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>>7 Ways To Get Photoshop for Free & Cheap (Legally)
7 Ways To Get Photoshop for Free & Cheap (Legally)

7 Ways To Get Photoshop for Free & Cheap (Legally)

Updated on May 14, 2025

5 min read
Our Editorial Process
James LawAnthony ClementVerified Check Mark
Written and Reviewed by
James,
Anthony

Key Takeaways

  • Best Adobe-made alternative: Photoshop Elements

  • Best Photoshop alternative: Affinity Photo

  • Most reliable way to lower the cost of Photoshop: Earn money on your phone

Photoshop is a key tool for most creative pursuits. However, with Adobe’s aggressive subscription pricing model, and the fact that permanent licenses are no longer available, it’s a bit out of budget for many. Photoshop alone costs about $22 per month, and the cost skyrockets if you want other apps on the Adobe suite. Thankfully, there are ways you can get past it and access Photoshop for cheaper and completely free.

Get a Free Trial

Like most subscription services, Photoshop offers a free trial to new users. Unfortunately, the trial is only 7 days, so it’s only really worth using this method to get Photoshop for free if you have a super-quick project you only need a few days for.

Of course, be sure to cancel your subscription before the 7 days are up, or you’ll be in for a shock to the bank account. One way to get around this is by using a virtual credit card service to ensure Adobe don’t have access to your personal bank info.

Share the Cost

If you have an Individual plan, you’re not supposed to share passwords with friends, and Adobe makes it quite hard to do so. You won’t be able to use the account on different devices at the same time, for example, and if Adobe finds out you’re breaking their terms of use, you may be subject to extra charges.

For larger organisations, you can upgrade to a team plan, which gives admin access and connects the team’s accounts, but is often more expensive overall.

Find a Deal

Licenses to Adobe products can be found on sites like Newegg, G2A, and Amazon for lower prices. You’ll have to keep your eyes on the prices - I recommend downloading the Keepa browser extension to track price history on Amazon to ensure you’re actually getting the best deal.

Be careful you don’t accidentally spend money on Adobe Photoshop Elements if you’re looking for the fully-fledged app. It’s not quite as feature-rich as the classic, but more on that later.

Be a Student and Get a Discount

Adobe Creative Cloud for Students and Teachers is one of the best deals you can get if you can prove your affiliation to an academic institution, but it doesn’t mean you’ll only be paying a few dollars for Photoshop access. At the moment, the 1-year student and teacher deal offers 66% off for the Creative Cloud All Apps subscription.

For $19.99 a month, you get everything in the Creative Cloud suite, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, Lightroom, and InDesign, along with 100GB of cloud storage. It’s great if you’re looking to level up your creative output across the board, but not so much if you’re specifically interested in using Photoshop.

If you decide to be billed annually, you’ll need to pay $239.88 up-front. Further, when the subscription renews you’ll automatically pay $419.88. Be careful, and don’t allow the subscription to renew without knowing the cost. Adobe also reserves the right to change the pricing without notice.

Earn Money on Your Phone

If you want to earn an extra $100 a month to cover the cost, you might just be able to do so from your phone. Using apps like Freecash, you can earn money through playing games and completing surveys, and use that cash to subscribe to Photoshop for essentially free. It’s easy to set up, too:

  1. 1

    Head to freecash.com

  2. 2

    Sign up - it only takes a few minutes, and you’ll get a nice little bit of bonus cash when you join

  3. 3

    Choose a game you like the look of

  4. 4

    Start playing and earning!

You can cash out using a multitude of options, too, including Visa, PayPal, and Amazon vouchers, all of which can be used to purchase Photoshop from different outlets.

Use a Different Product

Maybe you don’t need Photoshop. Here are a few cheaper alternatives and where their strengths lie:

 

Platform

Price

Best For…

Strengths

Weaknesses

Photopea

Free (premium $5/mo)

Photoshop users who want a browser-based option

Similar to Photoshop in layout

Limited advanced AI tools

MyEdit

Free ($6/mo)

Quick, non-technical editors with the help of AI

AI tools available across photo, video, and more

Weaker in more creative, intensive projects

Fotor

Free ($8.99/mo)

Casual users & content creators

AI tools available to simplify output

Professional editing ability, watermark on free version

Canva

Free ($14.99/mo)

Marketers needing fast turnaround

Great templates, asset library, and learning curve

Not as in-depth and detailed

Photoroom

Free (9.99/mo)

Social media marketers prioritising ease of use

AI tools for background removal, retouching, and more

Focus on marketing assets rather than artistic output

Krita

Free

Artists/illustrators

Completely free (optional donation). Great brush engine

Less suitable for photo editing

Affinity Photo

One-time $69.99 (desktop) or $19.99 (iPad)

Professionals looking for a true Photoshop alternative

One-time purchase

Can be challenging to learn 

Use Photoshop’s Free Options

Photoshop offers more lightweight options if you don’t need the full-on professional version. These include:

  • Photoshop Express

    • Free ($4.99/mo premium)

    • Offers basic tools on mobile and web

    • Streamlined process

    • Great for social media image editing, collages, and basic retouching

  • Photoshop Camera

    • 100% Free

    • AI-powered mobile phone camera changer

    • Adds effects in camera app

    • Limited actual editing capability

  • Photoshop Elements

    • $99.99 (one-time purchase, often discounted)

    • Powerful compared to many other Photoshop alternatives

    • No support for CMYK colour space

    • Perfect for beginners looking to learn editing without being overwhelmed by the full Photoshop experience

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