The best Adobe Photography Plan deals for Photoshop and Lightroom in 2024

The best Adobe Photography Plan deals - man using Lightroom on a laptop
(Image credit: Future)

The best Adobe Photography Plans offer an extensive image-editing toolset to help you get the best from your photos. And the good news is that there are three options to choose from that give you a discounted rate on Photoshop and Lightroom editing programs. 

If you are not sure which one of the Photography Plans is right for you, Adobe has this fun quiz for helping you choose. But if you'd rather see the specs, features, and prices of each Adobe Photography Plan clearly outlined, we're here to help. 

So many of us are editing our images across a number of devices now, and whichever plan you choose from, you’ll get access to your chosen software to download to multiple devices such as a desktop, mobile, and iPad

Another good thing about the subscription model is you’ll also get regular updates for free, every time Adobe introduces a new feature or tool, adds support for new cameras, or just overhauls the software completely. Plus you get easy access to certain parts of the Adobe Creative Cloud, such as Adobe Portfolio, Adobe Fonts, and Adobe Stock, without ever having to leave the Photoshop or Lightroom interface.

There is a fourth option too - which is particularly useful if you want access to more of Adobe's impressive suite of creative software, or if you are eligible for Adobe's generous student discount.

So, those are the similarities between the three plans. But what are the main differences at each price point, what do you really need and how should you choose between them? Read on, and we’ll explain everything you need to know about each Adobe Photography Plan.

(Image credit: Adobe)

1. Adobe Photography Plan (20GB) $9.99/£9.98 per month

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The Adobe Photography Plan (20GB) is the one that is probably best suited to most photographers. It includes Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, Lightroom Mobile and Photoshop for iPad, and will keep you covered in most editing situations, whether you're home or on the move.

You might be wondering why there are two versions of Lightroom for the desktop? Lightroom Classic is an older version of the software, and the one that used to be sold on a physical disc, which focused more on regular desktop storage for your photos. If you used Lightroom before 2017, that’s the one you’ll be familiar with.

• Read more: Lightroom Classic vs Lightroom CC

The software now simply known as 'Lightroom' is a more modern and streamlined version of the program that's been designed around online photo storage using Creative Cloud. It doesn’t have all the tools of Lightroom Classic, but its stripped-down interface is fast and efficient, and it’s ideal for working on the move in lots of different locations, and on different devices.

Its ‘web-first’ approach brings some key advantages. It means that your full photo library, together with all your albums and edits, is available everywhere, and you can edit and download images at their full resolution. What’s more, because your images are stored in the cloud, Adobe’s Sensei AI technology can automatically recognize and ‘tag’ many different kinds of subject.

The most important thing to note is that with the Adobe Photography Plan, you’ll only get 20GB of cloud storage, which is equivalent to about 4,000 JPEGs. If you need more, then the next Adobe Photography Plan on our list may suit you better.

(Image credit: Future)

2. Adobe Photography Plan (1TB) $19.99/£19.97 per month

To make best use of Lightroom CC and it's web-first storage, you really need a lot of online storage space, and that’s where the 1TB plan comes in. 1TB is equivalent to about 20,000 RAW images or 200,000 JPEGs, and you can upgrade your storage capacity beyond this in the future if you need or want to. 

Like the regular Photography plan, you will also get access to Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop on iPad, Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, and Lightroom Mobile. However, if you’re only interested in Lightroom, that may be overkill. In which case, you can still get 1TB of storage for less money by opting for the third plan on our list.

(Image credit: George Cairns / Digital Camera World)

3. Adobe Lightroom CC plan (1TB) $9.99/£9.98 per month

The Adobe Lightroom plan costs the same as the regular Photography plan, but it comes with 1TB of cloud storage for your photos. Lightroom Classic and Photoshop are NOT included in this bundle however, so be aware of that.

This is probably the best Adobe Photography Plan for photographers whose editing needs are modest. If you choose the Lightroom plan you'll be covered by the increasingly powerful tools in Lightroom, but able to access your photo library and all your images everywhere, and on any device.

So, which should you choose?

If you prefer to store and edit your images on your own computer and/or external hard drive then you’re best off with the regular Photography Plan (20GB), as you’ll get Photoshop and both versions of Lightroom for a relatively low price – and won't need that 1TB of cloud storage offered by the other plans.

If do want the flexibility offered by cloud storage and often work between devices, the Photography plan (1TB) is the one for you, although it is more expensive. 

If you can't see yourself using Photoshop and feel ready to ditch desktop storage altogether, then the Lightroom Plan is an affordable alternative with the same 1TB amount of cloud storage.

4. The premium option $54.99/£51.98 per month

(Image credit: Adobe)

The three Adobe plans above are aimed at photographers who are only interested in image editing and image organization software. They don't take into account the needs of videographers, or those who have other creative side hustles, such as web design or desktop publishing.

If you're also interested in audio editing, video editing, VFX, 3D modeling, illustration or graphic design, there’s a fourth option that may interest you. The full Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps plan gets you access to over 20 CC apps to use including not just Photoshop and Lightroom, but Premiere Pro, Dreamweaver, After Effects, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat Pro and more.

The price of this all-you-can-eat software deal is greatly reduced if you are a student or a teacher by taking advantage of the Adobe Student Discount scheme – with savings of up to 60% off the subscription price. Sadly, this educational discount is not available with the cheaper Photography Plans.

What Adobe program is best for photo editing?

Photoshop or Lightroom Classic - which is for me?

There are lots of similarities between the two programs, and particularly so if you shoot RAW files, as the RAW processor in Photoshop looks much like Lightroom. Photoshop offers more creative flexibility, through features such as layers - and it is best for professional use (with options such as CMYK output for commercial printing). Thankfully, with the basic Photography Plan you get both programs - in fact, you get It includes Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, Lightroom Mobile, and Photoshop for iPad.
Read Photoshop CC vs Lightroom Classic for more details of the differences

Read more:

Download Photoshop for free
Download Lightroom for free
Best photo editing software
• Free Photoshop templates for photographers
• Free Photoshop brushes for photographers
Free Lightroom presets

Chris George

Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography. 


His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Nikon D800, a Fujifilm X-T1, a Sony A7, and his iPhone 11 Pro.


He has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Dorling Kindersley, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.

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