Best Photo Editing Software With Mobile Apps
Start with Snapseed if you edit only on your phone, and Adobe Lightroom if you want the same edits waiting on a computer. Snapseed costs nothing, sells nothing, and holds a 4.9 App Store rating; Lightroom rates 4.8, runs on iPhone, Android, Windows and Mac, and its 1TB plan is US$11.99/mo.
Past those two, the fifteen apps here split along two lines. The first is which phone you carry: eleven run on both iPhone and Android, while Photomator, Darkroom and Capture One stay on iPhone and iPad, and Affinity Photo 2 is iPad only. The second is what the app is really for. Eight are full editing suites, but Canva, Picsart, Pixlr and Fotor are design and social tools that happen to edit photos, and Photoroom is built for product listings.
Our picks
- Never paying anything: Snapseed. The only app here with no subscription, no purchases, no ads and no watermarks, and its 4.9 App Store rating ties for the table's highest.
- One catalog across phone and computer: Adobe Lightroom. Runs on iPhone, Android, Windows and Mac, and the US$11.99/mo plan adds 1TB of storage for keeping edits in sync.
- Trying every tool before you pay, on Apple devices: Darkroom. Every tool is free to use and the paid tier is needed only at export, at $9.99 a month or $99.99 to unlock forever.
- Photographing things you sell: Photoroom. The one app focused on product and e-commerce photos, with batch background removal and publishing to Shopify; Pro is $5.99 through the App Store.
- Windows without an Adobe subscription: CyberLink PhotoDirector. Windows and Mac software paired with iPhone and Android apps, at $6.99 a month or $39.99 a year on mobile.
At a glance
| Option | Cost | Paid plan | Mobile platforms | Desktop or web version | App Store rating | Editing focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | US$11.99/mo, annual billed monthly (Lightroom 1TB plan)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Windows and Macsource | 4.8source | Full photo editing suitesource | |
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | US$22.99/mo, annual billed monthly (Photoshop plan)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Windows and Macsource | 4.5source | Full photo editing suitesource | |
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | Photoshop Express Monthly $4.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Windows and Macsource | 4.7source | Quick edits and filterssource | |
| Freesource | iPhone and Androidsource | 4.9source | Full photo editing suitesource | |||
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | Monthly Plus $9.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and Androidsource | 4.7source | Quick edits and filterssource | ||
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | Picsart Gold - Monthly $12.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Web browsersource | 4.7source | Design and social contentsource | |
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | US$144/year for one person (Canva Pro)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Windows and Macsource | 4.9source | Design and social contentsource | |
| Freesource | iPad onlysource | Windows and Macsource | 4.6source | Full photo editing suitesource | ||
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | Monthly Subscription $7.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and iPad onlysource | Mac onlysource | 4.5source | Full photo editing suitesource | |
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | Monthly Subscription $9.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and iPad onlysource | Mac onlysource | 4.8source | Full photo editing suitesource | |
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | $2.49 per month (Pixlr Plus, billed monthly)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Web browsersource | 4.3source | Design and social contentsource | |
| Paid subscription requiredsource | Capture One mobile $10.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and iPad onlysource | Windows and Macsource | 3.5source | Full photo editing suitesource | |
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | Photoroom PRO $5.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Web browsersource | 4.8source | Product and e-commerce photossource | |
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | Monthly Subscription $6.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Windows and Macsource | 4.5source | Full photo editing suitesource | |
| Free plan with paid upgradessource | Fotor Pro Monthly Plan $8.99 (App Store in-app purchase)source | iPhone and Androidsource | Windows and Macsource | 4.7source | Design and social contentsource |
Android phones lose a quarter of the list
If you carry an Android phone, cross off Photomator, Darkroom, Capture One and Affinity Photo 2 for iPad before anything else. Photomator and Darkroom are also Mac only on the desktop side, so they suit a household that is Apple end to end.
The App Store rating column is Apple users' verdict, and some apps fare worse on Google Play. VSCO drops from 4.7 to 3.6 there, Picsart from 4.7 to 4.0, and Pixlr from 4.3 to 3.6. Photoroom's two scores stay close, at 4.8 and 4.7.
Why the paid plans are hard to compare
The Paid plan column prints each price the way its source does, and the bases differ. Lightroom is US$11.99/mo billed on an annual plan, Canva Pro is US$144/year, Pixlr Plus is $2.49 per month, and Capture One's $10.99 is an App Store purchase with no billing period shown. Read each figure on its own terms rather than sorting by it.
