Adobe PhotoShop vs. Adobe XD

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe PhotoShop
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Photoshop is the best known graphics product on the market.
$20
per month
Adobe XD
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
Adobe XD is a prototyping and UX/UI option for website and mobile application design, featuring a range of UI tools and and templates, a versatile artboard and contextual layer panels, and deep integration with Adobe's creative suite of products for fast import of objects from these applications.
$33.99
per month per license
Pricing
Adobe PhotoShopAdobe XD
Editions & Modules
Single App
$20.00
per month
Individual
$9.99 ($119.88)
per month (annual, prepaid)
Students & Teachers - All Apps
$19.99 ($239.88)
per month, annual plan (for the year)
Business - Single App
$33.99
per month per license
Business - All Apps
$79.99
per month per license
Schools & Universities - Institution Wide
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe PhotoShopAdobe XD
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe PhotoShopAdobe XD
Considered Both Products
Adobe PhotoShop
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
Photoshop is broad in its functionality that it overlaps with layout and illustration programs like Illustrator (not as strong as Illustrator in either area) and with UX/UI design programs like Sketch and Adobe XD. (both of which are superior for web/interface design). Since …
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
For basic tasks, GIMP will get the job done but the features offered by Photoshop is like comparing apples and oranges. The feature sets are vastly different and almost not fair to compare. Adobe XD can be great for basic wireframe mockups but its UI does get a little clunky …
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
Adobe Photoshop is really best if we compare this software with other graphic designing software. There are several reasons, but the most important reason is the difference in tools and features because Adobe Photoshop offers a number of incredibly professional tools that allow …
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
I was able to make infographics of any scale once I mastered Adobe PhotoShop. I also performed pixel-level photo editing. For a long time, it was my "go-to" piece of software. Although I tried other programmes, nothing compared to Adobe PhotoShop. I've always been able to put …
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
GIMP is one of the free alternatives for Photoshop. Although it has got many features that photoshop offers, it still has a lot of catching up to do. Also GIMP's UI is quite clunky and not as polished as Photoshop's UI making it a bit harder to navigate. Canva on the other hand …
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
Adobe Photoshop is a professional software for design [and] it is an essential software for designer and professional artist. The best feature among this software are working with each layer separately, combine or merge layers, we can group layers, mask layer, and more with …
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
I have used some competitor apps a little bit, including Pixelmator, Affinity Photo, and GraphicConverter. These apps are fast, have some cool features, and in some cases do things that Photoshop cannot do, or maybe even do them better or faster. But compared to the full …
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
Photoshop is the standard for graphics editing and manipulation— other software often attempt to emulate what PS can accomplish, but never fully deliver. Software such as Gimp, Corel Paint, Pixlr, and others, while great alternatives if Photoshop is not an option, do not …
Adobe XD
Chose Adobe XD
Adobe XD used to be able to stack great, but I would select Figma over Adobe XD any day. Much better features, better quality of life features and includes darkmode. Another great part of Figma is the fact you can strickly use it in a browser without having to install any apps, …
Chose Adobe XD
So far I've had minimal issues with Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. All my issues have been with Adobe XD simply not being that great.
Chose Adobe XD
Figma is also a very good product, but the reason we are still using Adobe XD is because we can grab this software and have multiple projects that are going on at the same time, so it's very hard for to move on to other software. ** The Repeat Grid Feature is super good and, in …
Chose Adobe XD
Before XD came to the company, screens were designed in Illustrator or Photoshop and a PDF presentation was generated, which was extremely time-consuming. XD saved us a lot of time (and money) by generating interactive prototypes, which are much more tangible for the client …
Chose Adobe XD
While I have used Zeplin, InVision, and Adobe XD on various projects, partly dependent on in-house client teams preferences, Adobe XD is the most familiar to me based on 20+ years [of] working within Adobe applications. They all can do most of what I am looking to do within …
Chose Adobe XD
It's a lot easier to prototype ideas and make mock-ups faster in Adobe XD than it is to in say Photoshop. Figma is fairly similar but XD works with the Adobe ecosystem and I feel is easier to learn and use and the way you can share XD links is what I really like.
Chose Adobe XD
Adobe XD is everything you would expect from an Adobe offering - seamless integration with creative cloud, easy workflow and great for collaboration. Adobe once again wins over again the competition by ensuring its software works straight out of the box with little to no …
Chose Adobe XD
In our program, we utilize both Mac and Windows workstations. We had attempted to use Sketch (another similar application to Adobe XD), but it is only available on Mac platforms which prohibits our students from accessing software at home (which is predominantly Windows PCs). …
Chose Adobe XD
XD can do everything we need and more. It's already part of our Creative Cloud subscription and integrates with our current tools. It was really easy to get to work and establish a workflow for almost all projects where we are designing, prototyping, and iterating. Feedback and …
Chose Adobe XD
Adobe XD is the only wireframing application that we have used here as it came with our creative cloud subscription. After testing it out the software worked great for our needs and I cannot imagine other software that could suit our needs better, unless they included some …
Chose Adobe XD
Adobe XD has been a joy to use. It has this "Wow, it just works!" feel to it. Illustrator is more powerful, but it's quirky, complex, and unfortunately a bit outdated and buggy. These days you expect colors to update in realtime while you're working in the color selector.

Sketch …
Best Alternatives
Adobe PhotoShopAdobe XD
Small Businesses
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
Score 7.4 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
GIMP
GIMP
Score 8.2 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
Score 7.4 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe PhotoShopAdobe XD
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(194 ratings)
5.5
(34 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(31 ratings)
7.7
(3 ratings)
Usability
7.7
(19 ratings)
5.5
(3 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(54 ratings)
8.3
(16 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(6 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
4.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe PhotoShopAdobe XD
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
Photoshop is a useful tool for everything from creating social media graphics to editing and sizing photos. There is a bit of a learning curve, so you need to have a bit of experience to master it and use it for a variety of tasks. You also need to have a good sense of file organization so you can find files quickly without losing track of them.
