Luminar Neo vs Retouch4me (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Luminar Neo if

• Fits if you'd rather pay once than subscribe and edit on a Mac or Windows PC
• Works for photographers who want AI edits inside Lightroom or Photoshop as a plug-in

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to try before paying, as there's no free plan or trial
• Watch out: the generative tools and AI assistant are included for 1 year, then need a Luminar Prime subscription
• Pricey if you want phone editing: Desktop Only at $89 leaves out mobile, which starts at $109
• Tight on Desktop Only, where the page says big upgrades may need extra payments
• Watch out: the crossed-out $417 price and the Black Friday banner have no end date

Pick Retouch4me if

• Fits if you retouch portraits in Photoshop and want a plugin to do the repetitive work
• Works for studios that want a perpetual licence with local processing

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want month-to-month plans: Start, Pro and Business are billed yearly
• Watch out: unused credits are forfeited, without a refund, if you cancel
• Tight if you're staying free, with just two free plugins
• Watch out: the $20, $35 and $90 monthly prices may be the standard rate, since yearly plans carry a Limited Offer label
• Not for you if you have an older computer: the vendor recommends a powerful one for local processing

Luminar Neo

• The generative tools and AI Assistant are included for 1 year, then need a Luminar Prime subscription.
• The page says big upgrades may need extra payments on the Desktop Only plan.
• Luminar on Web is listed as coming in Fall 2026, so it is not counted as a platform here.
• Cross-device editing currently works one way, from mobile to desktop.

Retouch4me

• Subscriptions are billed yearly on Start, Pro and Business; unused credits are forfeited without refund when a subscription is canceled.
• Perpetual plugins run locally without internet but the vendor recommends a powerful computer.
• The yearly plans carry a Limited Offer label, so the monthly-billed $20, $35 and $90 may be the standard rate.
• Generative credits are listed on each plan, but the page says generative features are still to come in Apex.

Luminar Neo

Generative tools

GenErase, GenSwap and GenExpand remove, replace or extend parts of a photo using generative AI.

AI Assistant

Takes an edit described in plain words, applies it, recommends options and answers questions about the photo.

Portrait and sky tools

Face AI, Skin AI, Bokeh AI and Sky AI target portraits and landscapes with sliders rather than manual masking.

Restoration and upscaling

Photo restoration and an AI upscaler are listed, along with noise reduction, HDR merge and panorama stitching.

Plug-in mode

The desktop app works standalone or as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom and Apple Photos.

Retouch4me

AI retouching plugins

Separate plugins cover skin, heal, dodge and burn, teeth, eyes, stray hairs, mattifying, fabric, dust and clean backdrops.

Apex all-in-one plugin

Combines the retouching tools in a single plugin with a real-time preview, billed through cloud credits.

Culling and batch processing

Arams selects best shots automatically and processes whole photoshoots in batches.

Color correction

Color Match and Lab plugins apply color filters and AI color correction, and 3D LUT tools are sold separately.

Video plugins

Heal, dodge and burn, dust and color match plugins are sold for video, listed for DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro.

Luminar Neo

• Desktop Only$89

  one-time

  Perpetual license for 2 Mac or Windows computers; the page shows $417 crossed out and a Black Friday banner with no end date.

• All Platforms$109

  one-time

  Adds Luminar Mobile on 3 devices, cross-device editing and Spaces web galleries; crossed-out price $477.

• Max$129

  one-time

  All Platforms plus 1 year of Luminar Prime: yearly feature upgrades and the asset library; crossed-out price $546.

Retouch4me

• Free plugins$0

  Frequency Separation and Color Match Free, with hundreds of color filters.

• Start$14.08

  per month, billed yearly at $169 ($20 billed monthly)

  2,400 retouching credits a year, 108,000 culling credits, 20 GB of MyShot storage; 1 retouch = 1 credit.

• Pro$24.92

  per month, billed yearly at $299 ($35 billed monthly)

  6,000 retouching credits a year, 300,000 culling credits and 40 GB of MyShot storage.

• Business$63.25

  per month, billed yearly at $759 ($90 billed monthly)

  18,000 retouching credits a year, 1.2 million culling credits and 100 GB of MyShot storage.

• Photo plugins$145

  one-time, from, per perpetual license

  A collection of 15 photo plugins sold as perpetual licenses with unlimited local processing; a sale price of $94.25 is shown.

Luminar Neo

No public discounts listed.

Retouch4me

• Other savings

  Perpetual plugin and video sale

  A week-long sale lists photo plugins from $94.25 (regular $145) and video plugins from $80.60 (regular $124), with a countdown on the page.

• Annual discount

  Annual plans cost 30% less than monthly

  The pricing page says paying yearly costs 30% less than monthly and credits all of the year's retouches on day one.