Pricing
What a photo setup costs in 2026.
A photo app costs either a little every month or a bit more once. Over five years, the difference is hundreds of dollars. Here are the real numbers, checked in October 2026.
What the apps cost today.
US App Store and Adobe prices, checked October 19, 2026.
Prices changed a lot in the last two years. Adobe raised the Lightroom plan from $9.99 to $11.99 a month in January 2025, and again to $14.99 on March 20, 2026. Apple launched Creator Studio in January 2026, a subscription for its pro apps on Mac and iPad. Photomator, which Apple acquired with Pixelmator, is still sold, now with Apple as the seller.
| App | Price | Model |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Lightroom plan (1 TB) | $14.99/month on an annual plan, $149.99 prepaid, $22.49 month to month | Subscription |
| Apple Creator Studio | $12.99/month or $129/year; Pixelmator Pro on Mac and iPad, no iPhone photo editor | Subscription |
| Darkroom | $9.99/month, $39.99/year or $99.99 lifetime | Both |
| Halide Mark III | $69.99 one-time | One-time |
| mood.camera | $1.99/month or $14.99 lifetime | Both |
| IIWII | $1.99 one-time, all updates included | One-time |
| masoc | $3.99/month, $24.99/year or $69 once, Family Sharing | Both |
Sources Adobe, Lightroom 1TB plan FAQ; PetaPixel on Adobe’s 2025 plan changes (December 18, 2024); Apple Newsroom, Introducing Apple Creator Studio (January 13, 2026); App Store pages of Darkroom, Halide, mood.camera, Photomator and IIWII; masoc, Pricing. Checked October 19, 2026.
Five years, added up.
Small monthly prices add up faster than they look.
| Setup | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lightroom plan, $14.99/month | $179.88 | $539.64 | $899.40 |
| Darkroom, $39.99/year | $39.99 | $119.97 | $199.95 |
| IIWII + masoc yearly | $26.98 | $76.96 | $126.94 |
| IIWII + masoc once | $70.99 | $70.99 | $70.99 |
| Halide, $69.99 once | $69.99 | $69.99 | $69.99 |
| IIWII alone, $1.99 once | $1.99 | $1.99 | $1.99 |
At $14.99 a month, the Lightroom plan costs more after five months than IIWII and masoc together cost once. Over five years it adds up to $899.40. That is not a verdict on Lightroom: it includes cloud storage, desktop apps and a huge ecosystem. It is a question of whether you use what you pay for.
What you keep when you stop paying.
The real difference shows up the day you cancel.
- With a subscription, your photos stay yours, but the paid tools stop working. Edits that live only inside the app may become read-only or need an export first.
- With a one-time purchase, the app keeps working as it did when you paid. Updates may or may not be included; IIWII includes all of them.
- With standard files, HEIC, DNG and TIFF open everywhere, so switching apps later costs nothing but time.
A subscription makes sense when you use the extras, such as cloud sync across many devices or desktop tools. If you mostly shoot and edit on an iPhone, one-time apps cover the same ground for the price of a few months.
A setup for the price of a month.
Camera and editor, both one-time.
IIWII is the camera: film looks live in the viewfinder, RAW+, manual controls and Natural Processing, for $1.99 once. masoc, from the same developer, is the editor for iPhone, iPad and Mac with the same looks, RAW editing and AI masks on the device, at $69 once or $24.99 a year. Together, once, that is $70.99, about the price of five months of Lightroom.
Questions and answers
How much does Lightroom cost in 2026?
The Lightroom plan with 1 TB costs $14.99 a month on an annual plan, $149.99 a year prepaid, or $22.49 month to month, according to Adobe. It was $11.99 a month before March 20, 2026.
What do I keep if I cancel a subscription?
Your photos, as long as they are exported or stored outside the app. You lose access to the paid tools. With a one-time purchase, the app keeps working as it did when you paid.
How much does IIWII cost?
$1.99 once, in the US App Store. All updates are included. There is no subscription, no account and no advertising.
Are these prices the same in every country?
No. App Store and Adobe prices vary by country and include local taxes. All prices here are US prices without tax, checked on October 19, 2026.
Try it on your iPhone.
IIWII costs $2 once. No subscription, no account, no ads. Runs on iOS 15 and later.
Apple, iPhone, ProRAW and Apple Log are trademarks of Apple Inc. All other product names are trademarks of their owners. IIWII is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.