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  1. Home
  2. Compare
  3. GIMP vs Adobe Lightroom

GIMPvsAdobe Lightroom

App
vs
App
ScoresSignalsPricingFeatures

Score Comparison

52
Overall
62
100
Pricing
45
40
Usability
75
60
Performance
55
45
Support
60
60
Reliability
60
30
Onboarding
60
0
Mobile
70
90
Security
55
45
Integrations
85
GIMPAdobe Lightroom

Signals Comparison

Usability

GIMP

  • Extremely steep learning curve(9/10)
  • Outdated and confusing user interface(8/10)
  • Non-destructive editing not supported(8/10)
  • No AI or content-aware features(7/10)
  • Keyboard shortcuts differ from industry standards(6/10)
  • Missing layer effects and styles(6/10)
  • Selection and resize tools are painful(5/10)

Adobe Lightroom

  • Steep learning curve for beginners(6/10)
  • Confusing Lightroom vs Classic distinction(5/10)
  • Face recognition marks cats as people(3/10)
  • Missing features compared to Classic(5/10)
Integrations

GIMP

  • No native CMYK color mode support(8/10)
  • No native RAW file support(6/10)
  • Limited third-party plugin ecosystem(5/10)
  • No native HEIC file support(4/10)

Adobe Lightroom

  • Photoshop roundtrip breaks intermittently(6/10)
Performance

GIMP

  • Slow startup and bloated installer(5/10)

Adobe Lightroom

  • Extreme slowness with large catalogs(9/10)
  • AI features consume excessive resources(7/10)
Reliability

GIMP

  • GIMP 3.0 early release bugs and crashes(7/10)

Adobe Lightroom

  • Cloud sync issues between Classic and CC(7/10)
  • Catalog corruption causes data loss(10/10)
  • Frequent outages affect cloud users(6/10)
Support

GIMP

  • No official customer support(5/10)

Adobe Lightroom

No signals

Pricing

GIMP

No signals

Adobe Lightroom

  • Subscription model with no perpetual license(8/10)
  • 50% cancellation fee for annual plans(8/10)
  • Cloud storage runs out quickly(7/10)
Mobile

GIMP

No signals

Adobe Lightroom

  • Mobile app laggy on budget phones(6/10)
Security

GIMP

No signals

Adobe Lightroom

  • Photos used for AI training by default(6/10)

Pricing Comparison

GIMP

Free
Popular
Free

Users: Unlimited

Storage: Local storage only

Limits: No official support, community-driven help only, some features require plugins

None - completely free forever

Adobe Lightroom

Lightroom (1TB)
$9.99/mo

Users: 1 user

Storage: 1TB cloud

Limits: No Photoshop included; cloud-dependent for full functionality

Annual commitment required for monthly billing; 50% cancellation fee; additional storage costs extra
Photography Plan (20GB)
Popular
$9.99/mo

Users: 1 user

Storage: 20GB cloud

Limits: Very limited cloud storage; may not be available to new users

Being phased out for new subscribers Jan 2025; 20GB fills up fast with RAW files; annual commitment
Photography Plan (1TB)
Popular
$19.99/mo

Users: 1 user

Storage: 1TB cloud

Limits: Still limited for large professional libraries

Annual commitment ($239.88/year); 50% cancellation fee; extra storage beyond 1TB costs more
Creative Cloud All Apps
$59.99/mo

Users: 1 user

Storage: 100GB cloud

Limits: Overkill for photography-only users; less storage than dedicated photo plans

Annual commitment ($719.88/year); less cloud storage than Photography 1TB plan; 50% cancellation fee
Lightroom Mobile (Free)
Free

Users: 1 user

Storage: 2GB local

Limits: No cloud sync; missing key features; essentially a trial/demo

Premium features locked (Healing Brush, Selective Edits, Raw HDR); no cloud sync; limited presets

Feature Comparison

FeatureGIMPAdobe Lightroom
Core Features
Layer-based editing

Full layer support

Non-destructive editing

Very limited

Layer effects/styles

Must create manually

Editing
Non-destructive RAW editing

Industry-standard XMP sidecar approach

AI-powered masking

Select Subject, Sky, Background automatically

AI Denoise

Excellent results but RAM-intensive

HDR panorama merge

Lightroom Classic only, not mobile

Video editing

Basic color/exposure only, no timeline

Print
CMYK color mode

Plugin workarounds only

Photography
RAW file support

Requires external software

Sync
Cloud sync across devices

Lightroom cloud version; Classic requires setup

AI Features
AI/Content-aware tools

Not available

Mobile
Mobile app

iOS and Android with most desktop features

Professional
Tethered capture

Lightroom Classic only

Extensibility
Plugin support

Limited ecosystem

Export
Print/Book modules

Lightroom Classic only

File Formats
PSD compatibility

Partial support

Platforms
Cross-platform

Linux, Mac, Windows

Mobile version

Not available

Organization
Face recognition

Works but accuracy issues reported

Licensing
Open source

GPL license

Usability
Offline editing

Classic fully offline; cloud version limited

Pricing
Perpetual license option

Subscription only since Lightroom 6

Workflow
Batch processing

Scripting required

Collaboration
Multi-user catalog

Single-user catalogs only