By Adobe
Report updated Apr 18, 2026
Adobe Lightroom: Photo Editor
For professional photographers, serious hobbyists, and creators who require high-end, AI-assisted editing tools and seamless multi-device workflow management.
Adobe Lightroom: Photo Editor is an established photo & video app that is available.
What is Adobe Lightroom: Photo Editor?
Current Momentum
v9.3
Improved Search for Photographers New and improved search allows you to easily find photos using natural language such as, "A woman on the beach at golden hour" or use specific info like cameras and lenses, named people, or file types. Available in Cloud view. Firefly Boards from Lightroom Adobe's Firefly Boards site (included with your subscription) is a great tool for ideating, organizing shot lists, creating mood boards, and more. You can now send photos directly from Lightroom to Firefly Boards via the share button. Film-Inspired Presets Capture the timeless feel of classic film with our new film-inspired Presets or use them as a starting point to create your own unique aesthetic. Assisted Culling Improvements Assisted Culling updates include improve detection of shallow depth-of-field images, reducing false rejects for photos with intentional background blur. The reject filter is now more accurate at identifying images that should be discarded across a range of scenarios and includes a new slider which gives you greater control over how strictly exposure issues are flagged. Edit in Photoshop Improvements Work seamlessly with your largest Photoshop documents. You can now specify file type, bit depth, and other parameters for the files that you send to Photoshop and save different defaults for HDR and SDR photography. Pan and Zoom in Crop Now pan and zoom while in the Crop tool, allowing you to position the crop bounds with precision. PSB File Support Lightroom now supports the PSB file type, making it easier to import and work with very large Photoshop files. More Quality Updates Experience faster, smoother performance when editing photos with large masks. Additionally, Presets and Profiles, Distraction Removal, Lens Blur, and other masking operations run more smoothly, helping you stay in your creative flow. Working closely with Sony, we added support for the new Compressed (HQ) and Compressed RAW formats introduced with the Sony A7V.
Active Nemesis
Snapseed: Photo Editor
By Google
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
Photo & VideoNo ranking data
Rating Pulse 🇺🇸
Gathering signals...
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
How Is The App's Momentum Right Now?
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What Are The Key Features?
AI-powered tool to erase unwanted objects or distractions from photos without leaving a trace
Instantly create portrait-style blur effects with one-tap presets
AI-driven selection process that filters photos by quality and groups similar shots
Edit full-resolution photos on mobile, web, or desktop with automatic cross-device synchronization
Context-aware presets that selectively adjust specific parts of an image like sky or skin
Manual control over exposure, highlights, color grading, and hue via precision sliders
How much does it cost?
- Free 7-day trial for new users
- Lightroom plan starting at $11.99/month
- Photography plan (includes Photoshop) at $19.99/month
- Creative Cloud Pro plan at $69.99/month
Strict subscription-only model that gates core professional features behind recurring payments, leveraging the broader Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem to upsell users.
Who Built It?
Adobe
Empowering creators and professionals with AI-driven tools for high-quality content production and document management across mobile devices.
Portfolio
13
Apps
Who is Adobe?
Adobe has successfully transitioned its desktop dominance into a mobile-first ecosystem by leveraging its proprietary Firefly generative AI as a core differentiator across its creative suite. Their primary moat is the deep integration with Creative Cloud, creating a high-switching-cost environment for professionals who require seamless cross-device workflows. Currently, the publisher is aggressively pivoting toward AI-assisted automation to maintain leadership against emerging mobile-native creative tools.
Who is Adobe for?
- Creative professionals
- Social media content creators
- Business users requiring professional-grade digitization
- Editing tools
Portfolio momentum
Released 62 updates across 34 apps in the last 6 months with over 60% of the portfolio currently active — maintaining a high-frequency development cycle.
What other apps does Adobe make?
Adobe Scan: PDF & OCR Scanner
Adobe Firefly: AI Generator
Photoshop Express Photo Editor
Adobe Premiere AI Video Editor
Adobe Express: Create Anything
Lightroom: AI Photo Editor
What do users think recently?
Analysis in progress, available soon
What is the competitive landscape for Adobe Lightroom: Photo Editor?
How's The Photo & Video Market?
Market outlook for this category
Available very soon
The rivals identified
The Nemesis
- -
Control Point Technology
- -
RAW Editing
Contenders
Professional Grade Presets
AI Lab
Darkroom: Photo & Video Editor
★4.8 (29.1K)Bergen Co.
⚡High-end mobile editor offering RAW support, color grading, and curve adjustments that mirror Lightroom's core professional workflow.
Picsart Aura
AI Playground
Peers
Veo 3 AI Video Generation
Bulk Create Automation
Internal Configuration Management
AI-Powered Editing
Smart Search
Lensa AI: Photo Editor
★4.7 (414.9K)Prisma labs, inc.
⚡Leverages AI for rapid photo retouching and stylistic effects, appealing to users who want quick, high-quality results.
New Kids on the Block
The outtake for Adobe Lightroom: Photo Editor
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Deep integration with Creative Cloud ecosystem
- Industry-leading AI feature set
- Robust cross-device synchronization
Critical Frictions
- High barrier to entry due to subscription-only model
- Potential complexity for casual users
Growth Levers
- Expanding AI-assisted automation for high-volume workflows
- Capturing the growing creator economy market
Market Threats
- Specialized AI apps unbundling specific features
- Free, high-quality alternatives like Snapseed
Key Takeaways
Adobe Lightroom: Photo Editor is an established photo & video app that is available.
Where Is It Heading?
Trend analysis
Available very soon