Adobe Lightroom is a raw photo editor and photo library that covers two related apps: cloud-synced Lightroom and the desktop-only Lightroom Classic. What decides whether it suits you is whether you want your library synced across devices through Adobe's cloud, or a locally managed catalog with tethered shooting and plugins.
What is Adobe Lightroom?
Adobe Lightroom is made by Adobe. Cloud Lightroom runs on Windows, Mac, web, iOS and Android with a library synced through an Adobe account, while Lightroom Classic is an installed Windows or Mac application with a local catalog. A free mobile app for iOS and Android lets you capture, edit and share photos; the full editing experience across devices needs a paid plan.
Developing and organising photos in Adobe Lightroom
Both apps develop raw files non-destructively, storing adjustments as metadata rather than altering the original. Lightroom keeps your library organized and searchable, and Lightroom Classic adds rule-based Smart Collections. Masking includes AI-powered Select Subject and Select Sky, and Denoise applies a trained model to reduce noise in low light or high-ISO shots.
Generative Remove, powered by Adobe Firefly, removes distractions and unwanted objects and fills the area with newly generated content; a separate Distraction Removal tool targets unwanted people, and AI-powered Dust Removal clears sensor spots. Generative upscale uses Topaz Gigapixel for 4x enlargement, and Super Resolution doubles linear resolution using a trained model. Lens corrections cover distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration. Lightroom Classic adds tethered capture for supported Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon and Sony cameras, HDR and panorama merging, export presets for batch work, and a plug-in architecture for third-party extensions. Presets can be applied and synced across many photos at once in either app.
Working with other people
Shared albums let you invite people to view and contribute their own photos to the same album, though this is not simultaneous co-editing of a single image. Adobe publishes a Lightroom API for developers building against the cloud service. Cloud Lightroom syncs your library and edits across desktop, web and mobile.
Adobe Lightroom pricing: what each plan gives
The Lightroom single-app plan is $11.99 a month, billed annually; that price is Adobe's annual-billed-monthly rate rather than a month-to-month figure. The Photography plan is $19.99 a month, billed annually, and adds Photoshop and Lightroom Classic alongside cloud Lightroom. Both plans come with a 7-day free trial. There is no perpetual license: Lightroom is sold only by subscription. The free mobile app for iOS and Android covers capturing, editing and sharing; upgrading to a paid plan is required for the full editing experience across devices.
Privacy and support
Adobe does not train Firefly on Creative Cloud subscribers' personal content, which covers the Firefly-powered Generative Remove tool. Adobe Lightroom is named under Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise's SOC 2 Type 2 attestation, and Adobe's compliance list covers GDPR. Support for the single-app plan includes phone, chat and the Adobe Community.
Who Adobe Lightroom suits
Adobe Lightroom suits photographers who want their library and edits synced across a desktop, a phone and the web, and who want AI tools for masking, denoise, object removal and upscaling built into the same app they use to organize photos. It also suits anyone who specifically needs Lightroom Classic's tethered capture, HDR and panorama merging, or plug-in support.
It suits less well anyone who wants to own their software outright instead of paying an ongoing subscription, since no perpetual license is sold. It also suits less well anyone who wants the full desktop experience for free, since the free tier is limited to the mobile app.
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How Adobe Lightroom compares
Adobe Lightroom scores 8.1 out of 10 among the raw photo editors we rate. These three do the same job and are the closest to it, compared on what each vendor publishes.
Capture One
Lightroom costs $11.99 a month billed yearly for Lightroom alone, and Adobe never sells a licence you keep. Capture One asks $18 a month billed yearly, or a one-time licence that subscribers can switch to whenever they want. Lightroom adds automatic object removal, HDR and panorama merging, and AI upscaling. Capture One answers back with a way to invite clients to comment on photos remotely for shared review.
Pick Capture One if you want a one-time licence instead of a subscription.
Pick Adobe Lightroom if you want cloud sync and built-in object removal.
darktable
darktable is free and open source, with no company behind it, while Lightroom charges $11.99 a month billed yearly for Lightroom alone. Lightroom syncs your library and edits across devices and removes objects automatically. darktable answers with its own AI upscaling and Lua scripts you can install and share to extend the program. Choose based on whether you want Adobe's cloud workflow or a program you install once and keep.
Pick darktable if you want a free program with no subscription.
Pick Adobe Lightroom if you want cloud sync and automatic object removal.
Luminar Neo
Luminar Neo sells one-time licences instead of a subscription, across three tiers from a desktop-only edition up to an all-platforms Max edition. Lightroom charges $11.99 a month billed yearly for Lightroom alone and never sells a licence you keep. Luminar Neo also lets you type a prompt to guide edits with its AI Assistant. Lightroom counters with cloud library sync across devices and a developer console for building on top of it.
Pick Luminar Neo if you want to own the software with a one-time payment.
Pick Adobe Lightroom if you want cloud library sync and a developer api.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Adobe Lightroom cost?
The Lightroom single-app plan is $11.99 a month billed annually, and the Photography plan is $19.99 a month billed annually and adds Photoshop and Lightroom Classic. Both are subscriptions with no one-time purchase option.
Does Adobe Lightroom open raw camera files?
Yes. Lightroom and Lightroom Classic are both built as raw developers, importing and non-destructively editing camera raw files.
What is the difference between Lightroom and Lightroom Classic?
Cloud Lightroom syncs your library and edits across desktop, web and mobile through an Adobe account. Lightroom Classic is a locally installed desktop app with a local catalog, and it is the version with tethered capture, HDR and panorama merging, and plug-in support.
Does Adobe train its AI on my photos?
No. Adobe does not train Firefly, which powers Generative Remove, on Creative Cloud subscribers' personal content.
