How to Buy Adobe Lightroom? (2023 Price and Options)

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In this article, we show you how to buy Adobe Lightroom. We also give you the rundown of the current Lightroom versions and your purchasing options.

Lightroom is a great piece of software for cataloging and editing your images. And you can check out our course Effortless Editing with Lightroom if you want to master it.

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Adobe Lightroom CC

If you’re looking for guidance on how to buy Adobe Lightroom, the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan offers a complete photo editing solution with Lightroom and Photoshop. Get started today and buy Adobe Lightroom.

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Buy Adobe Lightroom: What Photo Editing Software Belongs to Adobe Creative Suite?

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Adobe markets many photo editing programs. Or at least it seems that way. Most are options in Adobe’s Creative Cloud.

Let’s start with untangling the various photo editing products from Adobe.

Photoshop

In 1990, Adobe released Photoshop as a graphics editor. For over 15 years, this was Adobe’s main photo editing program. Because the software wasn’t initially designed for photographers, it can be confusing. Also, many of the tools aren’t useful for photography.

Nowadays, you can find Photoshop on practically every platform. In 2019, Adobe released a version of Photoshop for the iPad. This app is included in all plans with Photoshop.

Photoshop Elements 2023

Photoshop Elements 2023 is a basic version of Photoshop for desktop users. Adobe markets this program to beginning photographers who are learning post-processing. It is software used for quick edits. There is a lot of pre-programmed functionality and guided edits included in Elements.

For more information, see our article comparing Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

Lightroom Classic

In 2007, Adobe released Lightroom with photographers in mind. In many ways, it’s a simpler version of Photoshop. It features the editing tools that photographers need. Adobe also redesigned the user interface to make common photographic adjustments easier.

One major addition to Adobe Lightroom was the cataloging options. Lightroom acts as a library for all your images.

Lightroom was also redesigned as a non-destructive editor. Non-destructive editing means you can always go back to the original image. This is a huge advantage to those who worry about editing an original file and losing it forever.

For a detailed comparison of Lightroom and Photoshop, see our article “Lightroom vs Photoshop: Which Is Better for You?”

With the release of Lightroom CC in 2017, this version was re-branded as Lightroom Classic.

Lightroom (Formerly Lightroom CC)

Lightroom is Adobe’s cloud-based version of Lightroom. It was referred to before as Lightroom CC for “Creative Cloud.” This program is like Lightroom Classic. But there are differences in the interface and the tools available. In this article, we compare the programs.

Adobe supports Lightroom and Lightroom Classic as parallel but different programs. Updates may apply features to one and not the other.

Confusingly, when you launch Lightroom, this program is called “Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.”

Lightroom Classic is often thought of as the desktop version. But Lightroom CC also works on your desktop. The main differences are the interface and your images being stored in the cloud.

Lightroom Mobile

There’s a third option called Lightroom Mobile. Plus, there is Lightroom on the web. You log in to the online version. Both types of software come with your purchase of Lightroom.

The latter is a simplified, web-based photo editing program. The interface is like Lightroom but, again, has some differences.

All Adobe plans that include Lightroom come with at least some online storage. Lightroom web is useful for publishing and sharing online collections.

Lightroom Purchasing Options

You buy a monthly or yearly subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud to get Adobe Lightroom. Many subscription plans are popular with photographers. The plans vary in which Adobe programs you can use and the amount of cloud storage space.

All plans come with at least some cloud space. They also come with Adobe Portfolio, a webpage to showcase your images. And Adobe Creative Cloud apps can be active on up to two different computers.

Let’s talk about how buying Lightroom has changed… And why this has led to confusion and controversy. Then we’ll describe the subscription plans available from Adobe.

You can browse through all Adobe plans and their prices here.

Buy to Own vs Subscription

For many years, Adobe sold Lightroom with a perpetual license. You bought the program once and could use it forever.

In 2013, Adobe began phasing in its Creative Cloud subscription model. This created a lot of controversies. Many photographers wanted to buy the standalone program rather than pay a monthly fee. The cost is higher with the subscription.

By 2016, Adobe stopped supporting the earlier, standalone versions of Lightroom. The last standalone version released was Lightroom 6.14. Older versions do not receive updates. So new camera and lens profiles are no longer updated.

Photographers are still using old versions of Lightroom. But you can no longer buy Adobe Lightroom as a standalone program that you can use permanently.

The Creative Cloud subscription fee was the first of its kind and a controversial act. Many people felt angered by this huge increase in price. And there is still a lot of negativity surrounding this subscription model.

Creative Cloud Lightroom Plan

Adobe offers a simple Creative Cloud Lightroom Plan if you only want Lightroom. You get Lightroom and 1 TB of creative cloud storage space.

As we mentioned earlier, Lightroom is sometimes called “Photoshop Lightroom.” But Photoshop is a different program not included in this subscription plan.

The Lightroom plan is currently $9.99 per month or $119.88 per year.

