The best graphic design software of 2025: Feature-packed, professional tools

Adobe Photoshop is my top pick for graphic design software in 2025. 

Why we like it: Adobe’s Photoshop suite provides professional, advanced tools and options for image creation and manipulation, and is used by graphic designers and artists alike. 

Photoshop can be used to create any form of graphic, with helpful grid and snap features, layering, color correction and adjustment, resizing, masking, vectors, object removal, and editing at the pixel level. 

I’ve used Adobe Photoshop for everything from photo editing to creative projects, including logo design and poster creation. It was my main go-to software as a website and branding designer in the past, and I continue to use Photoshop for photography purposes today. 

In February, Photoshop launched an iOS app to bring Photoshop to smartphones, and now, an Android version has also landed. The apps are free. 

Who is it for: Customers consider Adobe Photoshop to be intuitive, fast, and one of the best options on the market for projects including graphic design. If you want to make it as a graphic designer, it’s likely you will need Photoshop — not to mention that many brand and design agencies work based on Photoshop’s native .PSD file format. 

You will pay $23 per month, or you can combine your plan with other apps through the $60 per month Creative Cloud subscription, which will give you access to the full set of Adobe Creative Cloud apps, including Lightroom and Illustrator. 

Who should look elsewhere: Adobe Photoshop is subscription-only, and it is quite an expensive one. If you would rather not be tied in, take a look at one of my other recommendations.

Adobe Photoshop specs: Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, online | Mobile? Yes | Cloud backup? Yes | AI? Yes | Price: Subscription model, free trial

Affinity Designer 2 is one of my favorite subscription-free graphic design software packages. 

Why we like it: Affinity Designer 2 is vector graphics software with a focus on user-friendly tools. These include grids, object and color management, layering, color tagging, single-pixel editing, masking, clipping, attribute matching, and shortcut programming.

In my experience, this is a powerful solution that can handle most graphic and image creation and editing tasks. It is also easier to learn than some other suites, such as Adobe Photoshop, and comes with the option to create ‘artboards’ for ensuring your graphics and marketing materials are cohesive. 

You will still need a foundation and a level of understanding to use it for graphic design, but if you are on a reasonable level, I think this will be an excellent tool for you.

Who is it for: If you don’t want a hefty monthly subscription to graphic design software, try out Affinity Designer 2.  

A benefit is that you pay once, and once only, for a perpetual license. It’s $70 for a Windows or Mac license, or just $18.49 if you want to use this software on your iPad. A universal license for Affinity Designer 2, Affinity Photo 2, and Affinity Publisher 2 is available for $165.

Who should look elsewhere: Sadly, Android isn’t currently on the list of supported operating systems, and so if you want a graphic design app that is compatible with your Android smartphone or tablet, you will need to look elsewhere.

Affinity Photo 2 specs: Platforms: Mac, Windows, iPad | Mobile? iPad only | Cloud backup? Yes | AI? Yes | Price: One-off, $70, trial

The CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2025 package is a one-size-fits-all software suite for professionals. 

Why we like it: This option comes with CorelDRAW — a fantastic package for vector graphics creation — Corel PHOTO-PAINT, an AI-backed image editing platform for alterations at the pixel level, and Corel Font Manager, a typographical management platform for professional graphic designers. 

CorelDRAW excels at vector-based graphics. You can take advantage of tools including pixel brushes, blending, mesh fills, Pantone color palettes, perspective switching, layout management, and far more. 

If you subscribe, you will also be given access to Corel’s online platform, CorelDRAW Web.

Who it’s for: Professional artists and graphic designers who want access to the latest and greatest design tools. 

You have two options for purchasing access to this software suite. You can subscribe to an annual plan for $19.92/month, or you can purchase a license outright with a one-time payment of $494. 

Even though the single purchase price is expensive, if you plan to use Corel for more than two years, you’d be better off doing so than subscribing. However, if you want access to future upgrades, you may also need to enroll in a maintenance payment plan. 

Who should look elsewhere: If you need a cheaper option or you don’t want to subscribe, consider one of my other recommendations, including Photopea. 

CorelDRAW specs: Platforms: Windows, Mac, online | Mobile? Online | Cloud backup? Yes | AI? Yes | Price: $19.92/month (annual) or $494 (one purchase)

If you need graphic design software that takes a lot of the creative decisions out of your hands and provides you with templates for professional work, Canva is a great choice. 

Why we like it: Canva is different from my other recommendations as it is more of a community-focused graphic design solution.

Once you’ve signed up, the online platform becomes a dashboard for you to create new projects. There is a large library of templates available to you, ranging from video production to logos or social media posts. Furthermore, you can take advantage of graphics collections that are available right from the start.

There is also Canva AI for you to experiment with. The chatbot can automatically generate vector graphics for you — although, don’t expect perfect results. 

Who it’s for: Canva has been built for people who need a way to quickly create graphics, logos, marketing materials, and videos.

It is free to sign up for Canva, and as a free account holder, you will have access to many of the platform’s content creation tools — although some of its most impressive functions are paywalled. 

If you would like to sign up for a premium subscription, prices begin at $10 per month. 

Who should look elsewhere: Canva isn’t the right choice if you need to create vector graphics with pixel-level precision. Instead, CorelDRAW or Adobe Photoshop would be better choices. 

Canva specs: Platforms: Online | Mobile? Android, iOS | Cloud backup? Yes, 1TB (paid) | AI? Yes | Price: Free – $10+/month, premium trial

If you’re looking for a free online platform for creating or editing graphics, Photopea should be your first port of call. 

Why we like it: Photopea provides advanced graphics and image creation tools, of the sort you don’t normally find for free.

The website will remind you of Adobe Photoshop’s user interface and it comes with many of the same functions, including brushes, spot healing, grid mapping, shapes, layers, channels, and a filter gallery.

Something else that graphic designers will thoroughly appreciate is that Photopea supports PSD files, making it a great Photoshop alternative. RAW, the primary file format for photographers, is also supported — and so if you intend to use such images in your graphics projects, you’re in luck. 

While there is no native storage option or cloud functions, you can save your work locally or share it with services such as Dropbox. 

Who it’s for: It’s free, so if you need access to advanced graphic design tools but money is a bit tight, Photopea is an excellent solution. You could also use this option if you want to avoid Photoshop but you need similar tools.

While it is a free platform, you can also opt to contribute $15 as a donation every three months for ad-free usage.

Who should look elsewhere: If you want an offline service or the idea of using an online design platform doesn’t appeal to you, check out one of my other recommendations.

Photopea specs: Platforms: Online | Mobile? Online | Cloud backup? No | AI? No | Price: Free (ad-supported) or $15 every three months