The Sweet Setup:

Photoshop has been the king of the hill in this space for many years, having had decades to establish its dominance. While it remains the most powerful option — and a great choice for anyone who’s interested in exploring it — we believe that Affinity Photo is an easier, quicker solution for most users.

Affinity Photo offers most of the same capabilities for less money, and is equally at home on macOS and iPadOS — a claim that Photoshop still can’t make, despite its recent re-release on iPadOS.

We’ll take a look at why Affinity Photo was selected, what the competition looks like, where it falls short, and what sorts of users are best served by each choice.

Saying the best pixel editor on the Mac isn’t Photoshop is a bold statement.