layer work, Affinity is the free pick, and as of this week it runs on iPad as well as Windows and macOS. For Lightroom-style RAW processing without a subscription, darktable is the open-source option, and Luminar 1.29.0 suits people who want AI-assisted editing under a one-time licence. Adobe’s Photography plan was listed at US$19.99 a month in a check on 3 November 2026, so check the vendors’ pages before you switch.

What changed in the last week

Canva released Affinity for iPad on 2 November 2026. PetaPixel reports that its photo, vector, sketch and layout tools are free for individuals, while Canva’s AI features need a Canva premium subscription. MacRumors adds that the app requires iPadOS 18.0 or later and that some desktop features are missing at launch.

Skylum’s Luminar reached version 1.29.0 in the same window. Fstoppers covered the update on 2 November, noting that it is free to current owners and appears automatically or through “Check for Updates” in the Luminar menu. Camera Decision dates the release to 28 October.

Then there’s Adobe’s labelling row. Dataconomy reports that Adobe removed “AI” from the name of its Lightroom mobile app after professional photographers objected to “Lightroom: AI Photo Editor”. Inc.com’s Jason Aten points out that the App Store subheading still mentions AI and that Adobe hasn’t removed the AI tools themselves.

The three alternatives side by side

The table compares each tool with the Adobe app it most resembles. Prices are US figures as reported on 4 November 2026 and can change; Adobe’s figures come from Costbench, which says it checked them on 3 November 2026.

Tool	Platforms	Price model (USD)	Closest Adobe role	Best for
Affinity (Canva)	Windows, macOS, iPad	Free for individuals; AI needs Canva premium	Photoshop	Layers, retouching, mixed photo and layout jobs
darktable 5.6.2	Windows, macOS (Apple silicon), Linux	Free, open-source	Lightroom Classic	RAW development on a zero budget
Luminar 1.29.0	Windows, macOS; mobile and web apps	One-time licence; AI tools time-limited; check Skylum	Lightroom, lightly	Fast AI-assisted edits, fog and sky work
Adobe Photography plan	Desktop, mobile, web	19.99 per month	The baseline	Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop together

Digital Camera World covered the Photography plan when Adobe retired the 20GB tier for new subscribers. Costbench lists it with Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and 1TB of storage.

Monthly list price of Adobe plans versus Affinity's free core app. US list price, annual plan billed monthly: Photoshop single app 22.99, Photography plan 19.99, Lightroom plan 11.99, Affinity core app 0 (USD per month) — Monthly list price of Adobe plans versus Affinity's free core app
Source: Costbench Adobe Creative Cloud pricing, checked 3 November 2026; Affinity price per PetaPixel and MacRumors, 2 November 2026

The chart shows the monthly list prices from Costbench’s 3 November 2026 check: Photoshop alone at US$22.99, the Photography plan at US$19.99 and the Lightroom plan at US$11.99. Affinity’s core app sits at zero for individuals.

Affinity: the Photoshop stand-in

Affinity merged Photo, Designer and Publisher into one app a year ago on desktop. CG Channel notes that the iPad edition follows the desktop release by almost exactly twelve months, and that the core app will keep receiving free updates. All of it lives in one .af file format, so a retouched portrait can become a print layout without exporting between apps, according to the Yahoo Tech write-up of the launch.

RAW is covered. The same write-up says the iPad app includes Affinity’s raw editing, and CG Channel says it can import Adobe project files such as PSD, AI, INDD and IDML. Basic Tutorials cautions that Photoshop-specific features may be simplified or rasterised on import, and that Illustrator files only open if they were saved with PDF compatibility.

The price of free is an account. Canva requires a free account to run the app, and Basic Tutorials cites a Canva Pro price of US$18 a month or US$143.99 a year (as listed on the App Store) for the AI tools. If your Photoshop use is mostly layers, masks and local adjustments, none of that matters.

What the launch coverage doesn’t describe is a Lightroom-style photo catalogue. Treat Affinity as an editor you open per image or per project, and check whether that fits a library of tens of thousands of RAW files before you commit.

darktable: the Lightroom stand-in

darktable is a free, open-source RAW developer. The GitHub releases page lists 5.6.2 as the latest release, built for Windows, macOS on Apple silicon and Linux, plus a Windows on Arm installer.

