Adobe Lightroom vs PhotoPad
Adobe Lightroom
adobe.comPhotoPad
nchsoftware.comSide by side
| Figure | Adobe Lightroom | PhotoPad |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 9 | 9 |
| Spec score · AI Photo Editors | 9.3 (#1) | 8.9 (#13) |
| Spec score · Photo editors | 9.3 (#2) | 9.2 (#8) |
| Spec score · Photo Editing Software | 9.3 (#4) | 9.3 (#6) |
| Spec score · Panorama Stitching Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | Lightroom is a cloud-based service for creating, editing, organizing, storing, and sharing photos across devices. | PhotoPad edits and enhances digital photos and images. |
| RAW photo support | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Adobe Lightroom
- Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachersPrice not published
- Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachersPriced on request
- Lightroom for teamsPriced on request
- Lightroom for teamsPrice not published
- Creative Cloud Pro for teamsPrice not published
- Creative Cloud Pro for teamsPriced on request
- Lightroom$11.99 a month
- Photography$19.99 a month
- Creative Cloud ProPrice not published
PhotoPad
- Pro Edition Annual PlanPrice not published
- Home Edition Annual PlanPrice not published
- Pro Edition Quarterly PlanPrice not published
- FreeFree
- Free editionFree
- PhotoPad Photo Editor Pro Edition Quarterly Plan$9.99 a month
- PhotoPad Photo Editor Home Edition Annual Plan$34.99 a year
- PhotoPad Photo Editor Pro Edition Annual Plan$39.95 a year
- Pro LicensePrice not published
In their own words
Adobe Lightroom
Lightroom is Adobe’s cloud-based service for creating, editing, organizing, storing, and sharing photos across devices. Its photo libraries are searchable, and the editing toolkit includes RAW support, batch editing, masking, AI retouching, AI Lens Blur, Adaptive Presets, portrait Quick Actions, and sensor Dust Removal. Generative Remove uses Adobe Firefly to remove distractions, while Assisted Culling helps sort photos by image quality and group similar shots. Generative upscale with Topaz Gigapixel can enlarge images by up to 4x. Users can collaborate in shared albums, post to social network apps, or share with the Lightroom community. Lightroom is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows, with a free mobile app and premium features available as an upgrade. Adobe offers a free plan and a 7-day trial; billing begins when the trial ends, with a further 14-day refund period described. Named plans include Lightroom, Photography, and Creative Cloud Pro, as well as student, teacher, and team options.
PhotoPad
PhotoPad edits and enhances digital photos and images, with tools for cropping, rotating, resizing, retouching, and adjusting color and exposure. Blur and sharpening controls complement its non-destructive editing: users can undo, reorder, or change effects in a layers list. It can also make collages, photo mosaics, calendars, greeting cards, and photo montages. The maker lists AI-assisted super-resolution resizing, object and background removal, and colorizing black-and-white photos. PhotoPad supports RAW editing and formats including JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, and BMP; HDR/exposure blending is also listed. A project can contain up to eight images, and panorama types include wide. Edited pictures can be uploaded directly to Twitter, Flickr, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive. It is listed for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, Windows, and as an extension. The free edition costs nothing and is limited to non-commercial use; no signup is required. Desktop requirements are Windows 7 to 11 or macOS 10.5 or later.