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Adobe
If its already part of your organization, and they have a license for Creative Cloud, its worth learning. It doesnt take long to get started, but compared to other software in the same field, its lacking in many ways, from quality of life features to just simply not having the option for Darkmode. Even for website design, UX/UI, and mocking up proof-of-concepts, there are much better tools like Figma.
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Pros
Adobe
  • The fact is that you may quickly pick things up on your own by spending time without using any other resources.
  • It is the program that brings the phrase "to make PhotoShop" to almost all languages. It's not just a photo editing program.
  • Practical and beautiful results are filtered by filtering the desired work without drowning in details.
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Adobe
  • Easy and simple animations.
  • Good tool for website mock-ups.
  • Easy user interface and tools that are like most Adobe products.
  • You can share a dev link and it displays all assets for developers to download or user like it's very own style guide.
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Cons
Adobe
  • The effect applying time could be faster.
  • There could be a smarter way to make mockups using smart objects, maybe by directly selecting an area, and generative AI can automate a few steps.
  • If Photoshop can suggest the right stock imagery in case the generative AI doesn't get the right answer.
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Adobe
  • Doesn’t have image editing tools, so having to go back to Photoshop or Lightroom just to make a sight edit can be a pain.
  • Could add some text editing functionality. It feels silly that I have to draw a line under text when I should just be able to underline.
  • Would be nice to have some real-time collaboration functionality.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
We get a lot of use out of this software. It's vital for work with production in our industry and has a lot of cross-functionality - creating social media images, retouching photos, editing photos, creating gradients, and more. It's pretty fuss-free in that we haven't had to reach out to support and the program hasn't crashed on us. We are trained on the software (so again, this isn't for beginners), but for detail-oriented designers and creatives like ourselves - it's a no-brainer.
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Adobe
We utilize many of the applications in the Adobe CC suite and our usage of this application came about simply because it was the one that was already paid for. Bearing that in mind we will definitely be renewing the software upon the expiration of the licensing. I am not sure if this is the solution we would go with were it not already included, we would have to evaluate all other options
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Usability
Adobe
Adobe PhotoShop is a professional-grade tool that requires months/years to get a grasp of how to use it well. Even then, after over a decade of using Adobe PhotoShop both casually and professionally, I feel like I'm still unfamiliar with a large percentage of the available tools. Without a dedicated training program, it can be extremely overwhelming and/or you may not get good use out of it. That being said, once you do get comfortable with it, the layout and workspace are excellent with myriad shortcuts that speed up your workflow exponentially. Put in the time to learn it, and you'll love it.
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Adobe
Adobe XD is basically on life-support now, there are much better software out there that do everything XD can do, and a few that you don't even have to pay a monthly subscription fee on. While Adobe XD is great as shortcuts that are used in other CC software works, and its integration with CC is great. But it still lacks compared to its closest competitor.
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Reliability and Availability
Adobe
Adobe Photoshop is very reliable, but is never 100%. There have been times when Adobe Photoshop has had trouble opening, but nothing a little computer restart couldn't fix. I use Adobe Photoshop on a Mac for both work and at home on a daily basis, and I would be lost without it.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Performance
Adobe
Speed can be an issue when you are dealing with large files for large format printing or billboards. When working on web images, speed is not an issue.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
While I never contacted Adobe directly, there is so much content out there in the form of YouTube videos, Lynda/LinkedIn learning that almost any issue, including bugs, can be worked around (and this method is generally faster as there's no turnaround time involved).
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Adobe
I have not had a need to connect with the Adobe XD support team as of yet, but from past experience when dealing with the other products, the support has been very very good, and I would have no reason to think that this product would be any different. There are a good number of training videos on the Adobe site for this product as well as on other social media sites so a quick search should let you find the answers in several different ways.
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In-Person Training
Adobe
So, I received the training at the HQ and it was train the trainer training. A good time, I spent a week at their campus
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
I took a course so it really helped. I didn’t take the course until much later after beginning to use it, so I wish work would have sent me right off the bat. It would have alleviated a lot of frustratinon
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Adobe
Implementation was a snap
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
[Adobe] Photoshop offers the best photo editing as well as content creation. The layer-by-layer approach of [Adobe] Photoshop helps to work between two apps or even two PCs of entirely different Creative Cloud apps seamlessly. The stability and the speed of the tools in photoshop make it even better to make a canvas of creativity.
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Adobe
Before XD came to the company, screens were designed in Illustrator or Photoshop and a PDF presentation was generated, which was extremely time-consuming. XD saved us a lot of time (and money) by generating interactive prototypes, which are much more tangible for the client than a PDF. The "fight" with Figma is frequent. Both have features in which they are better than their competition. And, while I still choose Adobe XD, don't rule out moving to Figma with its multiple updates.
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Scalability
Adobe
It seems expensive compared to the free/cheap programs now available
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Adobe PhotoShop in general is a great time saver.
  • It does take a long time for the program to start up, however
  • The most difficult task is onboarding new employees into Adobe PhotoShop who don't have experience with it. It's an investment for their future so we see value in it.
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Adobe
  • Ease of use means we are up and running in no time.
  • Integrates and is a part of the Adobe CC platform (which we already subscribe to) so there was no additional cost.
  • Online proofing and developer handoff links are the icing on the cake. Keeps everything in one place.
  • Handles all our assets (mostly created in Illustrator) like a dream. Even imports native Photoshop docs, too, so that saves us so much time round tripping.
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ScreenShots