Cloud storage space depends on the plan you choose. Adobe has set amounts of storage they believe are enough for each plan. You can upgrade from 20 GB to 1 TB. Or you can increase storage to 3 TB, 10 TB, or 15 TB, starting at US$9.99 per month per terabyte.

Adobe also offers a Photoshop-only plan with 100 GB of cloud storage. This plan also comes with the Photoshop iPad app.

This plan is $31.49 or 20.99 per month if you get the annual plan ($251.88). Or You can prepay for $239.88 per year.

The Lightroom plan is the simplest. But it is not the best plan for most photographers. It limits you to using the cloud-based version of Lightroom, and you won’t be able to use Photoshop.

Even if you don’t use Photoshop now, adding it to your plan costs nothing more. The best is the Photography plan that includes both Lightroom and Photoshop.

Creative Cloud Photography Plan (20 GB)

The best Lightroom plan is one of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography Plans. The Photography Plan comes with Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, and Photoshop. This plan also comes with the Photoshop iPad app.

This basic plan comes with only 20 GB of storage. This allows approximately 4,000 JPEGs. This is fine for photographers who store their photos on hard drives rather than in the cloud.

The plan is currently $9.99 per month or $119.88 per year. It’s the same price as the Lightroom-only Plan.

Creative Cloud Photography Plan (1 TB)

This Photography Plan comes with Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, and Photoshop. It also increases cloud storage to 1 TB. You have room for approximately 20,000 RAW images or 200,000 JPEGs. As of 2019, this plan also comes with the Photoshop iPad app.

This plan is the best for photographers who store a lot of photos in the cloud. This plan is currently $19.99 per month or $239.88 per year.

More cloud storage space is available. You can get 2 TB, 5 TB, or 10 TB of storage. Prices are US$9.99 per month per terabyte.

It’s easy to amass 10 TB in images. That’s especially true if you use a newer high-megapixel camera. To get the maximum 10 TB of storage, you pay $90.99 per month or $1198.80 for the year.

If you only want to back up your images, there are less expensive online storage options. But this may be your plan if you’re editing on the go.

Creative Cloud Premiere Rush Plan

Photographers who edit videos will often add an Adobe Express subscription, including Premiere Rush. The latter is Adobe’s basic video editing program. For more advanced videos, use Premiere Pro.

The Premiere Rush plan includes 100 GB of cloud storage. More cloud storage space is available. You can get 2 TB, 5 TB, or 10 TB of storage. Prices are US$9.99 per month per terabyte.

The Premier Rush plan is currently $9.99 per month or $119.88 per year. The Premier Pro plan is $31.49 monthly or $20.99 if you get the annual plan ($251.88). Or you can prepay for $239.88 per year.

All Apps Plan

Buy the All Apps plan if you want access to all Adobe Creative Cloud apps. You will get programs for editing video, audio, graphics, webpages, text, and photos.

This option is good for photographers who publish in many formats. And for photographers who also do graphic design work.

This plan includes 100 GB of cloud storage. More cloud storage space is available. You can get 2 TB, 5 TB, or 10 TB of storage. Prices are US$9.99 per month per terabyte.

The plan is $82.49 or $54.99 monthly if you get the annual plan ($659.88). Or you can prepay for $599.88 per year.

Trials and Discounts

Adobe doesn’t offer many discounts for photography software. But for most products, the price is less if you prepay for the year or commit to a 12-month subscription. Paying per month is very expensive.

You can get a 7-day free trial for the Lightroom, Photography, or All Apps plans.

Students and teachers can get special pricing on the All Apps plan. You do need proof of your educational status and a school email account.

The student and teacher discount gives you access to Creative Cloud All Apps for $19.99 monthly. Compare this to the regular $52.99 per month fee.

You may also find deals through online retailers like B&H Photo or Amazon.

Photoshop Elements

Photoshop Elements 2022 is the only Adobe photo editing program you can buy without a subscription. It is more like Photoshop than Lightroom. But if you want a photo editing program that you can buy once and use forever, this is it.

The program is currently $99.99 or $149.99 if you also buy the video editing program Premiere Elements. There’s a student and teacher discount for $79.99.

Photoshop Elements is great if you are a beginner or only want to edit your images quickly.

Conclusion

The best way to get Lightroom is by subscribing to the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan. With this plan, you get both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom. You also get Photoshop in both the desktop and mobile versions. Or you can just go with Lightroom.

Get the 1 TB version if you want to have your photos in the cloud for sharing and editing. But there is the cheaper 20 GB option too. This is more than enough for most photographers.

If you have no interest in using Photoshop but want the extra storage, get a single-app plan. You can add a program like Premiere Rush to your plan if you edit a lot of video footage.

You can no longer buy Adobe Lightroom as a standalone program and own it forever. To access Lightroom, you must subscribe to a plan. If you stop your plan, you lose access to the program and the images you have stored in the cloud.

Now it’s up to you to choose the best option that fits your needs! If you want to try a Lightroom alternative, check out our Capture one vs Lightroom article!