A few apps sell a one-time unlock that the column does not show. Darkroom offers $99.99 for everything forever, Photomator lists a $119.99 Lifetime unlock, and Capture One sells a $349 perpetual desktop licence. Photoshop is the other case worth a second look: the full plan is US$22.99/mo, but the App Store also lists a Photoshop Mobile & Web subscription at $7.99 a month.
Editing RAW files or making posts
For RAW work the summaries point to Lightroom, Capture One, Photomator (over 750 RAW formats) and Affinity Photo 2 for iPad. Capture One is the only one with no free tier at all, and its 3.5 App Store rating from 325 ratings is the lowest here.
Canva and Picsart are the heavily used ones on the design side, at 3.5M and 1.2M App Store ratings. Both include a background remover, but their own summaries send anyone developing RAW files elsewhere. Photoshop Express and VSCO sit in between: Photoshop Express has no layers or fine selections, and VSCO is built around presets rather than sliders.
The options in detail
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe's photo editor and organiser, and the one most serious photographers reach for when they want the same catalogue and the same edits on a phone, a laptop and the web. The mobile app is free to download and does real work on its own; the US$11.99/mo Lightroom plan adds 1TB of storage, Lightroom Classic and the premium tools. Its 4.8 across 337K App Store ratings is unusually high for a pro-grade editor, and Android reviewers give it 4.5. If you only ever edit on a phone, a lot of what you are paying for is sync and storage.
Adobe Photoshop
The name that defines the category, and since 2025 a real phone app on iOS and Android rather than an iPad-only sideline. The mobile app is free to download, the full Photoshop plan is US$22.99/mo, and the App Store also lists a cheaper Photoshop Mobile & Web subscription at $7.99 a month. Layers, precise selections and generative fill are what you come here for. Its 4.5 App Store rating is the lowest of the three Adobe apps in this table: the mobile version is the newest and reviewers keep measuring it against the desktop original.
Adobe Photoshop Express
Adobe's simple editor, built for people who want a good-looking photo in a few taps rather than a layer stack. With 741K App Store ratings at a 4.7 average it is the most-rated Adobe photo app here, and Premium costs $4.99 a month through the App Store. It shares the Photoshop name but not the toolset: no layers, no fine selections. If that is what you need, Lightroom or Photoshop proper is the better spend.
Snapseed
Google's free editor, and the only app in this table with no subscription, no purchases, no ads and no watermarks. It carries 30+ tools including curves, selective adjustments, smart masking, batch editing and film simulations, and its 4.9 is the highest App Store rating here. The catch is that it is mobile only: no desktop app, no web version, no sync between your phone and your computer. For a lot of people it is still the best free answer, and it is the one to try before paying for anything else.
VSCO
Built around presets rather than sliders: 200+ film-style filters, plus the community and portfolio side that made VSCO a fixture with younger photographers. It is free to download, with Plus at $9.99 a month or $39.99 a year through the App Store. iPhone owners rate it 4.7; Android reviewers are much harsher, at 3.6 on Google Play. Wikipedia still describes it as a mobile app, and there is no desktop version, so treat it as a phone-first choice.
Picsart
An all-in-one editor, video editor and design studio with a very large AI toolset: background removal, object erase, generative fill, templates and collages. With 1.2M App Store ratings it is one of the most-used photo apps on either store, and it runs on iPhone, Android and in a web editor. Gold is $12.99 a month or $57 a year. It is broad rather than deep, and Android reviewers are notably cooler (4.0 on Google Play); photographers who want RAW precision will prefer Lightroom or Capture One.
Canva
Not a photographer's editor: Canva is a design platform where photo editing sits alongside presentations, social posts and print. Its background remover and photo tools are good enough for most everyday jobs, it has apps on every platform including Mac and Windows desktop apps, and its 4.9 across 3.5M App Store ratings is the largest pile of praise in this table. Pro is US$144 a year. Choose it if you are making content; choose something else if you are developing RAW files.
Affinity Photo 2 for iPad
A desktop-class editor running on an iPad, with layers, RAW development and retouching, and no subscription attached. Since Canva bought Serif the whole Affinity line is free for individuals, and the App Store now lists the Photo 2 for iPad licence in-app purchase at $0.00. Read the direction of travel before committing, though: Serif has replaced Photo 2 with one unified Affinity app that is Mac and Windows only, with the iPad version listed on their site as “Coming soon!”. It is also the only iPad-only option here, so there is nothing in it for Android or iPhone-first users.