The 5.4 release is worth reading about if you last looked at darktable years ago. Its release notes describe a Capture Sharpening section inside the demosaic module, aimed at detail lost to diffraction, an anti-aliasing filter or other Gaussian-type blur. They also describe a new tone mapper based on Blender’s AgX display transform, with explicit white and black points and an adjustable pivot at 18% mid-grey. Phoronix adds that 5.4 brought Wayland support on par with X11 and support for multiple workspaces.

Two caveats from the same notes. Starting with 5.4, Intel Macs and macOS versions older than 14.0 are no longer supported. And when exporting to AVIF, EXR, JPEG XL or XCF, darktable only writes metadata if you tick every checkbox in the export module’s preferences, so selecting just geo-tag or creator isn’t possible.

Here the price saving comes with a learning cost. Reviews of darktable’s module-based approach tend to describe a steeper curve than Lightroom’s sliders, and no source I found measures how much longer a first edit takes, so treat that as a general expectation rather than a figure.

Luminar: AI-assisted editing, with a licence worth reading

Skylum describes 1.29.0 on its what’s-new page as bringing smarter cropping, more realistic atmosphere effects and print support. It also lists a rebuilt auto-improve tool, more reliable GenErase, GenSwap and GenExpand with automatic retries, and a conversational AI Assistant. Camera support now includes the Canon EOS R8 II and OM System PEN bodies, and the app supports macOS 27.

Fstoppers’ review of the update calls the depth-aware fog tool the standout and says the AI Assistant suits beginners. The fog works from a depth map, so you can decide how far forward or back it sits in the frame. Camera Decision adds a print mode with soft proofing and up to 12 suggested crops.

The licence is where you need to slow down. Camera Decision reports that the generative tools and the AI Assistant come with 365 days of access, after which they need Luminar Prime, a yearly subscription. The same piece says Skylum warns that big upgrades may need extra payment.

One-time prices vary by source. A review at Ally Travels lists three tiers for new users at US$129, US$159 and US$199, while earlier reviews quoted lower figures during sales. Your AI Soft notes Skylum’s terms define “lifetime” as lasting as long as the company operates. Check Skylum’s own pricing page on the day you buy.

Where AI features change the maths

All three paid-or-free options now split their AI tools from their core editor. Affinity’s AI sits behind Canva premium, Luminar’s generative tools expire after a year unless you add Prime, and Adobe’s include tools such as Denoise, background object removal and sharpening in Lightroom, per Dataconomy. Keep the core editor and the AI layer separate in your head when you compare prices.

That matters if you mostly want conventional RAW development. darktable’s Capture Sharpening and AgX tone mapper are classic algorithms in the core app, with no subscription layer to expire. If you want generative removal or expansion, you’ll be paying someone in every scenario, and the question is who and how often.

What Adobe costs over three years

Our calculation: the Photography plan at US$19.99 a month over 36 months is 19.99 × 36 = US$719.64, using Costbench’s 3 November 2026 price. Affinity’s core app and darktable would cost US$0 over the same period, though Affinity’s AI tools and any Luminar licence would be extra.

Photoshop alone is US$22.99 a month on the same listing, so the Photography plan is US$3.00 a month cheaper while adding Lightroom and 1TB of storage. If you do need Photoshop, the bundle is the cheaper route on those figures.

What this means for you

Best for Photoshop-style retouching on a zero budget: Affinity. Open a few of your own PSD files first, since Basic Tutorials says some Photoshop-specific features may be simplified on import.
Best for iPad editing with a stylus: Affinity for iPad, if you can live with the missing desktop features MacRumors mentions. Photoshop on iPad needs a subscription, according to Basic Tutorials.
Best for RAW development without a subscription: darktable 5.6.2, provided you’re not on an Intel Mac. Budget time to learn its modules.
Best for quick, AI-assisted edits and atmosphere effects: Luminar 1.29.0. Read Skylum’s terms on the 365-day AI window before buying.
Best if you need both Lightroom and Photoshop: Adobe’s Photography plan, at the US$19.99 a month figure above.

A sensible way to test the switch is to take one finished Lightroom edit and rebuild it in darktable, then take one layered Photoshop file into Affinity.

Sources

Header image: illustration, AI-generated.