Designer's Pick (One-Time Payment) | https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/
Affinity is an incredible alternative to the Adobe suite, it has a wide variety of features and is way cheaper than most design software. You can get it for a one-time payment, you'll own the software for life, and their free trial doesn't require you to input any card information. The Affinity Suite includes design, photo editing, and publishing software, all of which work collaboratively with one another allowing for the most flexibility possible. There are too many features to talk about here but I strongly recommend this software for its broad capabilities, one-time price, and unique abilities!

1. Corel Vector (Subscription) | https://www.coreldraw.com/en/product/vector/?topNav=en
Corel vector is an easy-to-learn vector software. You can choose from a variety of templates if you are struggling with inspiration, use a library of free images, icons, and effects, and so much more. They also store all of your designs on the cloud so you can access them from anywhere. Corel Vector does have a yearly subscription (however it used to be free).

2. Pixlr (Free) | https://pixlr.com/
Pixlr is a photo editing and graphic design app that allows you to easily remove backgrounds, add effects, crop images, add typography, and more. Pixlr is free to use and can be used anywhere, pixlr does have a premium subscription, and some features are locked. Pixlr is on desktop, mobile, and web browsers.

3. Photopea (Free) | https://www.photopea.com/
Photopea is almost identical to Photoshop and allows you to do so much within your browser, you can edit photos, create mockups, apply gradient maps, and even open Photoshop files and edit them. This software is 100% free but does run ads.

4. Canva (Free) | https://canva.com/
Canva is an extremely easy-to-use software that allows you to design straight from your browser. You can choose and edit templates, they have a library of free photos, videos, icons, graphics, music, and more. You can also make smart mockups in one click to put your design on a variety of products. Canva does have a premium subscription and some features are locked. Canva is on desktop, mobile, and web browsers.

5. Adobe Illustrator (Subscription) | https://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html
Illustrator is one of the most widely known software for graphic designers, it's extremely versatile and has a large amount of features, however, it is very expensive to use and has a pretty large learning curve.

6. Figma (Free) | https://figma.com/
Figma is an incredible free-to-use software that works in your browser. It's great for brainstorming, designing, and building prototypes. It's also very easy to work collaboratively in and is easy to use.

7. Inkscape (Free) | https://inkscape.org/
Inkscape is an incredible free design software that's vector-based, it allows you to use many features that are similar to ones offered in Photoshop and Illustrator, and it's 100% free. This is an incredible software to get and learn if you are just starting your graphic design journey.