Photomator
Apple owns it now (the App Store seller is Apple Inc.), and it behaves like an Apple app: native on Mac, iPhone and iPad, syncing edits through iCloud, reading over 750 RAW formats and using machine learning for selections and repairs. Apple lists it as a free download with in-app purchases, priced at $7.99 monthly, $29.99 yearly or $119.99 for a Lifetime unlock. Its 4.5 comes from a far smaller base (3.8K ratings) than the Adobe apps. There is no Windows or Android version and none is likely.
Darkroom
An Apple Design Award winner that edits straight out of your Photos library on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with curves, masks, AI selections and colour grading, all non-destructive. Its free tier is unusually honest: every tool is free to try and Darkroom+ is only required when you export. Paid is $9.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $99.99 to unlock everything forever. It rates 4.8 across 29K App Store ratings. Apple-only, so it is out if you carry an Android phone.
Pixlr
A browser-first editor that has been the standard free Photoshop substitute for years, with iPhone and Android apps beside it and a downloadable desktop app. Its paid tier is the cheapest here by a distance: Pixlr Plus at $2.49 a month. The trade-off shows up in the ratings, 4.3 from only 5.1K App Store ratings and 3.6 on Google Play, the joint-lowest Android score in this table. Good for quick jobs and AI tools in a browser, weaker as a photo workflow you would live in.
Capture One
The professional RAW editor photographers use as the Lightroom alternative, prized for its colour rendering and tethered shooting, and now with an iPhone and iPad app that hands edits back to the desktop with ratings intact. It is the only app here with no free tier: a 7-day trial, then a subscription ($10.99 for mobile through the App Store, $18.00 a month for desktop Pro, or a $349 perpetual licence). Its 3.5 App Store rating is by far the lowest in this table, from just 325 ratings, and mobile reviewers have been rough on it. No Android version.
Photoroom
Built for selling things rather than for photography: remove and replace backgrounds, batch-edit a product catalogue, generate on-model and flat-lay shots from one photo, and publish straight to Shopify. It has iPhone, iPad, Android and web apps but no desktop app, and holds 4.8 across 229K App Store ratings with 4.7 on Google Play. Pro is $5.99 through the App Store. Wrong tool for family photos; the most focused one here if you are listing products.
CyberLink PhotoDirector
A Windows and macOS editor with matching iPhone and Android apps, leaning hard into generative AI: photo-to-video, virtual try-on, one-tap object removal and 4K enhancement. The mobile app is free with a $6.99 monthly or $39.99 yearly subscription, and the desktop side sells as PhotoDirector 365. It rates 4.5 on the App Store and 4.2 on Google Play, from a mid-sized base. For someone on Windows who does not want an Adobe subscription, it is the most complete option in this table.
Fotor
A browser editor with Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android apps, now positioned around AI and marketing visuals as much as straight photo editing. Fotor Pro is $8.99 a month or $47.99 a year through the App Store, and the free tier is generous. It rates 4.7 across 42K App Store ratings and 4.3 on Google Play. The recent turn towards AI product and brand imagery means parts of the interface are aimed at sellers rather than photographers, which is worth knowing before you install it.
How we researched this
An app qualified only if it is real photo editing software and ships a phone or tablet app, because the page asks for both. That ruled out GIMP and Luminar (no mobile app) and Google Photos, where editing is a feature of a photo library. Selfie retouchers such as Lensa, Facetune, Airbrush and Peachy answer a different question, Tezza and Dazz are single-look filter apps, PicCollage and ibis Paint are for collage and drawing, Pixelcut largely duplicates Photoroom, and Polarr is much smaller than the fifteen kept. Twenty-four candidates were considered in all.
Ratings come from each app's US App Store page. Where a vendor's site blocked reading or hid its platform list, the platform cells lean on Wikipedia, and where pricing pages would not show figures, the price is the App Store's in-app purchase line, labelled as such. Four cells are empty on purpose: Snapseed has no paid plan and no desktop version, Affinity's iPad licence is $0.00, and VSCO's web workspace could not be confirmed. In-app prices shift and Serif lists the new Affinity for iPad as coming soon, so check the store listing on the day you subscribe.